Oh Boy Sheboygan!

Sheboygan you are so lucky. You're just across the pond (Lake MI) and I've never seen ya. But you have the coolest things. #1 is Jen from jennadesigns. And her cute kiddos. Someday I will go out there and meet them! I know I've said it before on here, but I'm saying it again. Jen is the bees knees. That was super nerdy, but I'm running out of ways to express this since I've probably blogged about her 4 times already. I can't help it, she's my favorite Twitter pal. And that's not just because she sends me awesome things like these:

It's like Christmas in my mailbox!! How great is that quilted List Taker?! I'm in love with the fabrics! Especially the yellow and brown one on the bottom right corner of the List Taker. She sent me a cool chunk of Robert Kaufman fabric with fun turtles on it too! I may make one of my Itty Bitty Snap Pouches with it today. I saved my very last frame for it! The card with the flower on it is a photo she took herself as well. I know it's basically a business card, but I'll probably frame the photo to add it to my collection. In the past year I have really expanded my collection of art from people I know. Every single piece in my living room was made by a local artist or good friend of mine.

And the best part of this awesome gift! 60 minutes of crafty music! When I opened this package I showed my son the CD. He insisted that I turn it on right then. Within the first minute it had his approval. "Oh Mom! This is a brand new song, thanks for giving it to me!" and then on to "Who sings this song?" whenever a new one started. So thank you Jen for the other gift that came with this, the great big smile on my beautiful boy's face :)

Check out this fantastic playlist! Get out your magnifying glass... I'm no computer whiz here.


This CD hasn't left my CD player since I opened the package! I'm looking forward to listening to it while I create today. Thank you so much Jen!! I love it all so much!!

What are you creating today? I've got the Ugly Quilt to bind and a dress to alter for a wedding on Saturday on my list . It's a former bridesmaid dress, so I'm crossing my fingers that the wedding party will not be in chocolate brown. A big pot of chili is on my list of to-do's today also. It's a perfect rainy and cold chili day here in MI!

From the Car?

Art Prize is awesome. From the moment I heard about it I knew it would be one of the greatest things to happen to Grand Rapids.

What is Art Prize? Art Prize is a chance for artists of any medium to show their work in a number of venues around Grand Rapids. There is art shown in the streets, on the sides of buildings, and inside tons of restaurants, shops, and other buildings around town. The winners are determined by registered public vote and the winner gets $250,000!!


Look at a view from above!* This isn't even all of it, just one tiny speck of downtown! People everywhere!!

I had to see Art Prize from the car today unfortunately. My son had an award-winning attitude so we decided not to get involved in that giant mass of people. I didn't get very many good pictures from the car. I did see this awesome building covered in flowers though!

If you are in the area you should definitely check out Art Prize! I hope it becomes an annual event. Cross your fingers that next weekend I actually get the chance to see some more amazing art!

I hear the artist of this piece is living on top of this splatter painted tower till Art Prize is over. I've never understood why people do these sort of things. Where's he supposed to poo at? Why is this my first wonder upon hearing about this?

To learn more about Art Prize click here.

Since we're on the 'from the car' picture trip...

I think whoever decided to do this...


...along US131 needs to head on up to GR and see something pretty. Because the design of this is just awful. Now I know it's not supposed to be art, but come on, could it be any uglier?! I know it's fairly hard to see as I was driving down the highway when I took it, but it is a metal fence on each side of the median. The posts are connected with metal cable. Ick. In a few years when this is all rusted and nasty it will just look worse.

From what I hear it was put up to stop cars from crossing the median and going into oncoming traffic. Now I know this does happen, but come on, how often? What about when the snow flies? I'm sure accidents from crossing the median are more prevalent then but where will the cars go now when they slide off? They will either stay on the road for the rest of us to hit or maneuver around or according to this video they'll be shot back into traffic big-cable-rubberband-style. You really only need to watch the first 6 seconds of that video to see how badly this could turn out. For those that do slide off, they won't just need a tow truck to yank them out of the ditch, they'll also need a body repair shop. That fence is going to %*&# some cars up. Also, wouldn't one ugly ass fence down the center work just as well and cost half as much? Seems like it'd give a little extra space when you're being thrown back by the cable.

Maybe it is good somehow for some states, but a state covered in ice and snow for a good majority of the year? I don't want my car to be the one shot out of the median like a slingshot that's for damn sure. Saying a prayer that I'm proven wrong about this being a bad idea this winter.

Ughhhh Michigan, if you didn't bring me things like Art Prize, northern MI beauty, and my family, I'd think you were trying to chase me away!



