Happy Birthdays and Back to School 2011

I cannot possibly fathom how it is that my kids are now 9 and 5 years old.  Where in the heck, does the time GO?

I'm late posting pictures anyway, and thought I'd combine birthdays, back to school, and both kids.  (Let's not discuss the fact that my own BIG birthday occurred this month as well - maybe.. more on that one later!  I'm just happy to celebrate 29 from here on out!)

Here's the boy - cute as ever with his little cake at the Putt Putt golf course.  We gave him a party with his little friends to play golf.  It was a hit - Star Wars + Putt Putt.

My girl just turned 9 years old - so hard to believe!  The angel on her cake, was mine.  I have a collection of them (Josef Originals) from ages 1-18.  Well... the #8 is missing in action.  I'm suspecting she is partying it up in the attic somewhere with GI Joe, but that hasn't been confirmed.

Back to school for my sweet girl - 3rd grade this year.

And... Pre-K for the boy.  He will be quick to point out to you that he is in the "older" Pre-K classroom, so as to distinguish from the "younger" children.  Three days a week this year - and so far so good!  Both boy and Mom are extremely happy.

And, we couldn't have just a normal photo session - nope - this is our "normal" - my little goof ball.  the Ham. the comedian.  Never a dull moment around here!

Ready for a Road Trip? Retro Style!

I love road trips - especially the kind that involve rockin' music, (might I suggest a little Sam Bradley anyone?) good friends and the anticipation of discovery!

So - I decided to expand the retro goodness beyond your standard steering wheel cover (because everyone already has one of those, right? (no? well then....).

In honor of my sister's birthday a few weeks ago (yep, I like to extend the birthday celebrations and send gifts after the actual celebratory day - you know, just to spread out the love (maybe a smidgen b/c I'm a scattered brained mom too, but don't tell her!  Second thought - she'd totally understand.  She's running her own amazing photography business & chasing 3 little ones around too - so, I digress....) back to the goods!)

Here you have Whoopsie Daisies luggage tags and handle cover! Because you never want your luggage to look like everyone else's! (Just ignore the fact that if you're lugging around this huge, heavy vintage suitcase, no one in the airport is going to have one like it anyway - makes for a cute picture tho, huh?) 

 In all seriousness though - I do love these.  I'm always wrapping bright ribbon around the handles of my boring black suitcase when we fly, so that I can easily spot my bag coming down the luggage ramp.  I'll be making a ton more of these for sure!  

Here is a little make-up bag I made for my sis too  - I'm especially loving the gray/yellow combination here!  

Then, because you want your car decked out in retro style - we have the rearview mirror cozy....

and.... the Steering Wheel cover.  (don't worry, if you're brother in law is not so inclined to drive the mini van around with a floral steering wheel cover  - like someone I know!) - it slips off quite easily and stuffs into the glove compartment.

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Happy Road Trippin'!  Hope you're able to squeeze in one or two last trips for the summer!

  Psssstttttt!  Come find me on Twitter!  We'll have fun!  Are you the Facebook sort? 

Scenes from Indiana

These aren't the best quality photos, but they were all taken using my phone during our visit to Indiana the last several weeks.  I thought they gave a good snippet of what our time spent there was like.  

 The kids got to meet "Honey" - the newest addition to the household at my parent's place...... we all fell in love with her.  She is a rescue animal - which makes the story so much better.  My parents had been looking for a pony for the grandkids, and while standing in a checkout line at the local nursery, my mother was overheard mentioning that she was looking for a pony.  The lady behind her happened to work for the local Humane Society and mentioned that they had just acquired a pony that needed a new home.  We are all just so pleased with her - she a little sweetheart.  Wish I could have put her in my pocket and brought her back to Texas!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie - do I need to say more???  (Rhubarb recipes to follow in later posts.....)

This is the front of the Log Cabin at the LaPorte County Pioneer Land.  We spent A LOT of time here during Fair Week.  That's my son in the front (all blurry) playing a game of washers.  Both of my parents, (and this year myself included) volunteer their time to support this project.  My kids absolutely love hanging out on the front porch, playing with all of the wooden toys and playing the part of "pioneer kids"

This is me...... "Pioneer Woman" ;)  

Chillin' on the front porch of my parent's house.  Cool night air.... AH!

We ate fresh raspberries straight off the bush literally every morning.  

LOTS of time spent in the swimming pool - again, AH!

Little "Pioneer Girl" - she played the part well :)

My son doing his chores - he sure loved helping take care of the horses.  I think he's a natural cowboy :)

New Logos

I wanted to share with you all my new logos!  I'm so excited - my friend Stacy - from Vampire Craftin came up with these awesome images and colors. 

I've sort of just stumbled along with my graphics/banners/business cards since starting my business in 2005.  However, I could have never created anything like this on my own - totally worth the money!  

