oh sew fresh

Finished Baby Blanket!!

2012-01-06T12:50:00.001-05:00

The First Sunrise of Summer!

2011-06-21T07:56:00.000-04:00

So beautiful!

Baby crochet...

2011-06-16T08:28:00.000-04:00

Here is a little project I'm working on. I'm making a granny square, crocheted blanket for our little girl who will be born in September! I used Instagram on my phone, so the colors are not accurate but I love how they look. The orange color is actually a dark pink.

Gluten Free Bread! Yummy!

2011-06-07T14:56:00.002-04:00

I went to Indianapolis with my mother-in-law this past weekend to check out a huge homeschool convention and while we were there we ate at Jason's Deli for dinner. Did you know that they have gluten free sandwhiches?!?! Well, they do and I got one and it was awesome! They use the Udi's brand of sandwhich bread. I was determined to buy some ASAP because I could not get this bread out of my head now that I knew it existed. I went to the health food store and this awesome bread has an equally "awesome" price to go along with it. $6.50 AND the loaf is half the size of a normal loaf! I'm not saying that it isn't worth it, but frugal-me decided to try to make it myself first. I did tons of research and looked at tons of pictures of gluten-free bread online (my judgement is heavily swayed by pictures) and settled on this recipe. It's called "Mock Wheat" bread. I picked a winner! I don't know if I am going to even try another recipe because I like it so much! And it LOOKS good too!

And here is some lettuce that I harvested from my garden yesterday! It tastes SO good! The top picture is a variety of leaf lettuces and the bottom one is my mesclun mix. :)

Instagram!!

2011-06-03T08:28:00.000-04:00

This is probably old news to a lot of people, but I just discovered Instagram! It's a free app on the iPhone and I am in love!

Summer is here!

2011-06-03T08:09:00.000-04:00

So here is a little update on the goings on here at our house. These photos are mostly of the garden area but I have a few projects that I am going to later post about too.

Here is the current state of my peas! I planted them mid-march and they are FINALLY making pea pods! Peas always take so long, but they are so worth it! Can't wait til they are ready to harvest!

Here are my bush beans! They look pretty good so far, but I am worried that I am going to have to break out the Sevin spray to fight off the Mexican Bean Beetle Bug. Evil things! This particular variety is a french filet bean. YUM!

My lovely onion and lettuce patch! So pretty!

This is my oak leaf lettuce...

...Romaine lettuce...

...and green leaf lettuce (also called Black Seeded Simpson).

My gorgeous mesclun mix! This will probably be harvested this weekend!

Here is my tomato patch with english cucumbers and basil in between.

My english cucumbers! I am attempting to underplant my tomatoes with them for two reasons: to help choke out the weeds and to keep the soil moister during the hot summer weeks.

And here is a full view of the garden!

Here is my most favorite plant! My Eden Rose! It's finally blooming! Although I am disappointed that they aren't blooming as much as last year. I think I might need to fertilize them really well.

A vase of roses I put together yesterday all from my garden! The light pink ones are the Eden Rose and the the red ones are a variety called Blaze and they are planted on the side of my house. My husband has been wanting to get rid of the Blaze rose for a couple years now because it has never bloomed and it looks really shabby where it is (we need to move it to a better location). But yesterday he saw these in the vase and now he loves them!

Have a great weekend!

Back again... (the second time)...

2011-05-06T15:58:00.000-04:00

So I haven't written any blog posts in forever because we are expecting baby number three! I've been so tired and finally got through three months of morning sickness I just haven't had the time or energy to keep up with it. Anyway, I'm back and hopefully I can keep this up to date! :)

So yesterday, we decided to get the girls guinea pigs! We've actually been thinking about it for several months now, but just decided to go with it. We found these two brothers on Craigslist from a family who's pigs had babies back in December. They are so sweet and tolerate the girls' rough handling of them very well. I think Ava thinks that she just has to squeeze harder to keep the guinea pig where she wants it! This is gonna take some training.

We haven't named them yet. We are trying to get the girls to come up with the names, but I really don't think they care. We thought that guinea pigs would be the best animal because of our small house and the fact that I am allergic to cats, but it turns out that I am allergic to guinea pigs too. I was so disappointed. It's not so bad that we have to get rid of them, but I can't really handle them much without getting a scratchy throat and hives. Ughhh. Oh well. I am going to give it my best and hopefully it will be fine long enough for me to start allergy shots in the fall after the baby is born.

Here is Katie with her rock garden! She made it all by herself and cut various flowering weeds to "plant" in it. It is so cute! She was so proud of it! She even watered it with her new watering can she got for Easter. :)

The Sunrise After the Snowstorm...

