My Budding Designer

Sydney is usually not very interested in or impressed with my designs, so I nearly keeled over when she asked me to make her a party dress for a birthday party a few weeks ago. I was super eager to do it, especially because she wanted to help design it - but the catch was, she asked me to do it at 8:00 AM, and the party was at 1:00 PM. I managed to pull it off, but was in PJ's all morning, barely stopping to eat.


Sydney picked out the fabrics from my stash all by herself and helped with the design, by choosing one she liked from my portfolio. I am excited to be able to offer this dress designed by Sydney for sale on my blog! I have enough fabric to recreate it at least once. I can recreate it in sizes 2 through 6, and the price is $80, shipping included.

UPDATE: Thank you for the interest - "Sydney's dress" is now sold!

I also listed a new capri set on eBay this morning, check it by clicking here.

I know I owe you 8 facts about me, too...I am working on it, I promise!

Reluctant Little Helpers

I have heard that there are some kids so eager to be just like mommy (or I guess daddy - but not at my house...) that they are right there to spray the windex or scrub the toilet. My kids, on the other hand, give me a polite, "No, thank you!" when I ask if they want to help mommy.





Yesterday, we bought the first corn cobs of the season - and I decided that my two non-helpers were going to be shucking the corn, and that was that! I sent them outside with vague instructions (peel the leaves and "hair off") and a wagon to hold the husks. There was quite a bit of whining to be heard drifting in the kitchen window - but after a time, husk-free corn cobs appeared in the kitchen! I was beaming with pride for them, and...I'm pretty sure they were proud of themselves, too :)


And hey, know who else I am proud of? My friend Sandi - something she made is in a magazine, and she has been interviewed on a quilting website! Check it out on her blog :)


Do you know who else I'm proud of? Why, me! I worked really hard on this new design for the BonBijou Girly launch. Check out my listing by clicking here.


I am going to try to make a second post today. *GASP* My friend Gyl has tagged me, and just like when I was a kid, I am proving to suck at this game - but I will try - I swear.

Question for the blogging moms

This one is going out to all the blogging moms out there. Faced with a day full of dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, and maybe a nerve-tingling stop at a local park, how on earth to you muster up a blog that is not so mundane it brings on tears? I'm not complaining, I am being sincere!

Today is going to be one of those days. We have a long weekend coming up, and I am faced with getting everyon'e clothes cleaned, pets ready for our absence, and countless other completely boring tasks. So what on earth can I blog about? I guess that's the challenge, huh? To find the exceptional in the every day?

What I can post about is my wonderful Mother's Day. We started the day off with a delicious brunch. The good thing about being pregnant and having brunch is that I really got my money's worth! I think I out-ate Matt. And the girls gave me such thoughtful love-filled presents. Sydney gave me a beautiful wallet she decorated with stickers and fabric pens. It was her idea, because my wallet is falling apart - so that wallet is really in my purse, and I really use it. :) Fiona made me a gorgeous green bead necklace, which I have been wearing all week. And..my husband, through an unfortunate miscommunication, gave me my present early: a bright shiny Kitchenaid! I love it! Go ahead, call me domestic. It's not as flashy as lucky Patty's present, but it'll do. Hope you all had great Mother's days, too!

Quick one - new sundress!

This is just a quick post to say I have a new sundress style listed with the fabulous Boutique Gypsies for their I Spy Launch. It was inspired by my retro kitchen cabinets, and is made from the most delicious kitschy fabrics. It is available in sizes 2 through 6, and I can only remake this design once, sorry!


Click here to see my auction.
Click here to see the all the auctions in the Boutique Gypsies launch.


And...yes, I know I have been tagged a bunch to reveal 7 fun secrets - I am meditating on those, and should have them up soon. Most of my secrets are dark and scary - not fun!! I'm kidding...no really, I am, bwa ha ha ha.

Ack - has it really been 3 weeks?

Wow - I really meant to post during the last 3 weeks, but somehow they just got away from me! Sorry to those that kept checking and finding...deafening silence!

On the design front, I have a launch with the Gypsies tomorrow inspired by my kitchen cabinets! Heehee, I'm giggling away again!! Wait until you see the dress, though - it really fits!

