Extra, Extra

The lovely Amy Sue let me know that I was on the front page of etsy yesterday, and I had no idea how long the treasury had been there so I was scrambling to get the screen shot for posterity. It's the first time I've been featured on the front page, so it was rather exciting news, inciting me to call my husband and best friend to go-to-etsy-and-look-at-the-front-page-right-now!



Could I say front page one more time? I don't think I've said it enough. Front page! Front page!

And in other news, this week at Lily Pad Landing is a Wild West themed stocking (Thursday, 9pm EST, although perhaps high noon would have been more appropriate...), so as my friend Maria put it, I've been getting in touch with my "inner cowgirl". This week I made another bib and my first (can you believe it?) messenger bag





I had a dickens of a time taking pictures of that black bag. The combination of my (slowly dying?) point-and-shoot camera and weird lighting really washed it out. Maybe I'll try again later today. Making the bag was a blast, though. The sort-of reverse applique star turned out just as I'd pictured it, and you should see the mess I/we made while fraying the star and the flap edges, fun fun fun! Jack enjoyed helping by grabbing the piles of black threads and throwing them ceremoniously on the floor.

Now there are just a few days left to enter my contest, so what are you waiting for? Don't give me that late excuse...oh wait, please do give me your late excuse! I suspect you're waiting to see what the prize is, so I'll try to whip something up in the next couple of days.

Happy Thursday!
Kim

Late to Work and a Surprise Contest

Hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. This pretty much sums up how mine went:



That was the closest we could get to having the three of us in the same picture. Guess which one got into the Easter candy?

He thought the eggs were pretty fun for shaking and making noise until he discovered that it was chocolate bouncing around inside



Aside from helping ease Jack down from his sugar high, I did do some sewing, finishing up a custom order that included a Mama and Me full apron set with yummy Chocolate Lollipop fabrics and a "semi-surprise" mini hobo bag (we narrowed down the fabrics together and I made the final decision--Kristyn, DON'T LOOK!!)





Yes, the weekend pretty much flew by, and I was completely uprepared to get back into the swing of things today.

This morning I had a lively e-mail discussion with a friend over the best excuses for being late or absent from work, when I realized it was time to take Joey to school and couldn't find my car keys anywhere. I wasn't sure if one of the boys had absconded with them like the time my wallet went missing and I discovered my driver's license and credit cards hidden under a couch a full week after stumbling across my empty, chewed, and discarded wallet, or if I had set the keys down someplace unusual. Sure enough, though, after searching the entire house and cleaning out half the car, I remembered that I had put them in the cup holder of the stroller when we went for a walk this weekend. We ended up being only about 15 minutes late, but I decided that losing one's car keys is not a good excuse for being late to work or school. It's much better to have the flu, because it doesn't make you look irresponsible, and you're likely to get sympathy along the lines of, "Awww, yeah, there is an awful bug going around."

Probably my silliest and most embarrassing excuse for being late to school, however, was when I was in graduate school, 9 months pregnant, and realized 20 minutes into my 40 minute commute that I had left my uber-important term paper at home. So I turned the car around, went home for the paper, and headed back to school. When I showed up to the class, everyone erupted into laughter and applause--they had assumed I had gone into labor and were very surprised to see me at all. I never did have to tell them why I was so late, come to think of it...

So, if you've managed to get through all of that, I have a little contest for you. I've revealed some of my best and worst excuses for being late--what are yours? I'm going to have a little giveaway, and what you win will be a "surprise surprise" (as in, I haven't decided yet what it will be, but the better the excuses, the more inspired I'll be in cooking up your surprise). Post your best excuse for being late--the funnier and more embarrassing the better--and I will pick the winner one week from today. Please make sure that there is some way for me to track you down, either by attaching a link to your blog/shop/website and/or an e-mail address.

Ready, set, go!

UPDATE: The contest has been extended until Friday, April 4th, at which time I'll pick a random winner. Thanks for playing!

Kim

Short Tour

We're enjoying gorgeous weather today, having just emerged from some serious tornadoes and staring down the barrel of more severe thunderstorms. We've been charging the flashlights, stocking the pantry, and sending good thoughts out to those who have already experienced damage and losses from this weekend's storm.

To use an unavoidable pun, however, I'm feeling a bit under the weather myself, and so I think today's blog entry will be a short pictorial tour of the goings-on in the studio.

It seems appropriate to kick it off with a bit o' green on St. Patty's Day



A custom apron in progress



New arrivals (oldies but goodies)



A bib from start to finish, which is on its way to a baby shower as we speak







A gratuitous colander shot



And now I'm off to the kitchen for a little snack (homemade banana bread, Mmmm...)

Later!
Kim

Someplace fun

6:30 am - quietly pack snacks and supplies for trip into the van.

7:30 am - put clothes on unconscious children; buckle them into their carseats.

7:31 am - try to explain to whining children that we're going someplace FUN.

7:45 am - re-explain to children that really we're going somewhere S-U-P-E-R fun, now eat something and enjoy the car ride.

8:17 am - break down and tell the boys that we're going to the Zoo, their favorite place ever, and if you don't eat something you're going to be cranky when we get there.

9:00 am - bundle everyone in coats and load up the stroller.

9:03 am - bliss.

It was a cold and blustery day at the park, but we didn't mind, because we spent most of our visit inside the aquarium complex. My kids are infatuated with the aquarium; they find the bubbles enthralling, the motion of the water soothing, and the flitting, darting fish mesmerizing.







Our favorite exhibit of the day was probably the jellyfish. They have always fascinated and terrified me. As a child, I would run up and down the docks, climbing all over my grandpa's and uncles' fishing boats, and occasionally pausing to look straight down into the water, where I would see clouds of jellyfish floating and bobbing in the waves. My mom and cousins didn't mind sharing stories about themselves or someone they knew who got tangled up with a jellyfish, and the extreme measures they sometimes took to counteract the pain.

They may be a little scary, but they sure are beautiful.



And now for a quiet day at home. A little crafting, some coffee-drinking, and a large dose of quality time with the kiddos.

Kim

Bitty Baby Bib

I have a new little niece, which makes me so excited, not just because I'm happy for the beaming new parents, but also because I have an opportunity to make cute and girly baby stuff! I made this bib for practice:





This one isn't quite their colors (I think New Mama prefers pinks and purples) so it'll probably make it into one of my shops at some point. I've been dying to add items to the "tots" category of my store for some time, and seeing how addictive it was making this bib, I expect it will be a lonely category no more! I'll be sure to post pictures of the pink gift bib, too, when I've finished it.

Have a great Tuesday!
Kim

Photo Op

Needed a little break from being hunched over the cutting table/ironing board/sewing machine, so out came the camera--click, click, click. The juicy orange colander begged to be included, and I think she was right; she's rather photogenic. She's part of my collection of enamel colanders, all of various bright and cheery colors. I don't normally collect things (well, aside from fabric), but they strike me as so fun and retro that I just can't resist buying more and more of them. I had originally planned to hang the colanders in my kitchen, perhaps on a big pot rack, but somehow they've found a home in my studio, helpfully storing supplies and making me smile. And by the by, those are nearly finished headbands, who plan to be added to my HC shop early next week.

Speaking of which...I'd best get back to work!

Kim