My friend Christie celebrated her 30th birthday way back in February and its taken me this long to get her present together but who cares when its this adorable. Right, Christie?!… Heh…

Richard was a big part of this project as it required tools which I have never used and would most likely injure myself with if I did use them. For example, when I tried using the staple gun I couldn’t squeeze the handle hard enough to make staples come out. I’m that weak and pathetic.

What do you guys think of my first craft project? I’ve already bought another frame and plan to make another one soon for myself :)

I want to teach my daughter the value of a $1. 

But I also knew I didn’t want her to have a part-time job while in High School. 

She’s very active in sports and makes good grades. 

I didn’t want either to suffer.  I also couldn’t imagine her having to work on Christmas day or Thanksgiving.  She’s going away to college in less than a year.  I want her here for every holiday, not out working.  I want to be with her as much as possible because I know it won’t last. 

Jon was never really in agreement with me.  But so far, he hasn’t forced her into a job yet.  But right now, it’s really hard for a teenager to find a job.  At least in our town.  Most businesses give precedence to adults.  Which I totally get. 

Anyway… 

We gave her chores to earn gas money.  Things that she is responsible for and must do daily to earn gas money at the end of the week. 

But of course, that amount of gas money was barely enough to last her half a week.  You know she drives Jon’s old F150, Bessie.  Bessie loves to guzzle gas. 

So…  I would give her extra money here and there…

Eventually, Jon told me I was not helping her understand the value of a $1.  So, I came up with a chart, and on that chart listed things she could do around the house to earn extra money.  She wasn’t happy.  Christen was loving the old arrangement.  Me handing her money. 

But you know what happened?  I made up the chart on Wednesday afternoon…  and yesterday when I got home from work?  She was busy working to earn her extra money. 

Love it!

And I hope it continues to work!

Yes, you’re reading that right.  “Fold Mountain of Socks”  That will earn Christen $20.  I would pay her more, but Jon wouldn’t like it.  It’s totally worth it so I won’t have to.

How about you?  Are your kids old enough to work yet?  Do they have a part time job outside the home?  Not just babysitting. Like McDonald’s or WalMart…

If your kids aren’t old enough to work yet, will you encourage them to get a job when it’s time for them to start driving so they can contribute to gas, insurance, etc. 

Or does you child WANT to work?  Do you have a little business person who wants to make their own money independent of an allowance?

It’s interesting to see how each household operates.  

I’m not sure if our situation would work if we had more than one child.  But she’s all we got, and we’re able to help her this way. 

I hope every has a wonderful weekend!!

I AM SORRY THAT I HAVEN’T WRITTEN MUCH ON HERE LATELY!!!

Well, I think I will make up for those 3 months right now with 1 MONSTER blog. So buckle up, use the restroom and get yourself a beverage because here we go!!

Since I haven’t been writing on my blog obviously, what have I been up to this summer? Well I will tell you! I went to several concerts: Matisyahu, Steely Dan and Adele. My amazing friend Ally completed an Olympic distance triathlon while I did a 1/2 marathon in Sunriver in June. My beautiful friend Christy married the man of her dreams on my dad’s birthday July 23!

Myself, Stephanie (MOH), Christy, Ash (BM), Jess

I got to go to Hawaii in August with my boss and two of her kids and had a ball. Here’s a beautiful shot on the grounds of the hotel!

Our lovely accomodations

My family had a brief reunion in the end of August and we went to Silverwood Amusement park in northern Idaho and had a BALL! Here is a picture from the ride tremors:

Can you tell I love Rollercoasters?!

That young man in the yellow doing his best to not look terrified is my future brother-in-law Tim, who prior to this photo, had never ridden roller-coasters in his life! CRAZY! He ended up doing 4 in one day! Congrats to Lisa and Tim who’ll be getting married next summer.

So that is a brief highlight reel from this summer! I titled this entry “Great Expectations” because what I originally set out to do was blog about one of the things I’ve been “craftin’” lately and talk about Morgan’s birthday card. This is the 3rd birthday I celebrated with Morgan, my boss’ youngest son, and I have for each of his birthdays made him a card. His first card was a simple pop up card with his face photo-shopped on Captain America’s body and thus the bar was set. Well last year for his birthday I picked him up from school and I kid you not, one of the first things he said to me on the drive home was, “Can I have my birthday card? You make the BEST birthday cards!” So needless to say, I can’t just hit Target on my way to work to get him a birthday card. This year being his 13th birthday I had to up the ante again and make him an extra special card since it was such a BIG birthday. Here is the final product:

Exterior of the card folded up

First opening of the card

2nd opening, the back of the right flap as the "orga" of Morgan on it

The big birthday fold out of all the pages

The pop up page underneath the big birthday fold out

I don’t think I disappointed him for his big 13th birthday!

