loose slots....

Well, okay they are empty, but it just didn't sound right that way. I always wanted one of those cute little old type drawers from way back, when the news papers would actually add letter by letter of type to create the papers. Since I would hit the antique stores and always miss them I grabbed my sister to help me hunt one down. I did find one this summer and was thrilled!! I want to fill mine with little miniatures and TRY to fill each little slot. (as you can see I have a long way to go)

Tonight was our weekly craft night and it was at our family friend's house. She has her own little miniature collection too, but she added her smashed pennies to her drawer...what a great idea!! I have this spastic fixiation on always smashing pennies....Vegas, Yellowstone, the Corn Palace, you name it, I've smashed it. I would usually save those pennies for scrapbooking and adding to my pages, but now I have a better place!!! MY TYPE DRAWER!! YAY!!

I'll get you my pretties...

A dear friend gave me another jar of buttons!! Since we all know how much I love buttons it was no surprise that I dumped them out immediately and began sorting through the treasure...here are just a few of my favorties.....visions of flowers and pins are now dancing through my head, I can't wait to get creative with these guys!

Thank You Andie!!!

I received this beautiful yo-yo garland from Andie on friday! I just love it!! The colors are so me! I decided to hang them on my shelf in my sewing room so I could enjoy them everytime I was in the creative mood. Thanks again Andie, they are simply wonderful!!!

We went back to Fairfax again this weekend and enjoyed a couple birthdays and a beautiful sunset!

heaven, I'm in heaven...

Since I've been whacking away at my cherished fabric it was time to replenish the stash. I finally got my FreshCut fat quarters! I've wanted these for a long long time and it was now or never so I took the plunge. I also got Flea Market Fancy. All I can say as I have been more than spoiled this month!! I don't even want to cut into these little pretties....Who knows if I can bring myself
to do it!!!

my own little man...

Call me crazy (two of my friends already have), but I've always wanted an artist mannequin, and this past weekend at Michael's I found one!! He's a mini guy, but for a score of only $2 I couldn't resist. I have a feeling he will be lurking around my blog quite regularly!!

awww, how cute...

Here's the little cutie we got to see this past weekend....and here's my husband getting some training with his 2nd cousin...



He's just a little five pounder, so he was such a small little guy,
but me not being a mom still was a little frightened by the size!
Can you say epidural!!

tagged...

I am supposed to share 6 weird things about me and then tag 6 other people who will do the same. Since I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt, here I go Laura.

~ I never sleep without a pair of socks on.

~I love watching a kiddie television show (Degrassi) with my husband.

~Sometimes I feel the need to stand while sewing on my machine.

~I like to dip my french fries in ice cream.

~I like to make music parodies by changing lyrics to regular songs.

~I tend to get sucked into playing Donkey Konga on the Game Cube...totally losing track of all time!

Now it's my turn to pass this on...I am going to tag: Kelli, Misty, Roxanne, AmandaJean, MaryMo, and Betsy. Have fun!!

stick this...

I was messing around a little and decided to make a jar pin cushion since they have been quite the hype lately. I don't think it came out as cute as some I have seen, but I thought it would come in handy with my punch needle stuff or embroidery. I can put floss and other useful items in the jar part and stick my pins in the top. I found these cut little shaker jars at World Market for $.99 so I know they will more than work for me.

WIP....

Sometimes I just enjoy sitting on the couch with some sort of needle work. I came across the punch needle about 2 years ago and it's still a great friend of mine today! I started making this "cow angel" while on a quilt guild bus trip and had found it after the move. I am planning on making a pillow for my mother-in-law, as she is a dairy farmer who has a great love for angels. I figured I would do some sort of log cabin border around it and call it good. I know it will be something she will love, so it will go along with the Eleanor Burns wall hanging for her birthday. I am more than eager for the weekend to begin, so hopefully I will have some stellar finds from my weekend shopping with my dear friends!

how cool...

I found these while surfing around..aren't they just too cute? Who wants to join a button shoe club??

oh boy, oh boy...

It was an exciting day for me! My dear friend gave birth to a bouncing little boy! It's an extra special birth for me, since her fiance is my husband's cousin..that means I have a new 2nd cousin (through marriage, of course). I am going to visit the happy family on saturday, and until then I'm just ecstatic!! A couple of my girl friends and I decided to throw her a shower after the baby was born since it would probably be too crazy before that. I have taken on the duty of decorations and cake (two things I LOVE)!! I absolutely need to try this one...

It's so cute, plus who couldn't use the diapers after the party?

