Im on a roll...

Im on a roll...my Dh gave me a new camera for my birthday and I am having so much fun playing with it! This is one of the skirts ready for the craft fair! I spent the day fabric shopping yesterday - it was heaven. I looked up all the quilt stores in my area and visited four of them! One was very disappointing - I left without a yard of fabric, which is not like me, but I was totally uninspired. However I did discover a new quilt shop that had beautiful fabrics from sisboom, Heather Ross, Heather Bailey and Anna Maria Horner. I decided to grab a fatquarter pack of the the Good Folks to get a better feel for how the patterns went together. I really like how the skirt came out! I added the moda blue and brown polka dot - hoping to tie it together.
I am using the rest of the fq pack to make a size 3. I am hoping to spend the next few days on getting the skirts done.

It's funny as I work on this craft fair project - I feel myself begining to define my style more. I'll talk more about it tomorrow...more pics...

Stay out of her way!

As life gets busy, I try hard to get everything done and keep organized. Activities, playdates, laundry, dinner etc. My hope for my children is their childhood is enriching and provides opportunities for them to reach their full potential (I overloaded on Maslow in college).
For my son this is great it's the way he rolls. He wakes up at 7am dressed, packed and ready to go for the day. He's like the energizer rabbit and loves a schedule! Many times in the rush of getting it all checked off - I don't always take the time to see what both my children really need ...
Jessie follows the beat of her own drummer and it rushes nowhere! She is naturally drawn to beautiful things and perceives the world in a real visual way. At her age she has the patience to work on a project and make decisions with much care and thought. I have bought her dolls, tricycles, blocks, videos enrolled her in dance, soccer and gymnastics - when I get out of her way, what she really wants to do is color, paint and water the plants. Perhaps I need to stay out of her way a little more. Lesson being learned!
Today Jessie and I began painting our tag sale hat rack. We had extra paint in the garage and I think it is turning our well. We all agreed it looks like a flower in the garden and we will add glitter at the end!

I have completed two more skirts for the craft shows and I will try to take pics this week and post them!

The Planning....and the editing!!

So I have been playing with my fabrics to come up with possible designs for the craft show. I am going to focus on ruffles, twirl skirts and head scarfs. My friend does beautiful appliques shirts and I think it will be a good combo! You would think the planning from that point would be easy...however...the biggest challenge for me is the editing of ideas. I want to use every fabric in my stash and then some.

So I made some rules: it has to be a fall design and color. It will be Sept. and we are all ready for a beautiful fall in New England by then. Again you would think this would make it easier but then I have too choose between cotton, denim, cord etc.

Anyway I decided to put the fabrics with my "sketches" (I hesitate to call them that - they are a little pathetic) on the dining room table to get a big picture of what I am doing. I hope that makes sense. If anyone has any ideas on editing - please let me know - My head is spinning!

Oh look what I found at a tag sale for 5 dollars (excuse the messy garage) - I am going to paint it - maybe some glitter of course. The hat stand not the garage - though that might be fun too. Then I can use it to display clothes at the craft show - Cute!

.

.

A plan starting to take form...

It has been a goal of mine to do a craft show for awhile now. I think I miss being part of a creative community like I was when I was younger and working in theatre in NYC. have been attending many craft shows this summer and have become very inspired. Since I over research everything - I started viewing applications and requirements of shows in my area. I quickly realized I would need a picture of a booth set up. This leads to my visit to the local mall where JJill (one of my favorite stores) was going out of business. They were having a great sale on their clothes - but also were selling their fixtures. Look what I got!

I actually snagged three of them...at a great price - $20 each!

I also found these fabulous girls - but I think they need some cute eyes, noses and lips...I'll work on it. I was able to bring home four of them...Love It!

And the best part is a week later my neighbor and I decided to do the local craft show in Sept. AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lemons to lemonade!

When my DH and I bought our current house - it had so much we wanted. It was at the end of a culdesac, great schools and a large family room. The one thing missing was a large flat backyard for a swingset and the kids to play in. The back yard is a large hill that descends to a creek. A couple of summers we tried the small pools - but they never worked because one side would overflow and the other would never fill. We tried fancy nemo and elmo sprinklers but they always fell over and tumbled down the hill.



Then one summer we discovered the slip and slide. Since them it has grown into three slip and slides with a tarp at the bottom. It has become our own personal water ride. I will say it can get muddy but the kids don't seem to care! They love it!








We now have the perfect backyard for the summer and sledding in the winter is a blast! The kids love their backyard and don't seem to miss the swingset...yet.

I have a son too ...he is so cool!

I have a son - though when you look at my flicker or etsy you wouldn't know it. He is the coolest! He is eight years old and so much fun to be around. He has an enthusiam for so many things and always keeps us busy. When I first began sewing again he waited patiently for his project. This fall I made him a fleece hoodie of his favorite baseball team and he was psyched. I won't say Mets or Yankees or Red Sox because in this part of New England those loyalties are taken very seriously!

I am looking forward to a great summer hanging out - but it was 62 degrees here today - so hopefully it will come soon!

I love his expression in this picture ...Come on Mom...

Sis Boom and a pony too!

I am lucky enough to live in Connecticut and within driving distance of many wonderful things - including Jennifer Paganelli and Sis Boom Fabrics. This weekend she opened up her home and shop to the public and it is truly a magical experience for anyone who adores her fabrics. They had pony rides for the children and of course Jessiegirl was right there for that! The ladies were so sweet and even let her wear the cowboy hat - Problem is - now she wants a pony!

Once inside her beautiful home she has all her goodies out and you are completely surrounded by creativity and gorgeous fabric. there were clothes, purses, aprons etc. We picked out some ribbon, fat quarters and a cute pink purse. It was so hard to choose!

Jennifer Paganelli held a workshop in March where she inspired us to make creative scrapbooks. I attended and it was a wonderful experience. http://jenniferpaganelli.typepad.com/sis_boom_day_dreams/2009/03/index.html

She is so open and enthusiastic about not only what she does, but helping other women tap into their creativity. I left that workshop feeling that I had a valid and original creative point of view. I hope that makes sense. On Saturday - Jennifer told me they will be having another workshop in September - can't wait!

As we left Jessie insisted on smelling the flowers and if you don't stop and smell the flowers at this gorgeous home - I don't know where you would...