In closing I will leave you with a teaser for my upcoming blog series. If you are fortunate enough to have been around for my last birthday you are certain to have experienced my ranting on the slow decline to 30. I will be 28 this November and am having a certain degree of anxiety about turning the big 3-0 in just 2 years. So, like many wise friends and women before me, I have created a 30 before 30 list. It is a list of things both tangible and non, experiences big and small that I hope to accomplish before my 30th birthday. One of the first things I managed to cross off was actually one I didn’t expect to accomplish: #2. Meet a Portland Trailblazer!

To be continued……….

I had seen button embellishments in shops before and always thought ‘I could do that!’ but never got round to it.  So when I went on a shopping spree recently to give my wardrobe a much needed lift, I decided that this was the time to get making.  I bought a white tee shirt for £6 from Marks and Spencer and then rummaged through my red and blue buttons looking for a decent variety of shapes and sizes.

I started by laying out the buttons so that I could ensure there was a good mix of the sizes and then, keeping the buttons in order, I laid them out on the table so that I could start sewing them on. Since I wasn’t able the finish the project in one sitting – I took it to one of sew make believe’s sit ‘n’ sew sessions – this precise approach was thrown out the window since there was no easy way to keep the order I had chosen for the buttons not yet sewn!  Still, the important thing was that I had made a start so carrying on and finishing didn’t take long at all.

I definitely want to make more button tees but I might consider the following for next time:

• perhaps use interfacing to give the jersey cotton more stability
• avoid buttons that stand too proud – they sag on the stretchy material and get in the way!
• I like the random and mixed layout for this tee but I might try using all the same buttons in a line following the neckline for another, more structured look

As an added bonus, the tee looks fab with my button cuff, made by my co-founder Caroline.

I think they are dirty and man are they are loud!  and they just don’t belong in people’s houses…  well..  at least not in my house.. 

So..  normally, when I see birds on fabric, I keep on a walkin’…  

But..  that all went *poof* and “flew” out the window (yep, I went there) when I saw Michael Miller’s Journal Collection Anjou Pour Vous in Yellow.  Oh my goodness…  I don’t know how to explain it.  I just loved it.  birds and all…

So, I purchased 1yd of it…  and now…  fabric.com is SOLD OUT!  I knew I should have gotten more…  So I will forever be on the look out for more. 

I’m always on the lookout for bargains.  Right now, I’m trying to grab up as many magnet boards and cork boards as I can find.  Hopefully to stock up my etsy store (whenever I finally take the plunge and OPEN IT!) and of course to help decorate my home and next year, Christen’s dorm. 

I found two magnet boards on sale for $3 when we were in Fernandina!!  I wish they had more, but 2 was all they had left. 

I knew I would want to cover the board w/ fabric and frame it…  so now, I had the boards and the fabric..  I just don’t have the frame yet.  Oh well..  that didn’t stop me from covering the board!

I also made magnets….  ENJOY as you go through the process with me…  )

It’s gonna look so much better once I find a frame for it…  I’m picturing a pretty, distressed white frame…  or cream….  or french blue… 

I get like this every now and then.. 

It’s great for my creative process!  Because I’m normally thinking of what to create! (or mimic)

I want to take more pictures! 

Thankfully I’ll be doing Christen’s senior pictures soon…  not the formal ones…  the fun ones!

And a friend of mine is letting me do her son’s senior pictures too…  

I.can’t.wait!

I’m in the process of re-doing a picture frame…  but it’s not going to hold a picture…  I’ll post more on that project soon…

OH!  And I’ve got all my fabric to start on Christen’s T-Shirt quilt…  the only thing I need before I can actually start sewing is the interfacing… 

I also acquired some blue ball mason jars from The Pickers Warehouse…  not sure exactly what I want to do with them yet…  but I’m sure I will figure something out…

So many projects…  so little time!

Now these pillows are really saying something.

SO! Had to make a birthday card! I LOVE making birthday, christmas, wedding or gift cards! I LOVE MAKING CARDS! It is so cathartic to me and helps me utilize some of the creativity that doesn’t always get used at work. I also like to make cards that are fun to open and unfold and this one was no different. It took me a long time and I got stuck in the middle but it came out pretty good. I started with a 12×12 piece of paper and folded it in half twice into a 6×6 square and then made it so each portion opened into the next. I also utilized the cricut BIG TIME as you can see! Here is the cover:

The first set of two pages you open

This is the 12×12 all open

Here is the opened up spot where I wrote the message!

Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll make you a card someday!

Hello all! I’m excited to bring you the final Autumn Leaves Scarflette pattern.  As you may remember it was my very first ever attempt at writing and publishing a knitting pattern and  there were some inevitable mistakes in it.  I recently got myself a brand new Macbook and I    have been able to revisit it and re-knit the pattern to iron out the kinks. As much as I liked  that big bone button on the initial version it was completely impractical. It was heavy and  would topple over at the slightest movement. A better solution is to use the 5 yarn overs  along one edge as buttonholes and then place 5 corresponding tiny buttons on the opposite  side. Very pretty and useful! I found a stash of vintage buttons and covered them in some  very pretty fabric.

Here’s the link to the PDF download. Please let me know what you guys think! Skip ahead to  see some pictures of the fabric covered buttons.

Autumn Leaves Scarflette

I found a bag in someone’s garbage one day and it was filled with 1950′s notions. among them were these diamond shaped button forms that you cover with your own fabric. Very clever design.

You cut out the little circle template that was on the card of buttons, and cut out 5 circles of fabric. Then you place them over the button front and poke the edges behind and over the little metal teeth that catch and hold it.

Then you use a nail file or the blade of your scissors to poke the edges into the groove along the corners to make it neat.

Then you just pop on the little metal back plate that clips onto place. SOOOO easy! And so fast.

Now, get to knittin!

Some things to note for today and tomorrow and whenever else:

Dawn is bringing me the T-Shirts I ordered today.  I can’t wait to see them!!  One for me, one for my mom.  It has our school’s lazy T on it, with “lady devils” under the “T”…  and on the sleeves it has GK (for Goal Keeper) and Christen’s school jersey #: 14.  Just a bit o’ bragging.  AND we can wear them during softball too.

It’s soccer time tonight!  The last time they played this team is when Christen got hurt and had to sit out for 2 weeks.  So I’m praying that no one gets hurt tonight and I’m praying that sportsmanship and teamwork is abundant!

Christen’s cheering section has the possiblity of being the biggest ever.  So far…  these are the family/friends that may be in the stands for Christen tonight: Me, Jon, Sonya, David, Alison, Cam-Cam, Erin, Renee, Clint.  Wow…  that’s a lot.  I’m hoping they can all make it.  My Mom normally comes, but she’s out of town this weekend.

I’m going to start practicing how to make fabric flowers for the Bridal Shower I’m hosting in 3 weeks. (YIKES!!!!  3 WEEKS AWAY!!)  Sorry..  just realized how close it is….

Picture time at church tomorrow for the NEW Church Directory.  I’ve been going to my Church since about 2005 and I think at that time, the latest directory was about 5yrs old (actually, I went there as a little girl too).  So that tells you we are in desperate need of an updated directory.

And I’m sure I’m not the only one out there that’s not fond of having their picture taken.  To me…. it’s just…  when I see myself in the mirror and then see a picture, it’s just not the same!  When I see a picture of myself, I think… who IS that??  And why is her face so HUGE??  I have always had these chubby cheeks, even more so now!  But, I have found a way around it.  I don’t show a “full smile”.  You know….  w/ teeth showing and all.  I’m fine w/ that.  This smile doesn’t emphasize my gi-normous cheeks but I’m still smiling.  The problem?

When people take my picture, they say: SMILE!!!!  Come on, show your teeth!!  COME ON… THAT’S not a SMILE!!

To me, a big deal is made b/c I’m not smiling they way THEY want me to smile.    Ummm..  no thanks.  This picture will be in the directory for the next 10yrs and I’d rather it be something I’m comfortable with.  Know what I mean?  I know… I know… I should not be worried about how I look, it’s in the lines of being vain, but really I’m not.  I just want a decent picture of me for the church directory.  I don’t think that’s a lot to ask for.

See what I mean?  I’m holding a CUTE baby (who, by the way, is obviously NOT impressed w/ me), so I couldn’t help but smile!!  And just look…  chubby cheeks (mine, not the baby’s) and a double chin (again, mine, not the baby’s).

This picture taken just a couple of weeks after…  Of course, I’m not smiling like I should or will in the Church directory, but note there are no chubby cheeks or double chin.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and that no one fools you today.  But if you do have someone fool you today, I hope you have the chance and opportunity to fool them back.  )

Here’s the “educational” link.  As you may know, I listen to KLove via my computer.  Today, in KLove’s news, they told about a live webcam where you can possibly see little eaglets hatching.  It’s live!  And the expected hatch date for the eaglets is today.  So, if you want to have a chance to see them.  Go HERE.