We are still in the process of perfecting our games list. We are pretty much new to the whole baby thing, so we are just learning as we go along. (Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!!) Since I worked in a bakery while I was in high school I was always the first to jump at decorating or adding a name to a cake, so I think I will be making the cake myself. Not sure of the details yet, but I'm a create as you go kind of gal. I hate patterns. I never read instructions, I just look at a picture or think of something and off I am to take a stab. I think that's the man side of me. I feel sorry for any future kids and any crazy toy they might receive that requires instructions!!

I've been somewhat bogged down with a headache today, so craft night at my mom's was cut down to sitting on the couch and hand stitching bindings..I guess it got me through the night. Hopefully tomorrow I will have something a little more original to share.

I'm so excited...

What a glorious day today! The clock struck 7pm......
(okay, I know it says 8, but let's just pretend)
and one of my favorite shows began it's 6th season!

I absolutely adore AI and was so happy to rest myself on the couch the 2 hours it was on.

The first few weeks are some of the most entertaining as they have the good, the bad, and the ugly. You can laugh and cry all in the same episode. I think that's enough of my rant on that.

I might have blogged this before, but it's one of my dearest button "things" I've made. I thought they would make wonderful framed art, and I was right. I love to group things on the wall, so I definitely couldn't just make one of these.

I just love this new Marcus Brother fabric...now why couldn't it have been out while I was planning my blue and brown wedding??

Oh, and how about Bo Ho by Michael Miller....I could just eat it up with a spoon!

Why must my wish list continue to grow.....it's just stuff..we can't take it with us (but we can enjoy it while we're here, right??)

monday, monday...

It was a somewhat blaah day today. I guess this 35 degree below zero with wind chill factor has really put me in the sit on the couch and cuddle under a blanket mood. I didn't sit down and do any sewing, but I did decide to whip up some of these babies. My dear sister got me this Denyse Schmidt Quilt-It kit, so I thought I would try a stab at the cute little spheres. Luckily I had some balls left over from wedding things we made, so I didn't even have to leave the house to get these ditties done.

Hopefully tomorrow there will be a little more energy here at my house, but I can't make any promises!!

weekend recap...

This weekend was a nice relaxing one! Travis and I enjoyed time spent with his family. Since the weather was super chilly he didn't get much trapping done as he would have liked, but he did use the time to get all of his furs prepared for the fur-traders. Friday morning he awoke to this little beauty....

I got to work on sewing and quilting with unlimited time. I found myself just pounding out the purses (so I can get an etsy shop up and running in the near future). Here are some of things I made..

I've been using up what's left of my Amy Butler fabric in hopes of refilling my fabric stash. I'm a crazy fat quarter collector, so usually if there is a fabric line I'm in love with I get the whole collection. In turn, I needed to work on some projects with these fat quarters that have been resting on the shelf. A while back I made a quilt with the blues and greens in the Belle line, so I used what scraps I had to make clutches. I just adored what was made and they were relatively quick to make. I enjoyed making the flowers on the purses as the scraps made perfect ruffles!!

Saturday my MIL and I ventured down to a small town in Nebraska by the name of O'Neill. I remembered in my Quilters' Travel Companion that there was a store there, so what was 50 miles. We headed down there and much to my surprise there was a cute little store. We spent about an hour there and then headed to another small town to check out a cute little Christmas decoration store. It was three stories of all sorts of odds and ends. I found some pretty cool things there and I can't wait to decorate my tree next year!

I picked up these browns and pinks in hopes to make a cute table runner for Valentine's Day. I know I have so many other things to get completed, but I couldn't resist the colors or the nice price of $2.10 fat quarters!!

jewels...

I just got a jewel applicator and I'm sooo excited about it! I had fun adding swarvoski crystals to the flower basket block I've been making. I like the bit of glitz it gives the block as a whole. It gives it that million dollar look! I also figured it would be a neat way to add some pizaaze to my purses and handbags..and quilts.


It takes me back to the day in college when us little "frosh" received our beanie hats. They were awesome! We could decorate them however we wanted and they became a real fashion statement for some. I never wore hats, so mine sat on my dorm room shelf as somewhat of a decoration. I remember how the senior could stop any frost at any time and make them sing the beanie hat song:

I love my beanie hat, that's where it's really at

it makes me realize that I am a frosh...boom, boom, boom,

one day when I survive, I'll do the senior jive, yes sir (or ma'am)

I love my beanie hat...yes sir, I love my beanie hat!

They were green with a capital "M" on the center (for Mines (SD school of mines and technology)). Many added beer caps or some other offensive thing to theirs. Since my roommate Mandy and I didn't want to take too much from the beanies we decided to embellish ours with rhinestones. Later on we were serenaded by our friend as being.."rhinestone hardrockers" (our mascot) to the tune of "Rhinestone Cowboys". My beanie now is hidden in the bottom of my trunk, but those memories of beanie days will forever be fresh in my mind.