2011-01-21T10:11:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of the sunrise this morning. We had a pretty big snowstorm yesterday that dropped about 6 inches. I know that to some of you that probably seems like nothing, but here in Ohio it's really something. The sunshine was such a pretty color I immediately grabbed my cameras and took the best pictures I could through our dining room window. It's 6 degrees outside right now and there is no way I'm going out there unless I have to! After weeks of gloom, I must say that the sun is very uplifting even if it's bitterly cold outside. I am longing for spring more than anything these days.

Experimenting...

2011-01-14T15:39:00.000-05:00

I've learned so much already from shooting film that I tried to take some pictures with my dslr in manual mode and I am very pleased with how they turned out! I played around with them in Photoshop for while. I never expected to understand my digital camera better by shooting with film for awhile. I have to say that I love film so much more than digital, but I am really disappointed in the cost and the developing service around here. I went to our only professional photography store in our town and even they don't develop film anymore. I had to send my two rolls of film in to Cleveland and I won't get them back til the end of next week and to top it all off it cost me $24! For TWO rolls! Ugghh. Anyway, these photos perked me up and now I'm torn between film and digital just because of the cost. I'm going to have to find a cheaper way or make some more money somehow.

I love the tones in these photos! Pink and aqua. The PERFECT combo! :)

Polaroids from my In-laws!

2011-01-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

My In-laws love the idea of me starting film photography and they've happily shown me all the film cameras, old pictures, and polaroids they can find. I love it! At Christmas they showed me these old polaroids they took back before (I think) my husband was born. Not sure about that one though. Don't you just love the colors! They still look like this, btw. My father-in-law has just started growing his mustache back and it looks great on him! He told me that the suit he is wearing in the first and last pictures was what he wore to work everyday! That's awesome!

Aren't they sweet? You can tell how much they love each other!

Hope your New Year is starting off well! I'll be back later with some goals (not resolutions) I have for this next year!

One Stitch At A Time...

2010-12-30T22:06:00.002-05:00

One Stitch At A Time... by Rachel Bostwick Dowd on Polyvore.com
I would love to hone my sewing skills in 2011!!

Shoot Every Day!

2010-12-29T10:13:00.002-05:00

Shoot Every Day! by Rachel Bostwick Dowd featuring print umbrellas
I would love to learn film photography in 2011!

My New Baby... Pentax Spotmatic F!!

2010-12-27T18:38:00.003-05:00

This is my new baby! A Pentax Spotmatic F with a Takumar 55mm 1.8 lens! I LOVE it! I ran my first roll of film through it (Fujifilm Superia X-tra 800) and the pictures are gorgeous! These are my very first film photos and I am just thrilled to bits that I actually got the exposures right! They aren't the look I'm going for, but I know now that I can properly expose the pictures with the settings I was using. I'm so proud of myself! I was totally expecting for a lot of extremely over and under exposed images.

Here is the very first photo I took with the Pentax. This is my sister helping cook Christmas dinner at my mom's. The colors are dead on to what it really looked like.

A close up of the Christmas tree...

Here is my african violet. I've had it for almost a year now and it is finally blooming!

A heart I drew in the snow on our driveway. I tried to overexpose this one a little so the snow wouldn't be so grey.

Same with this one...

Here is the aftermath of Christmas morning. No more presents and pine needles everywhere! I love how this picture was exposed.

Same here....

So, in summary, I'm in love with my new camera! I can't wait to develop some more rolls of film! Now I have to do some research and hunting around to find the best photo lab with the lowest prices. :) I'm still trying to figure out how to best scan these into the computer. The originals are better, but you get the idea.

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas! Mine was, well, not so good due to the whole family getting the flu just in time for Christmas day. I think the worst day was actually Christmas day. Uggghh. Hopefully next year will be better. I don't want to complain but I you can't imagine how depressing it was. I didn't get sick because I was the only one who got the flu shot. I can guarantee that EVERYONE will be getting the flu shot this year and every year from now on.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday season and have a Happy New Year!! Next up will be my OTHER new camera!! Didn't know I had another one, did you? I've lost count of how many cameras I have now, but that's a good problem, right? :)

Dreamy Film Photography Inspiration...

2010-12-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

So, I have a confession. I know what I'm getting for Christmas. At least I know what my big present will be. I know because I bought it myself and gave it to my hubby to wrap and give me for Christmas. I bought a 35mm Pentax Spotmatic camera with an SMC Takumar 1.8 55mm lens. I am SO very excited about it you have no idea! I've already played with it some. (Shame on me, I know.) Well, I've been looking at some awesome 35mm photography online and I made a mosaic of my favorites. These are an example of what I hope to achieve with my "new" camera.

I love the dreamy pastels with lots of light and retro feel!

A Little Happiness in the Day Goes a Long Way...