I'm excited to be selling some pieces on my friend Whitney's website, The Silly Wagon. They are almost up and running, you can check out her blog here.

I have received so many email asking about my cat, Oscar. Thank you so much for your concern, he is doing SO much better!! We are treating him for degenerative heart disease with beta-blockers, and he is back to himself! It's not a cure by any means, but it is a treatment and hopefully will buy him a few more years with us. I have to say it is a HOOT buying a prescription for a cat at the pharmacy!! Apparently it happens all the time, but I laughed about it all afternoon! I have to refill "Oscar (feline)'s" prescription today, so I know I am in for a giggly afternoon!

Finally, I think spring has actually sprung around here! We are spending more and more time outside just soaking up the sun (slathered in sunscreen of course). The park next door is getting alot of attention from us - we are having picnics and blowing a ridiculous amount of bubbles. It's the best!

Hope the sun is out where you are too!!

Woohoo! Cat Pee!!

My sweet kitty Oscar is sick. He is 8 years old, and has been in perfect health his whole life - but after a few days of severe lethargy, we took him to the vet Sunday afternoon. She hospitalized him because of his sever dehydration and ran a slew of tests on him, none of which revealed much about what was making him sick.


We decided to bring him home last night. We are feeding him with a syringe and giving him oral antibiotics, which explains his dirty mouth in the picture. Last night was rough, I prepared myself for the worst. Cried myself to sleep for the first time in years.


But this morning, Matt woke me up because Oscar had hopped into bed with us and was purring on my pillow. I fed him by syringe this morning, and he took about 30 mL. But the BIG news is that I just took him to his litter box, and he had a big pee! The first one since he came home, which is GREAT! Then he went to his food dish and ate some of his dry food!


I have to believe there's hope for him to recover or else I'll become a blubbering mess.


At least I have TV to distract me now. Remember this post? Well, we're weak. Thanks to a new satellite on the roof, we have about a billion more channels than before - which ain't so good. But I did watch American Idol at 5:00 last night!!



I'm also working really hard on my custom orders right now. I have a beautiful new design up on eBay right now, too. Take a look here.

Can we live without TV?

This sucks!!

Officially, we never ordered cable at this house when we moved in last December. We weren't going to order it - but when we hooked our TV up, lo and behold, FULL CABLE! But last night when I turned the TV on at 8:00 to watch Lost, it was a black screen! I frantically flipped through channels, and just about cried when I realized there were no network channels. We get a few really random channels, but nothing worthwhile. I didn't get to watch Lost, and my husband was really ticked he didn't get to watch the first Canucks playoff game! WAH.

We aren't a major TV watching family. Us grown-ups have a repertoire of about 5 shows we like to watch, the rest of the evening is spent doing other things. The kids watch 2 shows on CBC in the morning: Lunar Jim and Curious George. The kids LOVE these guys, we even went to see them when they came here live! Then the TV is off all day. But those 2 shows in the morning are pretty freaking important! That's when I check my email, read blogs, have a shower, drink coffee, basically become human. They are watching Barney right now on a random channel, which has me almost ready to crack.

We can't call the cable company to ask what's going on, because we don't officially have cable! So now we need to ask ourselves whether or not we want to order it. The proverbial shoulder sitters are having an argument:

NO: TV doesn't enrich my life - it's a time sucker.

YES: I really love my shows! I deserve some down time and to enjoy adult shows!

NO: Set a good example for the kids.

YES: TV can be educational.

NO: It's an extra $50 a month, where is that going to come from?

YES: Got me there...

I'm thinking it's going to be no. Spring is here after all (even though it's bloody hard to tell) and we can be accomplishing so much more. I know I will get way more sewing done if I don't have the TV to distract me. I still have the internet anyhow.

SIGH* I guess it's a done deal.

Even though it's hard, I'm still hanging tough in Use What You Have month, and will be participating in the eBay launch on April 30.

I'm also restocking my Blossom Street Shoppe tonight - hopefully I'll have some separates I'm working on up there - they are soooo cool, I can't wait to share them.

I've thrown some spring pictures of my kiddos in this post, just for my own encouragement, bear them please.