This will be my last post for the week as DH and I are heading near the Nebraska border for some good ole down home family visiting. I need not forget to mention that it's the last weekend for some fur trapping, so one of us will be enjoying that (can you guess who?). I for one will be lugging my sewing equipment along to take advantage of my long weekend...I can't hardly wait!!

BB

skeleton in the closet....

Well, it's time I let mine out. It's been hanging in there for almost a year, so this is the day! I purchased this cute pattern and fabric at a quilt show here in SD, cut it out the weekend I got it, and there it has been sitting ever since. I figured it was time to get that thing done! I will post pics once it is completed, but until then here's a WIP photo op.

almost quilt in a day.....

This past Saturday some members of my quilt guild took a class on Eleanor Burn's Spring season flower and basket block. We learned how to miter corners and how to do the "strip ticket" binding. It was so much fun just working on a project with a bunch of other ladies! I think in total we had some 25 of us in one room just sewing along. I didn't get my border on my block, nor did I get the embellishments set or applique on, but tonight I plan to do just that. Since my husband, father, and friend of the family take part in league archery every wednesday night, my mom decided it would be craft night. I'm excited to say the least. Usually it's craft night every night at my house, well, as soon as the supper is made, ate, and dishes are washed. Usually my craft nights are always interupted, but not tonight! My sister and a friend of the family will also be there....

Here is a picture of my WIP so far.

shake your pom-pom, shake your pom-pom....

Tonight I decided to get a little ahead......I did all of my next year ornament shopping at the end of the season to get some good deals. I thought that next year I would have somewhat of a theme..that theme will be "GREEN"...one of my favorite colors. It's the most "alive" color I know. When the grass is green my neighborhood surely comes to life! Since we started off this past Christmas season with green grass, I plan to savor a little of that for next year. I purchased some cute lime green bulbs, along with some glitzy glittered bulbs. I found some lime ribbon on sale the week after Christmas, and a few other odds and ends. Since I this year garlands were the hot thing I decided to start on my garland for next year (just to ensure it would get done). I picked up some yarn and I've been wrapping my fingers in hopes to knock out a bunch of pom-poms. Here is what I accomplished thus far.

The green screen umbrella items is an old picnic plate shelter I had handed down to me from my Great Aunt. I just loved the colors and the little pipe cleaner bugs on the screen! I thought sometime down the road it would be cool to make a canopy or mobile out of it...I guess I will save that for a later project!

Oh what fun the pom-poms have been..I can just feel Valentine pinks and reds fluttering in my head!!

another one bites the dust....

I sat down at my machine again tonight. I was originally going to work on a purse I had started for my friend awhile ago, but seem to be caught..I'm having a mental block. Not sure what I should add to "complete" this one. Any ideas are more than welcome!!

Since I had such a mental block I whipped out this little beauty. I'm afraid my Amy Butler stash is wasting away.....

I have quilt guild on saturday and before that some of us ladies are taking a quilt class. It should be a blast! We are doing a class from the Eleanor Burns "Through the Seasons" book...I'm just more than estatic about it. Hopefully I smuggle my camera in and get some fun shots!! Wishing you all the best of weekends!!

BB

ode to toile...

I'm a fan of many things: buttons, bowls, pillows, and FABRICS. My favorite of all fabrics would definately have to be toiles..with stripes in a close second. Since I titled this blog already, I will have to touch on stripes later on. I'm not really a french country type fan, but there is just something about a toile fabric. I suppose it's the contrast between 1 color and another, but it just catches my eye. It's just enough dazzle of sophistication for my liking. One day when I have a baby, I plan to make the baby nursery that of black and white toile..and then throw in a dash of blue or pink- depending on you know what. Until I can go on my hunt for such things I thought I would throw in all things toile.

Isn't this chair just charming? It's almost like she is whispering, "take off your shoes, come and rest your buns on my cushion..." Oh, wouldn't that just be heaven. I guess I can dream!

I wouldn't mind slipping my tooties into these. I think I would have a bit of a problem wearing them to the dairy though. I think they are a bit to New York for the country side of South Dakota!! They would be perfect for kicking back on the couch while eating a bowl of Rocky Road though!!

And how can I leave Roufus in the dark. Oh wait..that's right. DH won't let me get a dog. Well, until then a girl can dream!

Perhaps maybe this would change his mind about the dog issue..I guess ditto on the dream!!

Now I really wouldn't want to over do it, but if I could, this is how I would roll!!