2010-12-09T15:28:00.002-05:00

Today has been a little bit of a rough day. My oldest daughter busted her mouth and nose, chipped her front tooth, and knocked her two front teeth loose. I won't tell you how she did it, because you won't believe me. My youngest shattered a glass snowglobe which strewed very tiny pieces of glass shards all over the living room carpet, all wet and glittery and SHARP! In the middle of all this the HVAC guy comes to give us a quote for a new heat pump system for our house. Ugghhh! (Oh yeah, did I tell you that our heat pump went out? Don't worry, it's working, but it's hanging by a thread.) Soooooo, in the middle of this very crazy day (during nap time), what do I do de-stress? I make an owl ornament and read my new most favorite magazine in the whole wide world: Country Living British Edition! I found this lovely and perfect magazine at our local grocery store, of all places! I was elated when I saw it! I've posted a few pictures of it so you can start drooling and go buy yourself one too. No, I don't work for the sales department of Country Living Magazine, I just love it that much. So much inspiration! I could die!

Here's my owlie. I think I've decided to name him Oliver. I saw so many cute felt owls and mushrooms that other people have made on Flickr. I got inspired to come up with one of my own. :)

Just look at these pictures and try not to drool...

I LOVE the heart appliqué pillow on the bench below...

...drooling...

Our day did not start out so bad. I made my first gluten-free blueberry muffins this morning and they were delish! In case I haven't said before, I have a gluten sensitivity. Even my husband (who is completely against "weird food") liked them! My girls gobbled them up and I was relieved to have something other than yogurt and corn chex for breakfast. YUM!

Yes, it's as good as it looks!

Hope you are having a joyful Christmas season... :)

Free Colonial Glitterhouse Pattern...

2010-12-06T09:49:00.002-05:00

Ok, so here it is! My pattern for my colonial style glitterhouse!

It's a little rough but I tried to make all the measurements perfect. The lines do go to the edge of the paper, so you might have to fill that part in after you print it out if your printer won't print all the way to the edge. Here are the instructions:

1. Cut out all the pieces from chipboard with an exacto knife and a sturdy ruler

2. Score the folds with the exacto knife (you are only cutting halfway through)

3. Fold along the folds and glue it together with white craft glue, using the tabs.

4. Give the whole house a coating of some kind of primer or sealer. I used wood sealer found at my craft store. (This step keeps the house from bowing when you paint it.) Let it dry.

5. Choose your colors and paint her up! Let it dry.

6. Use a glue for glitter and cover one section at a time. Shake fine glitter over each section until you've done the whole house. Let it dry.

7. Cut out several squares of chipboard that are bigger than the windows. Paint them yellow, add glue to the edges, and place them inside the house gluing them to the backs of the windows.

8. Make wreaths out of green pipe cleaners and tiny ribbon. Hot glue them together and then onto the house. Your done!

Here is the pattern for the house: Free Colonial Glitterhouse Pattern

I would LOVE to see the houses you make from my pattern! Send me pictures!

Enjoy!

Free Christmas Gift Tags from "Eat Drink Chic"

2010-12-02T10:06:00.002-05:00

I saw these gift tags that Amy Moss drew up and put on her blog "Eat Drink Chic" this morning. I LOVE them! And they are free! There are several really cute free gift tags out there, but I especially like these because they will match any wrapping paper and ribbon you put on your gifts. They are too cute and perfect not to share! Now I just have to go out and find some cardboard looking card stock. I might try using other colors though too. Click on the link above and use them for your own Christmas presents! Thank you Amy!

The Glitterhouses Are Finished!!

2010-12-01T09:33:00.003-05:00

This morning we woke up to snow! I couldn't believe it! The first of December welcomes us with a beautiful snow shower. Actually, it's still snowing now almost two hours later! My oldest wanted to go outside immediately, but she hadn't had breakfast yet and I was/am having a hard time moving due to waking up with a pinched nerve in my back. Ugghh. I hope it gets better fast because I am supposed to have an afternoon out with my sister-in-law of which I have been really looking forward to. Driving in the snow and not being able to turn my head is probably not a great combination. Pray for me!

The day after Thanksgiving I frantically finished the glitterhouses to get them up right in time for the Christmas season. I even bought some of the finishing detail supplies on Black Friday at great prices! So here is the finished display complete with tissue paper snowflakes! Kinda pretty, huh? I am very pleased with how it turned out. I tried putting lights under the fake snow, but we only have LED lights and they looked too "pointy" under the snow, so I took them out. I might just drape a string of lights along the edge of the mantle.

The houses are sitting at random heights on books positioned under the fake snow. I pulled up the back of the snow behind the houses to make it look like they are nestled on the side a mountain.

