An adorable FREE download!  Check it out here!

Just found this cutie card for Christmas and it's FREE! Click here to head over and get your download.  Love the generous spirit of these crafty bloggers!

Mindy Gledhill - Anchor

This video is from a new favorite artist I've found thanks to world of blogging and social networks.  This song can bring tears to my eyes when I think of how grateful I am for Aaron in my life!  Another big favorite is listed on the sidebar in the lullabies called Hourglass and the other fave is All About Your Heart.  I especially love the NieNie version and the connection it has to her story while played as the soundtrack to this video.  Such an inspirational story there!  Here's ANOTHER link to a cute little funky version of an acoustic session at home.  Love the simplistic beauty of her voice in this one too.

First project on the new machine...

 After posting about my recent projects I realized I never showed the pictures of my first projects on my new machine in August.  The zippered pouches were one of the things that hooked me after seeing a tutorial on youtube.

My machine can also do embroidery so I was excited to try that right away!  I thought it was the perfect idea to make a set of dinner napkins for our neighborhood weekly dinner group...until I realized I would need SIXTEEN of them! I made them reversible and embroidered each one. I got smart and did them assembly line style after I got into a groove with the steps!  It took a lot of work but I loved the way they turned out!  I hope they last through weekly washings!

Birthday Bunting

Forgive the silly way it's hanging from a random ceiling hook.  It was the best spot that it fit for the photo at my house.  Hopefully it fit in a better spot for Jen!

I've been seeing TONS of fabric buntings in the blog world and was excited to give one a try!  I found some soft pretty fabrics at Joanns to make a happy birthday girl version. I knew my friend Jenny with three little girls with upcoming birthdays could get lots of use out of it!  I think it turned out pretty good for the first attempt!  Can't wait to make more!

**Update!  Here's a pic of the banner actually in use to celebrate THREE little sweetheart's birthdays!

Getting Ready for Gift Giving!

Inspired (admittedly by the fabric AND the project) by Joy's Hope Scarf Along Tutorial I made these scarves last weekend!  I had seen the fabric earlier and was really close to buying it recently for Jenny's Birthday Bunting. I decided against it because I was having trouble finding enough coordinating prints that would show off the design well enough for the small triangles and letters.  When I  saw how Julie used the prints I rushed back to Field's Fabrics to scoop it up!  With lots of girls in the family I easily justified the $ by thinking about how many gifts I could get from the cuts.  With the leftover scraps I knew I could make the little zippered pouch to match! I think they're turning out so cute and I hope the recipients like them too. ☺

"new" cardigan

Inspired by all the sewing blogs I've been addicted to lately and a sweater a friend wore to work from Ann Taylor, I transformed a plain sweater into this cardigan.  Right after I bought it from Target I knew I probably wouldn't wear it much b/c of the way it fit as a crewneck pullover but I loved the color.  I slit it up the front and added ribbon around the seams.  I also made a ribbon flower that I attached with a pin but didn't realize that wasn't on yet in the picture.  I liked the way it turned out!

Corner House Blog Skirt Giveaway Link!

Just came across the blog Corner House with some adorable skirts that she makes to sell in her etsy shop.  Right now she's doing a giveaway to win one!  If you win you even get to pick the skirt you want!  Check out her blog here!Corner House

First Grade Book Love

I came across this book on another blog I just started following called creative literacy. I needed something to jazz up a rut in writing workshop so I used it the very next day with the youtube video!  THIS is the video that really got me into this book though! Adorable! I was a little hesitant the next day when I thought what if THEY don't like it as much as I did OR think it's too easy for them? Well, just as I had hoped they loved it right away! I heard them giggling in the beginning and they started singing along immediately!  JUST what I needed that day to pump up the inspiration again!  They also immediately got the idea (that I was going to plant in their minds ;-) ) that we could make our own versions!  We changed the animal and the clothing and I had a room full of singing busy writers!  They created the most adorable books and noticed such great details from Pete.  I'll definitely be adding this one to my classroom library...and probably giving it out for a few christmas gifts this year as well! Check it out!