*Picture found on Twitter. Will give credit should I ever find you again...

Magnets!

I added a bunch of magnet sets to my shop tonight!

Also, for the rest of September get a FREE magnet with every purchase!

Short and sweet tonight...

Tomorrow is my son's first field trip!

We are headed to the apple orchard bright and early.

Ali is coming along too. She's so excited that she finally gets to go to school,

even if it's for one day and we'll barely see the classroom. :)

What To Do...

Ok. I don't know what to do with these. I make hats every winter. I thought I was quick... but upon discussing crochet with my friend Becky from wanderlust*creations who crochets about 6,768,234 times faster than I do, I realized I'm sloooow. It hurts me to sell a hat for a mere $20 when I know how long it took me. Not that I ever sold one. So when they expired, aside from the Etsy Front Pagers, I didn't relist them. Now that it's getting colder I'm wondering what to do with them.

--give them to friends?

--have a giveaway?

--relist them on Etsy?

--start wearing a hell of a lot more hats?

--who the hell knows?

It's easier to give away a hat to someone I like than to only charge $20. Does that make any sense?

Recently I made a Facebook post saying that I was in a baby stuff making mood and if any of my friends were pregnant and I forgot/didn't yet know then they'd better tell me if they want cool stuff. Only one of my friends was ballsy enough to say "Hey my wife is pregnant, what do we get?" Happens to be my first high school boyfriend too - haha! If you want my stuff you've got to tell me. He's getting something awesome. My memory is shit and I need this all grouped into one memorable corner of my mind.

So far on my Knocked-Up List is: my best friend Megan, my ex-boyfriend Jessy, my cousin Kathy, my childhood best friend Michelle, and dang it... someone I've forgotten. That will now bother me all night.

From hats to this... how does that happen? What do I do with these hats?? Give them to the first gutsy people that scream at me "I WANT A HAT!! GIMME ONE!!"? I love them but I don't want them throwing off the feeling of my shop as it is now. Crocheted hats just seem kind of random in there. Am I being wayyy too picky?

Some Finished Works... The Things That Keep Me Busy Lately...

Man I've been busy!! I went through a baby stuff stage where I just couldn't stop making pinafores, quilts, and bibs. Just can't stop. Here's the back of one of the pinafores I made. These are the cutest ever. I wish I could pull this off as an adult, it looks so comfy!! Not sure who this is for yet, but it will be gifted to one of my many pregnant friends. :)

This patchwork purse is fabulous! It is triple-stitched and double-interfaced with a quilted strap and a twist lock. This purse should survive the apocalyse. Or at least my friend Beth the Purse Destroyer. She beats the hell out of purses, so I took on this challenge. She's owned it for only 2 days so far, but I'm curious to see what sort of beating it takes. I'm hoping it works out for her since I may cry to see this many hours of hard work end in purse destruction. I'm not sure how she does this.

These were a gift to some friends for their bridal shower. They had registered for a fabulous chocolate brown super-soft blanket that I of course had to buy them. Then make them awesome pillows to match. I kinda love making patchwork pillows. Next time pillow forms are on sale I may get out of control. These turned out great and she loved them! Come to find out they reallllly needed some throw pillows too! Score one for Lane! They also unzip in the back for easy cleaning!

This quilt is a work in progress. Progress being that I cut the squares, put them in a ziploc, and let them sit here for a couple weeks. Motivation where are you? Asian prints. Funny ones, serious ones, hideous ones. I can say that since my sis is the one that picked them out. I'm not sure if I like this quilt. I promise you a quilt before the snow flies Sis! It WILL happen!

My part-time girl Ali had a birthday this weekend! She is all about princesses and Tinkerbell right now. I took her to the fabric store last Friday while my boy was in school and let her pick some things out. Who would've thought a 3 yo would have such grand ideas?! She's full of them! In the end, based on time, I was forced to choose the quickest project, which luckily she loves!! A fleece Tinkerbell pillow, with a zipper for easy washing. But I couldn't stop there. I used the extra/scraps to make her baby a pillow as well. She loves it!!

This is Egg-cellent! And I'm a dork. It does look like eggs though, right? Slightly larger than my Itty Bitty Pouches, but not much. Lined in blue. Fab. I looove this fabric. My sis recently moved to Lexington and keeps finding the BEST prints for me! It's like Christmas in my mailbox all the time. :)

Ladies ladies ladies. Another awesome fabric that my sis sent! Robert Kaufman, I love you. I just had to fit at least half a lady on a pouch. It's too cute not to!

So that's *some* of what I've been up to lately! More to come soon! I've got a pile of cozy legwarmers in the works today!