I bought the bottle brush trees at Michael's Crafts in the christmas village section. On top of the whole scene I sprinkled some glittery snow, although it doesn't really stand out that much.

I made the wreaths from pipe cleaners and little bows I made from tiny wired ribbon. It's all put together with a hot glue gun. Here is the template I used for the church: Template #1

Here is the template I used for this house: Template #2

Here is the template I used for this house: Template #3 (bay window version)

This house is my own design. I actually do have the template that I can scan in, so if you are interested in it just let me know either through email or in the comments. I tried to make it more of a colonial design.

I am very excited about my christmas village! It turned out better than I had expected!

My New Toys...

2010-11-23T15:06:00.000-05:00

I know it's not Christmas yet, but I already bought myself some early Christmas presents! Introducing my three new babies: Yashica-635, Duaflex III, and LifeTime 120. Aren't they adorable?! I have been interested in vintage cameras for a while now and I've finally starting collecting some of them! I am so excited!

I got this lovely Duaflex set on Ebay for $12! It was a bargain. I'll admit that the only reason I got a bargain on it was because the person who listed it misspelled the name of the camera and I don't think very many people even knew that it was there. The only reason I found this misspelled listing is because I misspelled it in the search bar. Ha! I don't plan on actually running film through it, but I do plan on practicing TTV or "through the viewfinder" photography with it. Google it sometime. It's amazing!

Here's my first TTV! It's a very bad one because I haven't built the holder for it to block out the light that puts the glare on the glass. But it's still pretty cool! In case you didn't know, it's supposed to have all those flecks and spots. That it what makes TTV photography so cool!

Here is my prized Yashica-365! I LOVE it! It was made sometime around 1958. I got it from a guy off of Craigslist for $39! Score! I haven't taken any pictures with it yet, but I will very, very soon. It takes 120, or wide format, film that is about four times the size of 35mm. You can make HUGE prints of these pictures. But aside from that, this camera is supposed to take very crisp and clear photos. I can't wait to see what it can do! There is also a way to run 35mm through this, but you have to have the adapter. I'll probably try to find one sometime to cut the cost. 120 film is expensive to buy and develop. It is built like a tank and weighs a ton! No wonder they still work over 50 years later!

Here's what it looks like when you look into the viewfinder.

This little cutie is just a box camera from the 40s, I think. I won't be running film through it. She's just a collectible. It's not in too great of shape and everything seems a little wobbly, but I got her for free!

Can't wait to show you the pictures they take!

Hot Chocolate and Homemade Marshmallows... YUM!

2010-11-16T10:47:00.002-05:00

In case you have never seen what homemade marshmallows look like in hot chocolate here is a picture for you to make your mouth water! The marshmallows slowly melt into a creamy, frothy, yummy topping. If you have never made homemade marshmallows, stop what you are doing and go make some RIGHT NOW! That's an order! You won't regret it, I promise. Here's the recipe. These are pictures from what I did yesterday. It is pretty gloomy and cold here so I thought a fire on a Monday afternoon with some homemade hot cocoa and homemade marshmallows sounded like the perfect pick-me-up. These just so happen to be peppermint marshmallows too! It's almost like breaking a rule or something. We hardly never make fires in the afternoon (unless it's Christmas) and especially not on a Monday. It was a liberating! Haha! You can tell me I'm weird. I know I am. It was the perfect pick-me-up, so I thought why not do it on Tuesday afternoon too? So that's what I'm doing right now... making another fire.

I'm rambling, so I'll get on with my day and finish these glitterhouses! Hope you can find your perfect pick-me-up for this Tuesday afternoon... :)

Glitterhouse progress...

2010-11-08T15:04:00.002-05:00

So here are my first two finished glitterhouses! Two down, three to go. I am so proud of them. They are taking a lot more work than I had originally thought but I am really enjoying making them! My husband says they don't look like they are made of cardboard at all. It took me forever to decide on the colors I wanted and even after I chose them I wasn't sure I liked it. Now I am convinced it will look pretty good. I settled on a vintage Christmas color scheme of pale pink, magenta pink, light teal, medium grey, white, and buttercream. The other three should be done soon and all will be ready to adorn my mantle with vintage Christmas awesomeness! (As soon as Thanksgiving is over, of course.) ;)

Happy Halloween 2010...

2010-10-30T21:37:00.001-04:00

We took the girls out trick or treating this evening. We had the best time! I'm tempted to say that I had more fun than anyone, but I'm not sure that's true. They looked so incredibly adorable I just wanted to keep giving them hugs and taking pictures. Katie was a fairy princess and Ava was a butterfly. The very first house we went to Ava got a piece of candy and I'm not kidding when I say that it took us about 15 minutes to get to the next house. She was so thrilled that someone just gave her a piece of candy all she wanted to do was eat it. And eat it she did. She actually set down her bucket and kept walking without it. Who needs to carry around this thing if you can just eat the candy as it's given to you? Haha! Katie wanted to get to as many houses as she could and fill up her pumpkin to its eyeballs.