Stacy's blog is full of lots of useful information for those projects you want to tackle on your own too - she's just a fountain of knowledge, that girl!

Here is what she has to say about her shop:

I specialize in ONE OF A KIND Business branding packages for the handmade business. The pricing on my one of a kind etsy shops can be reduced if you are not interested in all of the elements, or you can add elements to any of the shop sets. You can find my portfolio on my facebook fan Page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vampire-Craftin/168806933169687. I am also a Etsy 817 team member. 
Check out my blog. It is a HOW to blog about graphic design for the handmade business. http://vcgraphicdesigns.blogspot.com/

This is my new business card:

Stacy even created a Facebook logo and Twitter logo for me:

and of course my Whoopsie Daisies etsy shop!

So there you have it!  Now, I just have to get going on my sewing machine and restock my shop.  It's a little crazy around here, (as usual it seems!) with the kiddies home for the summer.... constant messes, playdates, camps, and chatter.  I'm a blessed mom.  

Must run... breakfast dishes still on the table and they are asking for a snack.  Floors need vacuumed and playdates to schedule.  Refereeing and dishes to wash.  Sewing - AH!  - always, sewing to do.... never enough time to do it.

A Quickie Christmas Season Update

 Quickie blog posts are about all I can get in these days with the Christmas season upon this household!  A trip to Starkville, Mississippi for Thanksgiving, my little guy getting new glasses, a visit from my parents, and chance to talk to the Big Guy before Christmas Eve.......

Posing on the Natchez Trace

My girl took this one  - pretty good, huh?

Thanksgiving Fun :)

Visiting with the Big Man!

The little guy got new glasses

Visit from Indiana Grandparents last week :)

I'm still sewing like crazy, filling orders and making gifts for my friends and family.  A Carrot cake is cooling on the stove, getting ready to become Cake Balls for a party Saturday.  Refrigerator repair man is making his way back to the house for the second time in the past month (frig sounds like a jet airplane coming in for a landing).  Then, off to 3 Christmas parties this evening....... whew!

Broken

Broken refrigerator, Broken garage door, Broken dish network receiver, Broken truck, Broken gate (actually 2 broken gates), on the verge of being broken hot water heater, a rattling something in my car window that is most likely broken, and the list is growing..........

Truck repaired - check.
Refrigerator repaired - check.
Garage Door repaired - check.
Dish Receiver on it's way, hopefully check.  In the meantime, we are w/o television for 4 days.  Yes, probably a good thing, but you try it with 2 kids and let me know how that goes :)
Still have to make some phone calls on the gates...
Rattling car window will have to wait (although it's making it hard for me to hear Sam Bradley while driving :)

When did they quit making things that last?

Broken hearted little girl.  Missing her grandmother.  This will take longer to repair.  We are all feeling broken over this, especially with Thanksgiving/Christmas.

Broken portable DVD player.  Suffered a little boy's cowboy boot to the screen.  Road trip to Mississippi in the near future.  May result in broken parents' nerves.

Thankful for what is not broken right now.

Birthday Gift in 1 Hour - whew! Just in time.

We came home this afternoon from 2 ball games and I had 90 minutes until my daughter needed to be at a birthday party.   Being a procrastinator, I didn't have a gift ready - figured I'd just go shopping at Whoopsie Daisies if I had too.  But I wasn't sure an 8 year old would appreciate a pumpkin?  hmmmm. ....maybe? no? OK. (it's a joke).  I was thinking that I just might have enough time to sew something up real quick while the rest of the family was taking a nap..... (did I mention that I have no voice today and a cough that sounds like a seal?  It's not pretty.)  Anyhooooo..... back to sewing...

Here's what I managed to put together in 1 Hour (and 10 minutes.... I'm honest at least)

This the felt flower pin/ponytail holder, which I just pinned to a pre-made headband that I found at Joann's one day in the dollar bin.  I bought 5 of them, thinking they would be perfect for my little flower pins.    I have to say, the felt is much, much easier to work with than regular cotton fabric - I used in as the liner on the inside of the Scribble pad too, much easier.

Then, this is the Scribble Kit - well, minus the hand embroidered "Scribble" - (I was only working with 90 minutes, remember!) - So, instead it has a big felt "E" which is the first initial of the little gift recipient.  

Then, I just used a paint pen to write her name and a Happy Birthday message on the bag, tied it with some fabric strips, and Voila!

So, then,.... the Halloween Candy was sitting right there, and thinking I deserved a reward - I grabbed a Twizzler and sat on the couch for 10 minutes before we bolted out the door again.......

