Vintage ABC Swap

My friend Kim makes WONDERFUL tags and cards and is a part of a tag swapping group on Yahoo.  She found out about a wonderful swap and convinced me to join in the fun. 26 tag swappers got together and each took a letter of the alphabet. I was Miss I.  For each tag, we tried to incorporate lots of things beginning with our letter from color to flower to virtue.  Our wonderful coordinator is going to bind the cards into an ABC book when everyone finishes.  Almost all the cards have been sent in and I am so excited about the sneak peeks that have been shared. 

I forgot to take a photo of my card. If you look closely, you can see it in the second row from the top. It is the INDIGO card!  I made up this sentence and created my card around it:  "The Imperial Infant had an Imaginative Idea about an Insect."  Hopefully, everyone will like it. I promise to post photos when I get the finished product. So exciting!!!

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

I was feeling low yesterday. We found out our landlord is raising our rent. With my husband still out of work, we have been just managing to cover our bills. Trying to come up with another $300 a month is going to be very difficult. I was trying to put this out of my mind for a little while and focus on my child when a knock came at the front door.


I have a dear friend who is a publicist for a local publishing company. She is helping to publicize Alice Walker's new book of poetry and had gotten one signed for me. She wanted to drop it off. It was just the boost I needed. Did you notice the title of the book?


Somehow God knew I needed that knock on the front door. And with friends like these, I know I will get by.


(By the way, the poems are great! I read a few last night and look forward to reading a few more today. Sometimes, you just need a poem to give you a boost!)

Super Fast Superhero Cape

Thanks to Jenny over at the Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts, I tried out a super-fast Superhero cape this weekend.  Still needs a little work but it inspires me to make more!!!

(It was hard to get a good shot of my little superhero!)

Inspired Ideas Returns!!!

So many wonderful things happening this week!

When Amy Powers used to do her online magazine called INSPIRED IDEAS, I became....well....inspired to start working on a creative journal. Amy introduced wonderful techniques and ideas to that challenged me to try new things.  And all it took was a download or two and some paper.  I was bummed when she discontinued her 'zine (although it was because of some very happy things going on in her life).

Well, INSPIRED IDEAS returns today!!!

Guess where I will be at 3pm EST today?

(photo borrowed from and owned by Amy Powers)

*UPDATE* There are so many wonderful ideas in this issue that I can't decide what to do first! My favorites:  a cigar box stage, a Halloween embroidery sampler, learning how to add color to embroidery, making rick-rack flowers and creating an ABC learning toy out of wooden spools.  I think the ABC learning toy will be my homemade Christmas gift for Noodlebug this year!

DIY DISH returns!!!

I am such a fan of DIY Dish. Their projects are easy and I typically have most of the supplies on hand.  I have been anxiously awaiting their return and here they are with this adorable owl tutorial. I'm thinking these might make good Christmas presents!!!

Make sure and drop by their website and see their exciting giveaway!!!

Another First

Well, it was an eventful weekend.  I took Noodlebug to his Spanish class that we attend together every Saturday morning.  He was having one of those mornings where he was a little ambivalent about participating.  One of the final activities of the day was to hold hands and make a human "choo-choo" train. In the middle of the song, Noodle decided he didn't want to participate anymore and threw himself on the floor while I was still holding his hand.  I didn't want to drop him on his hand so I was slow to let go and his dead weight twisted a little bit. He started crying and said his arm hurt.  He sat in my lap whimpering and I waited to see if it would pass but it didn't. He cried every time I touched his arm and couldn't lift it.  I packed him into the car and headed to the emergency room down the street.

I had visions of a broken arm and people looking at me askance wondering what kind of mother would allow her child to get hurt like that. I felt responsible for the whole thing. My husband met me at the hospital and tried to gingerly remove Noodle from the carseat while I checked us in.  I was almost crying too hard for the intake lady to understand me but she was very patient.  The nurses and staff couldn't have been nicer. They reassured me that I did nothing wrong and that he would be okay. The doctor decided it was "nursemaid's elbow" which is pretty common. He basically dislocated his elbow.  The doctor popped it into place and gave him some Motrin. Soon after that, he was chipper again although I felt as if I had been put through the wringer.  They x-rayed him just in case but everything was fine.  We were in and out of the emergency room in less than two hours. We went home and Noodle and I both crashed for two hours.

I think I cried more than he did during the whole ordeal.

He is fine. None the worse for wear.  But I felt like the worst mother in the world.  I finally get to spend some quality time with my child and I dislocate his elbow! But I am glad that this was his first experience with a hospital.  When my husband asked him if his arm felt better, Noodle said, "The doctor fixed it."  Everyone was kind and gentle with him and he got to see that these doctors and nurses were working to make him feel better.  It was a good experience. 

I was distracted all weekend and only tried to finish my Anda dress and succeeded in butchering the hem. Why can't I do a hem?  What is my problem?

I did teach my first Sunday school class and it went pretty well.

Today I start Jenny Doh's Crafting Your Best Life class so I have that to look forward to.  But I am mostly looking forward to going home and hugging Noodlebug.

Want vs. Need

Well, Fall is almost here.  My husband's favorite season is Summer so he is starting to get depressed. My favorite season is Fall so I am just revving up!!!

Noodlebug started preschool yesterday. He did really well. He'll be in a Montessori preschool for three full days a week.  I think it will be really good for him and I hope he will like it.

There is so much I would like to be working on right now.

I NEED to:

1.  Prepare for my first Sunday school class this Sunday.  I am teaching the 0-2 class. It is really hard to come up with an age-appropriate craft for this group. We are doing Noah's ark this week and I cut out a bunch of photos of animals. My idea is to have the parents/kids glue one of the photos onto 3-4 popsicle sticks laid in a row. We will then cut the sticks apart with an X-acto knife to make a puzzle. You can also do this by just temporarily taping the sticks together and coloring a picture on them. I figure it will be an easy craft the families can also do at home.

2. Finish my Anda dress. All I have left is the hem. I don't know why I am dragging my feet on this one.

3. Sew at least four toddler holiday aprons and some of Little Bit Funky's ornaments for my church bazaar next month.

4. Start my Christmas sewn gifts.  I'm really trying for homemade gifts this year.  I am making hooded towels for my friends with children. And maybe some pillowcases.   Dana's tutorial looks so easy and fun.  They might make good items for the church bazaar too.  Maybe I"ll do some gathered clutches for my girlfriends!

5. Start my Fall inspiration journal for Artsy Mama's Halloween blog group.

I WANT to:

1. Sew some chalkboard-cloth placements for Noodlebug.

2. Start Noodlebug's Halloween costume.

3. Make a Sis Boom Dana Top for myself.

4. Make some handmade clothes for Noodlebug from Figgy's and Oliver + S patterns.

5. Take a quilting class at my local quilt shop.

6. Stay home with Noodlebug and curl up on the couch surrounded by books and movies.

7. Take a nap.


For a little sewing inspiration, check out No Big Dill. Katy is celebrating Sewing Month!!!