We had a wonderful Halloween evening!

Betsy McCall Paper Dolls...

2010-10-28T13:24:00.003-04:00

I had the idea yesterday to look online for some paper dolls I could cut out for Katie. I just wanted free printouts because I didn't want to spend money on something she wouldn't enjoy. Anyway, I looked online for about two hours and I found these! Betsy McCall paper dolls! They are so CUTE! They were printed monthly in McCall's Magazine from 1951 through the 1990s. There are literally hundreds of dresses and dolls to cut out. The design changed several times but I am in love with the first designs from the 50s. On the website above you can print them all out for free!

I printed the first one out for my daughter, Katie, yesterday and she just loves it! I am so excited she does! She wants me to make her a bed and a closet to hang all of her clothes in. I'm not sure about the closet but I might make a "dresser" out of shoe box for her.

She has never heard of or seen paper dolls before as far as I know and she couldn't believe there was such a thing! I love introducing her to new things. All the searching online was worth finding these!

A Fall Day...

2010-10-28T09:31:00.002-04:00

We went outside yesterday after dinner to rake up some leaves and I spent most of the time (ok all of the time) photographing the girls playing in the leaves. They had so much fun! I love watching them enjoying life. I am no pro photographer so most of the pictures turned out really blurry. I should have bumped up the ISO but I didn't think of that until after the fact, of course. But blurry and all, the pictures are really fun to look at! Here is Ava being the victim of an older sibling's fun. Poor thing. Katie just kept on pouring leaves on top of her. So funny though!

She has no idea what's coming...

This was after the first five leaf pours...

From the top!

From the side!

Ewww! Leaves in the mouth!

Katie was relentless. Just in case you were wondering I did make her stop after a couple minutes. Otherwise she would still be at it!

Here are a couple more pictures I took of the girls. The one of Ava is really good (if I do say so myself) and I LOVE it! I want to print it out in a huge poster size!

My sweet little angels...

My New Obsession... glitterhouses!

2010-10-23T14:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I know that Christmas is two months away, but I can't help myself. I am completely obsessed with glitter houses! I actually just discovered them. Apparently, they are a once common vintage Christmas decoration originally called putz houses, I think. Here is a link if you would like to read more about them. I found an awesome blog this week called A Field Journal and I love the glitter house village she made last Christmas. So, so, so pretty! I love the pinks and aquas and creams! So romantic and dreamy. Anyway, I am totally copying her. I am not going to beat around the bush about that. She just did a perfect job and can't change anything about it. I don't know, maybe I'll change a couple things but my village is going to be very similar. I might play up the aquas a little more and soften the pinks a little. My projects never turn out the way I originally invision them. Sometimes they come out better and sometimes they come out worse. Like, a month ago I decided to make big fabric pumpkins out of different textured whitish fabrics and put them on my mantel along with some tall glass candlesticks I have. Horrible. It looked horrible. So I wasted two hours of time (but not much money I'm relieved to say) and was left with an undecorated mantel. In the end I just threw up a fake fall leaf garland with my glass candlesticks and a few faux mercury glass votive holders and it looks great! Who knew? Oh, well. At least it was an easy fix. Ok, back to the glitter houses... Here is a picture of the original glitter house village I fell in love with (blogged here). Isn't it just lovely?

...and here is a picture of my first glitter house although it's unadorned right now. I LOVE it! I decided to start with the church and I used the pattern on Martha Stewart's website here. The chipboard (which is dang hard to find) is a little rough due to my putting on too much glue on the template. But it will be covered by many layers of prettiness, so I'm not worried about it.

I'll post more pics as my village undergoes construction. I'm hoping to have it all finished by the end of November so I can put it up on the mantel just in time for the Christmas season. So excited! I can't stop holding it, it's so cute! My oldest daughter, Katie, loves it too. She keeps asking me when she can paint it. I think I might have to make her one of her own. :)

My budding artist...

2010-10-20T17:13:00.002-04:00

Recently I have been discovering how artistically inclined my oldest daughter is. Homeschooling has really opened my eyes to how she learns and what her strengths and weaknesses are. I have started her with Sonlight Curriculum, which I love because of how mapped out everything is for the teacher (me), but she is not thriving with it because it is very language oriented and she is very visually oriented. So I've shifted my focus in her schooling to incorporate more visual activities (drawing, painting, photography, picture books, etc.). Since I have spent more time with her visual side her creativity has just blossomed! Here are some paintings she made this afternoon that I just LOVE! They are so colorful and creative! Can you tell what's on her mind? She can't stop talking about Santa Claus and Christmas and snow. She can't wait for the holidays to get here!

