Hallway Races

Yep.
That's how we spend our Saturday nights 'round here.
Or at least how we spent this last one.

We have this looong hallway in our house so it's the perfect running track for Sam's little legs.

Since I'm nursing a broken toe, I didn't partake but Danny and Sam had a blast "racing" each other. Sam let Daddy win a few times.

Sweet moment between my boys.
I'm the luckiest girl ♥

Office Reveal {so far}

Probably my favorite room in the house is my craft room/office.
I've shown you guys its original progression here and it's improvement here, and in that post I said I liked the muted walls okay, but wanted something more dramatic. Well, mission accomplished!

The frames aren't in their definite spots yet. I'm working out the kinks. I have discovered after a long day of indecisiveness, I suck at picture frame placement. At one point it looked like a rocket ship, so this is what I have so far.

I love that picture of my Samster.

Tutorial for that heart art will be up this week. Seriously the easiest project ever. Can you guess what the 3 yellow hearts represent? :)

I used candy jars to organize my spools and scrap fabric. I'm thinking about putting candy in them for late night sugar rushes. What do you think?

The prints are either my own photos, free blog printables, or I got them off Pinterest. I hope think you're allowed to print images as long as they're for personal use and you're not selling them or claiming they're your work. I Googled the crap outta this and couldn't find anything against personal use.

I wanted lots of art and color.

This is the "business" side of the room. The Office part of "office/craft room". Orange notebook from Target, white paper organizer is Johnathan Adler and pen container is an old preserves jar I found at Goodwill.Long white desks: Ikea.

I spray-painted that red door frame white to match. I really wanted a picture of a red door because I've always wanted one in real life.

Story of my life!

The plastic drawers protect the products made to order in my shop.

The other side of the room {which isn't painted yet} is my craft side. It's where I do all my cutting and sewing. Since the new wall color is so dramatic, this and the picture frame wall will be the only ones painted that color. Ps- sorry I didn't clean up for you. I thought you'd appreciate a "keepin' it realz" kind of photo instead :)

Remember this wreath I made when I jumped on the sheet music wreath craze?

My creative Director hard at work! I think I need something in that big ol' open space, no?  ♥Funny story about how that wall color came to be. After pouring over magazines and blogs, I got this "great" idea to take on a color that sane people would never paint their walls.Gumball blue.We're talkin' cotton candy, superman ice cream, blue razzleberry BLUE!I thought I was going to be so chic. Maybe pair it with fuchsias and black, I thought.Then I put it on my wall and slept on it. Woke up in a scary blue hell and went back to Home Depot that day begging them to fix the color (which, by the way is against policy I found out. But if you're nice enough and the manager's not around, sometimes they will. Wear a push-up bra too- can't hurt.)So all the nice man could do was add black.Okay, at least we're at normal blue now.More black.Okay.. umm... that's really dark.More black.Okay! That's as gutsy as I can handle dude!I took the color home, and voila- my newest wall color.Everyone said "don't do it! It's too dark!" But it really is beautiful on the wall.Kind of a dark slate bluish gray.
So what do you think? Do you find that you lean more towards the demure or the dramatic when it comes to your walls?

The Simple things

It's that time again!
Linking up with Rebecca at Simple as That.
Here are my photos I'm sharing this week.

 Silly Sam!

 I've been trying out solids this weekend. Normally I don't do a ruffle, but I love the punchiness and the fact that I have another use for my rosette fabric.

I made this little heart art for my new office wall, which I will be debuting tomorrow! Can you guess what the three yellow hearts represent? :)
Tutorial soon too.

So click the button below and link up! I know you have some fun photos to share of "the simple things" in your life.

Fitness Fail

So my son was born 2 years and 4 months ago and I've lost my mind, my keys, my nice carpeting, but not the baby weight.
Ugh.
I am not a fan of exercise. I never understood those people who rave about how refreshed they feel after a "great workout" because all I feel like is a sweaty mess in pain.
So we've covered part one of why I'm still husky; the physical part of physical fitness. Part two is that I'm cheap. Gym memberships are way too expensive so I needed to think of alternatives. A friend of mine gave me her old Flirty Girl Fitness DVD's (you know, the late night infomercials where the girls are dancing like uncoordinated white girls after too many wine coolers.) And those have sat collecting dust because I'm too embarrassed to play them for fear that my husband will come in and see me.
Enter: Apartment gym.
My mom lives in an apartment complex a couple miles away and has a free gym!!! FREE?! NO HUSBAND?! I'm in!
So starting Monday (provided my possibly-broken toe is all healed up) I will be starting my new fitness routine.
Because seriously, I GOTTA look cute this Halloween. Last year I was a fat cop and the year before that I didn't even dare dress up!
I'll probably post some before and afters once I get going.
So how do YOU stay motivated? What helps you work out and stay focused?

Easy peasy fabric & key necklace

I guess you could say it's a good thing that when I do something I commit to it 100%.
But that becomes a not so good thing when you pour a ton of time {and money} into
your ventures only to find 6 months later that you're not that into it. Sorry about the flute lessons in 6th grade, mom.
So enter: Beads.
A long time ago I took a class on how to make crochet beaded necklaces. The one I made is amazing. Like 5 strand beaded magic. I get stopped every time I wear it and comparable ones sell for $80-$150 {which is why I  took the class in the first place- I wanted one and was too cheap to pay for it, so I learned.} The problem is... I'm over beading. My husband wishes I weren't since these babies are big ticket items, but what can I say? For now at least, it's not my thing anymore.
Since I have a whole box of beading stuff, I try to find uses for them and that's how this easy DIY necklace came along.
I found a key charm that I wanted to use, but instead of beading it I thought of using fabric instead. Here's the simple how-to to get a fun necklace that's perfect for kids or adults.

