Happiness

Isn't it funny that a paper plate full of buttons can make me so happy? I love color and I love looking at these.
I've been getting the kids ready for Halloween - I'll post pictures here of them after we get some good shots. My son is going as a Ghostbuster and my daughter as a belly dancer. Not sure yet how I'm going to make that one warm enough!
Here's some new projects I've been working on lately.


Hope you all have a fantastic Halloween weekend! :)

So, it's been a while since I've posted, and I feel so left out of the loop! Thank you everyone, for all your sweet responses to my last post. Reading your comments REALLY cheered me up. I felt much better and got over my sad feelings - so thanks!
Getting this in the mail cheered me too - look what I won from Michele over at This Good Day! Isn't it sweet? And she threw in another beautiful tag that I wasn't expecting - and all of it was beautifully wrapped in tissue tied with seam binding. Thank you so much Michele! I love it!

And here's some new projects I've been working on. I made these trees and I really liked them. I'm going to try some more with non-traditional colors soon like pink and blue. I think that will be cute.
I've also started working on some new stuffed houses - here's a mini one just for fun and I'm working on a bigger one now. I don't know why I love them so much, I just do! Anyone else like houses as much as me? I have bird houses, doll houses, mini houses - all over my house - I think it drives my husband nuts! But I can't help it! I'll post the new ones soon.

And here's another project I forgot to post before - it's my "Jolly" letters from Say It With Letters. I decorated them in a kind of non-traditional color scheme and I can't wait to hang them up on my wall. After Halloween is over, of course!


Have a wonderful week, everyone, and thanks again for your kind comments - you're awesome friends! :)

Stopping to Count My Blessings

Hey everyone - I am feeling a little sentimental tonight and emotional for some reason and just wanted to post to see if anyone was out there! I feel like fall is whipping by and I just can't catch five minutes of time to enjoy it. Fall is my favorite season and it's just so beautiful here in New England. I am spoiled!

Here's some funny pictures of my two kids participating in the Harvest Fest Corn eating contest a week ago! Neither of them won, but it sure was fun to watch them gobble up corn as fast as they could. I am super blessed to have such wonderful kids.

Later we went to see the fireworks and I snapped this photo of my hubby and daughter. It's one of my favorites. It was a super relaxing evening and we just don't get many of those with everyone's busy schedules. So looking at this makes me feel good.
I hope you're all enjoying the fall and taking time with your dear family and friends. :)

Feels Like Fall

Hi Everyone!
I just spent all afternoon outside with my little one. She pulled me out and I'm glad she did. We spent an hour just sitting in the sun on the front lawn of the house, - laying around in the grass, wrestling and just doing nothing. Totally relaxing and totally what I've needed lately. I've been trying to teach her to whistle with a piece of grass between her fingers like my Mom and Dad taught me. A happy memory. Anyone else out there able to do it? It does take some practice!
And look at these beautiful tags I received in the mail yesterday from my friend Tracy over at Tied Up Memories. She uses kraft paper for the backing which makes them look like leaves which I think is so cool. I hung them on an old twisted wire tree that I bought a few years ago at a church sale but haven't used much until now. Check out Tracy's beautiful Etsy shop here.

Another one of the tags on the left in this picture is from Laura over at Busybee-Laura. I did a Halloween swap with her and she sent me the tag with the purple spider on it and the MOST beautiful Halloween apron (and many other wonderful Halloween goodies!). I wish I had taken a picture of it but it's been put to use many times already and it's hanging downstairs in my pantry! Check out her Etsy shop here!: Gigi Kay.
And last but not least, I was thrilled today to have one of my pieces featured on the front page of Lollishops! Sadie Lou sent me the sweetest note and then I went to go see it - set amongst the most beautiful things ever! Go check out Lollishops if you have time - it's worth the trip!

Busier Than A One Armed Paper Hanger

Ha. That's what my Dad always says and that's the way I feel this week - super busy! This weekend is our small town's Fall Celebration. It's called the Home and Harvest Festival, and everyone I know in town is volunteering their time in some way. I am also appointed to a few extra town tasks and I am feeling the pressure! I can't wait til a lot of it passes and I can breathe a sigh of relief! So if some of you haven't heard from me in a while, that's the reason why!

On to other news - my little shop Trinkets was featured today on one of my favorite websites:
On the Dot Creations! What an honor to be put right up there on top! Thank you! My work has also been featured in a few Etsy treasuries, which really made my day! :)
I have been super busy with creating as well, and just finished a huge order. Here's a peek at some of my newest products!


Check them out at Trinkets!

Flowers, Quilts and Halloween!

So, I thought that now that I have two kids in school that things were going to slow down a bit. Why do they seem busier than ever? With soccer, school forms, new friends and new projects - will there ever be enough hours in the day? That's why I haven't been around as much. But I'm going to try to be better. Just wanted to show you some things I've been working on lately. Here's a quilt that I made out of some fabric that I really love - it's Oh Cherry Oh, by Moda. My daughter loves it so much I never really got to finish it. And of course, I royally screwed it up in many places! But it doesn't look like she cares!