Here is a snowman:

Here is another snowman with large snowflakes falling:

Here is a picture of Katie and Ava playing in the snow together and holding hands:

Oh so sweet!

On my garden...

2010-09-27T09:49:00.000-04:00

So here is my garden when it looked it's best this summer. I won't show you current pictures because it looks pretty sad. We are in the process of ripping out everything for the winter.

As we were tearing out my currant tomato we saw a little mole run out and under the fence. Jim tried to catch it but it got away. So we went to finish ripping out the plant and then we saw a baby mole running around! It was soooo cute! I swear I got way more excited about it than I should have, but it was SOOO cute! It kept crawling around my hand and digging his velvety nose into my palm trying to dig, I guess. This one that Katie is holding squeaked a few times and I hope it doesn't die from shock. Ava was squealing at it because she was so excited, but I think she scared it to death.

And then I found a whole nest of them! I counted five! I wanted to pick them all up, but I figured it was best not to. So we returned the tormented baby mole to his brothers and sisters and covered them back up. I hope their mommy finds them.

Cosmos...

2010-09-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture I took this morning of the cosmos flowers growing in our backyard. I used some new techniques in Photoshop I learned on Lynda.com and a free action by Paint The Moon. Click on it to see it bigger!

Back again...

2010-09-20T15:43:00.002-04:00

So I've been out for a long while and now I'm back to show you everything we've done this summer! Are you ready? I'll try not to bore you to death or show you a thousand pictures. "Try" being the key word here. I am just going to show some pictures with short blurbs as time is not on my side these days. :)

We took a few more camping trips this one being at Hocking Hill, Ohio. It's a beautiful area. Notice the banner strung between the tents? I made it for Fourth of July!

Katie doing a pose at some waterfall in Hocking Hills:

A picture of us on the last day. We look like we've been camping!

Jim and I got to go to a Dayton Dragons game together compliments of his company!

Here is our last camping trip to Lake Cumberland, KY. Isn't this spot awesome? It was basically a platform that hangs out over the lake. Aparently, the lake was about 29 feet down due to construction on the dam, so the water is normally about 4 feet down from the platform there. We will definitely be going back there!

We had a great time camping until the fuel pump broke in our new Suburban. So we had to take a taxi back to our campsite. I felt so stranded when the taxi driver left! To make a long story short, Jim's parents actually drove all the way down there to rescue us!! We were so relieved they came because it took four more days to get the Suburban working again. In the mean time we went to see Cumberland Falls and swam in the Hotel pool a lot!

In August, we went on a very spontaneous trip to Washington DC with Jim's family to visit his sister for her birthday. We had a great time!

This is classic Ava!

I got to go with Jim to Boulder, CO for a business trip just a couple weeks ago! I have to say that Colorado is now my favorite state! I LOVE it there and I hope that someday we might get a chance to live there for a few years. Here is the beginning of the Rocky Mountain National Park:

Jim got to go up with me on this one way dirt road up in the mountains. It was so scary, but so fun! I was able to do it twice!

Here are a couple panoramics that we did there in Colorado. This one is at a little lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area called Long Lake. Personally, this is the most peaceful place I have ever been to. It was so still and peaceful it almost made me cry. All you could hear was the wind blowing through the pines down the side of the mountain and the water lapping on the beach. Also, it smelled like Christmas!

This is Rainbow Curve in the Rocky Mountain National Park:

If you click on the panoramics you can see them larger! I'll try to keep up my blog more these days and I'll be posting pictures of my garden soon!

My Garden...

2010-06-13T14:19:00.002-04:00

Here is how my garden is doing so far...

I love it! It's so perfect and hubby even loves it too! He's not mourning the loss of the grass anymore. :) He especially likes being able to mow in between each row.

Here are my lovely broccoli, of which, I recently discovered have cabbage worms. Yuck!

An heirloom lettuce called "Merveille De Quatre Saisons". It's from France and should get about 3 times that size.

Sweet bell pepper that I bought at a local nursery. Isn't the pepper cute?!

Baby butterhead lettuces. I think I can actually harvest some of them. Yay!

"Little Marvel" peas. They are a dwarf variety that only get 18" tall. I just noticed these first pods today!

I have five different tomato plants, but this one is the most interesting! Look at its sprawling habit! Weird. I'm not exactly sure how to stake this one. It's a currant tomato called "Sweet Pea" and the tomatoes only get as big as a pea and are super sweet, but you probably guessed that from the name. :)

If you look closely you can see a tiny little tomato forming! Can't wait to taste it!