 All you need are 3 strips of fabric, about half an inch thick each in the length you want your necklace (provide about an inch or two more for shrinkage during braiding) and a key charm you can purchase cheap at any craft store like Michaels, and a large jump ring that the fabric will fit through.

 Just braid the fabric, loop through the jump ring, and tie. Make sure you make the loop big enough to slip over your head!

Done! Told you it was easy peasy!

what a difference a year makes...

One year ago this month, I started sewing.
I was out shopping with my mom looking at all these beautiful fabrics, but I didn't know what to do with them. My grandma had always tried to teach me to sew as a girl, but I never had the patience for it. Now, I finally did. I bought a Singer Curvy and took it home, totally intimidated.
If you buy a machine at a JoAnn's you get a free "getting to know your machine" class which shows you how to thread the needle and bobbin, and how to use the different settings.
When I got home, it sat on my desk unused for about a month while I mustered up the courage to try something. I looked online for tutorials and how-to's and the first thing I ever made was a checkbook cover. I still have that thing and let me tell you, it its UGGGGLYYY. But at the time I was so proud of it. I even made one for my mom. I'm so glad I didn't have my Etsy shop yet, because thinking about those hideous things floating around in customers' purses totally freaks me out.

I made a couple other things before pulling out the big guns: the zipper pouch.
Working with zippers really isn't that difficult, but it took a lot of courage to make one and once I did, the same thing happened that did with the checkbook covers- it was atrocious. No top stitiching, no boxed bottom, crooked lines.

But about 10 pouches later, they started looking good and I started settling into my niche as a sewer.

I've since learned that top stitching is one of my favorite things to do- it makes the piece look polished AND reinforces the strength. One of my little "signatures" if you will, is I almost always use white thread and white zippers. And fun colorful fabric. Always.
My favorite thing to make is probably the zipper pouches and the my least favorite is probably anything wristlet because the handles make them take longer to assemble. But it really depends on my mood that day!
Five months of practice went by before I opened my Etsy shop, on 1/1/11. I really wanted everything to be perfect, which can be difficult when you're making handmade. But it's something I still strive for, and that's why I have the "SALE" section; anything that's not perfect -even if it's just a handle on the wrong side- goes in there with an explanation.
Now the shop has been open almost 8 months and I've had close to 100 sales without spending a dime for advertisement, which is really a huge testament to the internet, and the women who use it. I am so thankful for each and every person who even looks at my stuff, and even more so when they help support what I'm doing.

Remember any of these old banners? Before I got my website designed by the amazing Fabulous K Creative, I had a lot of ADD when it came to designing myself. Here's the progression of banners I've had before I finally got one to call my own...

I can't believe it's already been a year! But so much has happened and changed in that time. It's been a fun and exciting process that I hope is only beginning :)

The Simple Things

It's that time again! Another round of "The Simple Things" photo link ups with Rebecca!
To participate, just click the button below and link up a some favorite photos you've taken from your week, your blog, wherever- that remind you of the simple things in life that make you happy.

Here are mine for this week...

 This was a wall I shot in St. Thomas. I love the colors.

 I love this photo I took of my hubby on our Caribbean Cruise.

 Ludington, Michigan stop sign. I love guerrilla art like this!

 Lolli

 just straws

 gumballs from Sam's second birthday party

 organizing my paints...

 Always love shots of colorful fabric...

 Rainbow from outside my office/craft room window. Wish every day of sewing was like this.

 Campus Candy in Tucson, AZ

 More gumballs!

Nail Polishes at Urban Outfitters

I'm sensing a theme here... I always gravitate to colorful photos. And candy too apparently...

Go link up!

Great Ideas

Well here we are at the end of our weekend again. I'm pretty sure I broke my toe last night putting Sam to bed. Terrible twos at bedtime... not for the faint of hearts!
So I mostly spent my night stalking Pinterest for project ideas. Here are some I'd love to try...

I've always loved these framed 3D punch-outs. I just bought a Martha Stewart heart one that I got with a coupon that came in my Martha Stewart Living magazine. Score!

another one...

Remember when I made my rasta tree that didn't turn out as planned since the leaves looked like a Rastafarian's dreadlocks? These felt leaves would be a better alternative to try!

Lovely use of fabric :)

I can't decide what I like more- the framed "K", the ribbon banner, or the bedspread and pillows. All I know is I need a girl next!

Cutest mobile ever!

More heart-punch projects. Paintchips are a genius way to use color for free.

I love this chevron canvas!

How cool is this? Spell or draw something on your wall with pushpins.

The whimsy of these colorful bowls make me so happy!

This painted canvas is something the whole family can contribute to, and what a cute gift for a grandparent!

I'm doing this on Sam's next birthday. You sneak in their room the night before their birthday and cover the floor while they're sleeping for a festive surprise in the morning!

I'm loving map art right now, can you tell?

This is the sweetest idea. Pregnancy photo week by week in the same dress. Another thing I will be doing in the future!All Pinterest photos via

Don't forget- JoAnn Etc is having their big sale right now and it started TODAY!
Wish my toe wasn't broken. Maybe I can get Sam to push me in the cart this time?