Summer

It's hot. It's humid. I'm feeling slow and lazy and sleepy. I haven't felt up to making anything new today and then something keeps catching the corner of my eye



No, no, go back to sleep, I'm not sure I'm ready for you yet.



I know I made you months ago, but then you turned out so darn big and I didn't know what to do with you. I'm sorry you're feeling neglected and lonely. Maybe I should ask blogland if they have any ideas...a giant tote bag? A pillow sham? What do you think?

Serendipity

I inherited a black thumb from my mother. I don't know where she got it from because her mother was the plant whisperer and could bring back nearly any houseplant from the dead. My mom could carefully water and feed her plants, play soothing classical music for them, and whisper sweet nothings into their tiny green plant ears every day and they would still keel over. Perhaps they couldn't handle that much love.

As for myself, I sort of have the opposite problem, so maybe I don't have so much of a black thumb as a "Got caught up with life and forgot to water the plants for two months" thumb. In any case, I have no explanation for how these came from my backyard





But I'm sure glad they did. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers and apparently one of Jack's favorites, too, because he can't seem to walk by the vase without getting up on his tiptoes to touch them.

My other serendipitous moment came yesterday as I was making a new style of bag. Everything was going fantastically well until I sewed the label to the lining, when I noticed that I hadn’t left enough room to put in a magnetic snap. Oh I fairly agonized about whether I should move the label or leave it as it was. Laziness won out and I left the label and finished the bag.



I hemmed and hawed over the bag until this morning when I realized that as I had put a fabulous print on the inside of the bag as well as the outside, that I wasn’t so dim-witted as I was genius--the bag is reversible! And so it is.



I think my (extra) lack of sleep of late (toddler nightmares) has further muddled my mommy brain. In a former, non-sleep-deprived state I would have planned to make the bag this way in the first place. The bag can now be found in my shop and as this was one of those ohmygoshIlovethisbagsomuchIwantokeepit creations, I expect that more will follow.

Perhaps after I've had a nap.

Sharing

I wanted to share these totes that I made for my son's developmental preschool teacher and paraprofessionals, who went above and beyond the call of duty this year. These wonderful ladies completely "get" Joey, let him be himself, and love him for who he is, and I am so very grateful for that! I actually got all verklempt while I was making these bags and thinking of the incredible progress Joey has made this year.

For those of you who don't already know, Joey is 4, and on the autism spectrum (along with little brother Jack, 2). I never would have expected to have such a positive experience with special education in the public school system, so let it be known that it is possible! I can only hope we'll continue to have similar experiences throughout both kiddos' educations.

The patchwork and lining/pockets are in Amy Butler's Lotus line, and the pictures may be a little misleading as the bags are big enough to hold a few large "teacher" books. I couldn't decide on just a couple of pictures to show because I wanted to capture all the special details for these truly special ladies.











Now to go find a few fun goodies to put in the bags!

Have a lovely Thursday!
Kim

Where to begin?

I'm just now emerging from the post-house-falling-apart frenzy that has been the past few weeks. It's about the time you say, "Honey, let's finally get rid of all the carpet and replace it with that gorgeous laminate flooring we've been dreaming about," that your upstairs shower decides to start leaking through the kitchen ceiling fixture below it. Then the air conditioner suddenly stops working, and when the repair man comes to check it, tells you that it has an unreparable leak and the entire unit needs to be replaced. And you realize that this may not be the best time to have the landscapers tackle the Amazon jungle that is the backyard (you know what I'm talking about if you live in the South and have let even one tiny vine survive past infancy). And it's definitely not the best time to replace your stone aged computer. Sigh.

On the crafting front, however, I think I am finally getting into the etsy thing. I created my very first treasury the other day, and it was so fun to feature some of my favorite shops, as well as read all the sweet comments that were posted.



And I was happy to discover that one of my totes made it to the front page in this gorgeous treasury last week:



Then I tried out the fabulous reversible Emmeline apron pattern by Montessori by Hand for a Mother's Day apron swap. I got lots of suggestions/requests for me to make a sundress in this style, so one of these days when I'm feeling clever and brave enough, I may just tackle that task. In any case, here is the apron, in Amy Butler's Midwest Modern fabrics.





Things are picking up now that it's May: the end of the school year approaches, custom orders are rolling in, and a crate of pear pincushion-sized boxes will be arriving on my doorstep tomorrow so I need to get sewing!

I've also spent a bit of time planning out some new designs, which I would like to try out soon. Barring any more adventures with The Money Pit, that is.

Happy crafting and house-not-self-destructing vibes to everyone!
Kim

Happy Birthday, Jack!

I can't believe the little guy turned 2 yesterday!



I never thought I'd be so happy to see a child dive face first into a birthday cake.



Smile for the camera, Sweetie!



Wait, no, don't rub your--



Ah yes, this is what baths were invented for.

We had fun, just our little foursome. We don't live near family but they were with us via phone calls, packages, and pictures.

Happy Thursday!

(P.S. You probably caught a glimpse of our lovely primed-over wallpaper in the background. Actually this was a gift from the previous owners of this house, that I found beneath 2 other layers of wallpaper that had been painted over. And beneath that? Nothing but drywall. So many home improvement projects, so little time. Ahh, but I can't bear to think of that any longer. I think I'll have some more cake.)

Congrats to...

I am one of the unluckiest people when it comes to having my name drawn out of a hat. In my school district, you have to enter a "lottery" for your child to get a spot in our public pre-k program. Every child is entitled to participate in pre-k, but only a select few can attend the elementary school they are zoned for; the rest must find spots in local daycare centers (It's crazy, I know, but I'll avoid stepping up on Kim's Soapbox #573 for today). For 20 slots, the parents of 70 children showed up. We ended up being number 29 on the waiting list.

However, (you knew I'd get to the point eventually, right?) there is someone who got lucky today, and that person is



Congratulations Maria, I'll be contacting you directly!

Her entry was great, she actually has an excuse for having an excuse:

Maria said...

Probably my best excuse is that I'm a Menlove, despite the fact that I married into the family at some point in time one of them adjusted my internal clock forcing me to be late to everything. (The M family is notorious for always being really late)

Thanks to everyone who participated--there were some really funny excuses, and I got a few new ideas for when my own real excuse just doesn't seem good enough.

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