Rachel ox

Camping Trip #1 - Buck Creek State Park

2010-05-25T13:01:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we went on our first successful camping trip of our entire marriage! With all the other attempted camping trips, I was either pregnant or sick or both, or the campground was completely full (Memorial Day weekend, stupid us), or we got rained out. But this time everything went beautifully! The girls went to bed just fine (if not a couple hours past their bedtime), there were no bugs at all, the weather was beautiful, and the smores were oh so yummy! The only bad thing was it got down to 53 degrees that night instead of the forcasted 60 degrees and we were all pretty chilled by the time we woke up, but that's ok! Nothing that coffee and hot chocolate from the gas station can't fix. I can't wait until our next trip, which will be to Hocking Hills in a couple weeks!

Here's our humble little campsite.

A view of the campground. It was pretty full.

Katie posing in front of her very own tent! She was so excited!

A view of the lake. Beautiful!

Katie swinging "high, high, high!". You can tell by the look on her face that she had never been on a swing that big before.

Ava having a blast on her swing.

All three of the kids, oops, I mean two kids and one husband all swinging.

Ava falling asleep. This was about and hour past her bedtime.

Katie contributing to the record high pollen levels.

My favorite part of the trip! All of us sitting around the campfire and just relaxing together and being a family.

Rachel oxo

My girls...

2010-05-19T09:10:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks ago, I took my two girls to John Bryan State Park for a photo shoot. I got my new lens, a Canon 50mm 1.8F, and I was anxious to try it out. Let me tell you, I LOVE that lens! I don't know if I'll go back to the other one. This one is so much better it makes me think that my original one might be broken. These pictures turned out so well I was giddy! A couple of them are a little grainy and I was little frustrated with how the shadows have a green cast to them. But I'm still learning. I used the actions sets available for free from the Pioneer Woman's blog. They are gorgeous!

A busy month...

2010-05-01T13:52:00.000-04:00

Well, I haven't checked in here in a while, but if you knew everything that has been going on this past month you would understand. I'm not going to bore you with all the dull details, but I am going to do a little shameless show-and-tell! I am convinced that in order to be a good seller on Etsy it takes more than having a quality product, it takes great photography too. Your thinking so what else is new?, right? The more I work on my business the more I see how important the photography is. Its not just the color accuracy, good lighting, and multiple views. It's scale photos. You know. Showing your product with an object that is universally a standard size (like yourself!) so people know exactly how your product will look when they get it in the mail. People like that. I've been selling the same bags for a while now and they sold here and there, but I had no scale photos. As soon as I added scale photos of me holding and using the bags they got twice as many views and sold really fast and even made it into the Etsy blog a couple times! I was so excited that I was selling so many except I made the mistake of just relisting items as they sold without them being made thinking I could keep up. Very bad idea. I've been more than swamped this past month. Among all the bags I sold I also received three custom orders for bridesmaid bags! Here are the pictures of them lined up all pretty:

I am so happy to finally be caught up and refreshed and ready to go again!

Hope your having a great weekend...

Rachel ox

Loving the flowers...

2010-04-06T21:51:00.000-04:00

Just a few photos I've taken of the flowers around here:

Rachel ox

A Morning Adventure...

2010-03-20T15:40:00.000-04:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. A romantic little note from my wonderful hubby! On his way out to work this morning at 5:30 he noticed that our new mousetrap actually had a mouse in it. Being that he is so very thoughtful and all, he decided to leave it on the kitchen counter and have me let it go so our four-year-old could watch.

So 6 hours later (poor mouse), after showers, and dressing, and a movie, and breakfast, and cleaning, and coffee, and a thorough disinfecting of the counter tops we left the house to set the mouse free in the field across the street. My four-year-old was thrilled to say the least.

As soon as I opened the top of the trap the mouse jumped right out and ran behind me. I turned around and it took me few seconds to locate him and when I did I shouted to Katie "Look! There he is!". And with a delighted squeal she took off in a sprint toward that poor little mouse and chased him all over the field, through a pavilion (where he ran into the legs of the picnic tables a couple times) and finally into the woods. He's gonna need therapy I'm afraid.

Now I am sitting here enjoying a cup of tea from some gourmet tea bags my mother-in-law bought for me from a farmer's market in San Diego this week. It's called Tea Forte and it's divine! Love, LOVE it! Last night I tried the African red tea and right now I am enjoying "Green Tango" which is a green tea with mango.

Don't you just love the little curly leaf?! So cute! I really think it makes it taste better! :)

Rachel ox

Spring is on its way!