And here's more projects I've taken on. Lots and lots of flower bouquets! I have always loved flowers and it seems that many of you out there do too! I enjoy making them and I enjoy looking at them - real or fake! :)


I also can't seem to get enough Halloween lately. Are you like that too? I just finished decorating these letters last night. They're from Say It With Letters and they come unfinished. Check out her website for all kinds of shapes and cool giant letters for your wall!


I start to get in a Halloween mood every year when it starts turning "autumny" in New England. I am so ready to break out my fall and Halloween decorations but I don't want my husband to yell at me. Ha. I might do it anyway! Happy Fall!

Giveaway Winner Announced!

Hello everyone -
It's time to announce my first giveaway winner! I just want to thank everyone who participated and especially all the people who made that extra effort and posted about it on their blogs. I would like to think that I have made a few new, good friends from this giveaway because a few of you have become followers and have come back to chat, which is really why I did it in the first place! I love blogland and I love making new friends. So without further ado, here is the winner of the pincushion and book that my lovely assistant chose from the bucket of names.... drumroll please....

Penelope Ann of Candy Stick Lane. I think she also goes by Renee. I'm not sure. Either way - send me your snail mail address, and I'll ship this right out to you! :)
Again - thank you all for playing along - I wish I had a prize for everyone, I really do.
And speaking of my assistant - we've had a lovely week together - just the two of us. (Her brother is away on a trip with his Father.) We've kind of been celebrating the last week of freedom before she starts school for the first time on Monday. Kindergarten. We're both a tiny bit apprehensive but mostly excited. She's extremely social and I'm hoping she'll love it. It will be weird without her here though, as we've been together nearly every minute in all of her five and a half years. It will certainly be different!
Check out what she made today! This cool Halloween haunted house. She designed everything herself - neat huh?
And here's something I made this morning. I never get tired of these cheerful, bright colors. Have a great week, everyone! :)

Up Too Late At Night!

Hey Everyone -
Have you been as busy as I have? I have been crafting into the wee hours of the morning, and in this heat, you feel pretty sapped of strength in the morning. But I really wouldn't have it any other way. Except for the heat, of course!
Look what I finished yesterday. The pictures aren't the greatest because I took them late last night! And this was a fun project. I got the idea from this blog: My Lily Eden. Her blog is super cool as well as her creations. Check out her darling Etsy site: Lemon Tree Studio. A girl after my own heart, obviously! :)
These letters were sewn onto a fleece interfacing and free-form drawn/cut out of fabric. (I didn't have any letter stencils handy.) It's hard to get a good picture because they're so big - nearly 4 x 6" each. But they are super fun and now my daughter wants me to make some in the letters of her name. I'm glad her name isn't that long!
And this is a fun black and orange Halloween bouquet of felt flowers I made this week. I am totally in a fall mood all of a sudden - are you? I just wish the weather would cooperate now!
Also - don't forget to enter my Pincushion and Book giveaway! See below or: Laurie Star Pincushion Giveaway!. You have until Monday the 24th to enter!

Pincushion Giveaway!

Hello my blogging friends -
Things around here have been super busy - super crazy. But in a good way - ya know? Still, sometimes I wonder if my head is screwed on straight, and if I'll remember to get everything done that I promised to everyone. Yikes! I usually do though. I think I am the over-achiever of my family. Ha. Okay,.. on to more fun things. This week - something new for me. A giveaway!

I have been doing a TON of sewing lately, and I would be lost without these little things - pincushions! I have one in my sewing box, one near my machine, one near my cutting table. I really don't know what I would do without them. This is a picture of one I made and one my mother made for me years ago.

And since I love them so much, I want to pass one on to one of my loyal readers to share the love! This is one I made with really fun, bright fabrics. And it will come to you with a copy of this adorable book - "Pretty Little Pincushions," by Lark Books. This book is full of the cutest pincushion designs so you can make your own!
So, all you have to do is leave a comment to this post by August 24th, and I will randomly draw a name the next day on the 25th and post it here. Please make sure I can find you somehow through your comment - and if you blog about it and include a link to my site, I will enter your name twice! And I will ship internationally, so my new friends can play along too! Good luck everyone! (And thank you, Elyse, for pushing me to do it finally! :)

Check out some of the newest pincushions I've made in my shop! Trinkets!

MIA

So... I haven't been around as much this week in blogland and I feel left out of the loop. I miss it! But we've been doing a lot of swim lessons, house stuff - you know, summer types of things. Here's a picture of my grouchy daughter at the lake today. Sometimes she's really a sour puss and doesn't want me to take her picture, but I did anyway because she's wearing the little hair clip I whipped up for her. I thought she looked cute even with a scowl on her face!
But it's all these type of activities keep me away from my computer and usually that's okay, but sometimes I really miss seeing everyone's pretty blog posts!

In the evenings I try to squeeze in a little creating - here's a new polka dot birdie I made and put on a decorated spool. I think he's kinda cute - especially on one side where his eye came out in the dot. Cute.


And then this morning I made this little pillow/wall hanging, and soon I'm going to make more for my Etsy shop Trinkets with different birds because I really love birds - can you tell? :) I'll post more pictures of the other ones when they're done. What have the rest of you girls been up to this week?