Newest Sponsor of Vintage Indie

In my effort to streamline my marketing, and hopefully take this little venture of mine to a new level, I've decided to try sinking some money into advertising.  Instead of paying big booth fees at "craft" shows where I'm competing with everything from cosmetics to candles, jewelry and stuffed animals, all made in a foreign country - I'm going to focus on those of you who actually appreciate handmade, appreciate vintage, antiques, retro, flea markets and other people's "Funky Junk"!  I love it - and I think you do to!  So - my goal is to find more of you out there!  Because, let's face it - I'm going to keep sewing, and my sewing room/dining room is getting quite loaded (has been...for, ummm....too long to say).  Some day, I'd like to have an actual meal on that table!

I came across Vintage Indie awhile back and just loved her take on "all things vintage, in a modern life". Vintage Indie is about bringing back and appreciating things that were once discarded and appreciating them in our lives today.  Vintage Indie is also about supporting the individual business owner.  I encourage you to visit her blog - I think you'll love it.
And....let me know what you think of my sweet little advertising logo on the side.  I spent an entire afternoon creating that silly thing - I can now say with confidence that I can create a 150x200 logo!

Yesterday, Whoopsie Daisies, was featured as the headline sponsor at Vintage Indie.  I love how the post looks, and the new look to the photographs!

So - do you visit any good "vintage" blogs?  What are your favorites??  Some of mine are listed on my sidebar (along with a menagerie of other fun stops).

Rotten Tomatoes

This tomato pin cushion has lasted me through many years - probably a good 15 years of sewing, but I'm thrilled to see it go.  I think it was the green leaves at the top that finally did it in - see the shavings popping out?

So, I'm happy to say I have a nice, new, pretty tomato to hold my pins.  I even decided to pitch all of those dress shirt pins that I had saved and opt for keeping my trusty long yellow headed pins.  Looks so much tidier, huh?

Speaking of rotten tomatos, one of the things I crave in the summer is fresh tomatoes from the garden.  If you don't already know, I live in Central Texas and we are on day 20 of 100 degrees or more - ugh!  

Each summer I've tried to plant a garden, and this year, mine got in a bit late so, my poor tomato plants are baking in the sun each day.  

I thought this garden was an improvement to years past in a way because normally I've planted WAY too many plants and ended up with a giant gnarled mess of a garden this time of year.  But - what was labeled as "Cucumber" at the garden center was actually a jalepeno plant, my "Zuchinni" was enormous bumpy Squash, and "Squash" died a pitiful death by some rooting animal early in the summer.  So....I would really, really like just one or two pretty tomatoes to eat on my turkey sandwich!!!  But, as you can see they aren't looking so hot.  I may try for a fall tomato, which apparently one of our local garden centers is advertising.  

This is what they look like now - barely hanging on - but I'm hopeful still for a few sweet fruits of my labor. (I'm curling my toes even taking these pictures, because I'm sceered (that's "scared" in "Texas lingo") to death of a creeping nasty snake biting my freshly pedicured toes!  Blah!)

It's hard to tell in this photo - but there is a dirty rotten catepillar just making himself at home on one of my juicy delights - I'd pinch his little head off and squeeze it between my fingers if it wouldn't totally gross me out!!!  Dang catepillar.  

My Indiana Home

As many of you know, I have just returned from my trip to Indiana.  Each year I like to take the kids up to visit their grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and friends who are just as good as family!

This is a picture of the house I grew up in.  The picture hangs in my parents' dining room now - but it was taken in the late 1800's.  We believe that these are most likely the people who built the house.  It was built around 1890.

Here is a current picture - nothing too drastic has changed.  The front porch was expanded around 1940. Then my parents enclosed it in the late 60's.  They also added an additional room towards the back in the 1990's.  They have been in this house for over 43 years.  The land around the house used to be an orchard, and you can find a few fruit trees still scattered near by.  My favorites are the Montmorency Cheeries - they used to provided buckets and buckets of cherries, which I picked, pitted, and ate like crazy as a kid.  Now, the trees have seen better days, and the few cherries they produce are eaten up by the birds.  

It's a great old house - I've wished lots of times that the walls could talk.  I would have loved to have seen the interior as it was in the 1800's.  Now that I live in my much, much newer suburban home in a large sprawling metroplitan area in central Texas with every convenience close at hand - it takes a little getting used to, going home each summer.  The air conditioner, when needed (which isn't very often in Northern Indiana), doesn't begin to cool the upstairs.  The best produce is right outside the back door in my parent's garden- not down the freeway at Central Market.  If the kids want to run barefoot in the grass, they don't have to watch out for fire ants, snakes or scorpions!  Want to smell the country?  Just walk out to the barn and give "Bubba" the horse an apple to crunch and scratch his ears.  But it's best to wear your boots around the horse apples on the ground though.   

These are just a few more pictures I took around the house.  I'm sure I'll share more later - feels great to be back in Texas.....but there are some things I miss about my home in Indiana.

"Bubba"

"Yep - beans fresh from the garden - and they are delicious!"