2010-03-09T08:44:00.001-05:00

This past week was a whirlwind of excitement with family here from out of town. We packed as much as we possibly could in the five days they were here. There was shopping, eating out, playing games until midnight, making a gormet cake by Julia Child, exchanging seeds, sewing, antique shopping, bowling, video games (amongst the guys), watching "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D (my first!), and LOTS of cooking! We had such a great time even though by the time they left we were exhausted. I think I have finally caught up on my sleep and I'm ready to blog again!

Spring is finally starting to show! I am so excited! The past couple days have been sunny and temps in the 50s. I am in heaven! Yesterday, we went to Cox Arboretum and walked around with the girls.

We watched the ducks swim around...

The girls loved watching the little stream flow under the bridge...

I just love this picture of Ava...

And I found the first little flower of the year!

Also, I started the first of my seeds for the garden! I'll post pics as soon as they sprout! I am so thankful for the warmth, the sunshine, the hope of spring, and no more cabin fever! :)

Rachel xo

My Dream Garden...

2010-02-24T08:31:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I stumbled upon this picture while I was looking at garden tours online and realized that this is exactly how I imagine my dream garden. I say "dream" because there is no possible way I could ever make this garden at our current house. It would take up the entire back yard! Maybe one day, we will have more land and I can do this. Until then, I can dream, and maybe make a very miniature size dream garden, right? Anyway, here's the link to the tour of this garden if you would like to read more about it and see some more pictures...

Why I'm smiling today...

2010-02-19T16:50:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to show you real quick some things that made me smile today!

First of all, I woke up this morning to find that one of my hyacinth bulbs bloomed! Isn't it gorgeous?! And it smells like heaven! Mmmmmm... I can smell it just looking at it. :)

Second, my mother-in-law and I took the girls to the Boonshoft Museum here in Dayton and had a blast. This picture doesn't really show what is at the museum but I love how happy my girls are! We had a blast!

Third, I got two packages in the mail! One was a delicious assortment of new fabrics for my bags!

...and the other was a couple of books I bought on Amazon! "Grow Great Grub" by: Gayla Trail, and "The Backyard Homestead" by Carleen Madigan.

Cannot wait to get into bed tonight after the kiddos are asleep and thoroughly enjoy a couple hours of reading with a cup (or two) of tea!

Rachel xo

Updates...

2010-02-16T09:13:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been too long since I've written a post. So much has gone on since I last updated this. First of all I have to complain and say that we got 6 more inches of snow yesterday. Whaahhhh! On top of the 10 or so inches we already have. I feel like crying. I looked at the averages for this area and the average temperature for the high in February is 40 degrees F. We are NO where near that! It's been in the teens and twentys for weeks. Whaaahhhh! On the bright side, it is very beautiful outside.

To add to my stash of plants I bought a Peperomia from our local nursery, I won a "Sweet Kate" Spiderwort at a gardening class I went to at our local Arboretum, I've started a nasturtium on my windowsil, and my wonderful hubby got me a beautiful orchid for Valentine's Day! I am so sorry to say that I was too anxious for the nasturtiums to sprout and I actually dug up one of the seeds to see if there was a root growing. Big no, no. I know. I'm desperate.

Here is my hyacinth bulb! It's growing even more!

I've bought a big stash of gorgeous fabric to start some new bags and I received some lovely linen in the mail that I bought from a girl in South Korea. I LOVE getting new fabric! It's like instant happiness! Here is one of the bags I made with the new linen and a rolled fabric rose. I used a wonderful tutorial from Portabellopixie for the rolled rose. Cute, huh?

Until next time...

Rachel

Not waiting for Winter to leave...

2010-02-01T08:50:00.004-05:00

I officially have a chronic case of spring fever. And that is very unfortunate for me because it is about 2 months too early. That means in about 2 weeks I am most definitely going to be depressed when it is still cold outside. I have a whole bunch of projects I can't wait to get started on and I am already buying plants left and right and keeping them here in the house.

I've bought two African violets from a very nice lady who sells them as a home business. In the picture, the African violet under the bell jar is called "Irish Flirt" and it is a miniature with tiny, curly white and green flowers. The one sitting in the beaded glass bowl is call "Buckeye Extravaganza" and it has large, frilly pink flowers. I planted some pink hyacinth bulbs that I bought in Colonial Williamsburg, VA last October and they are already starting to sprout! You cannot believe how excited I was to see that light green color breaking through! I am also desperately wanting to buy a dwarf Meyer Lemon tree, but I just found out that they don't ship them until April. Bummer.

I've already planned out my vegetable garden and I received my first shipment of seeds yesterday. YAY!!! Here is a list of the vegetables I am planting in the vegetable garden. (I know some people don't care, but I just love writing lists, especially for my garden!)

- Carrots "Round Romeo"
- Broccoli "All Season Blend"
- Kale "Lacinato" also called "Dinosaur Kale"!
- Pole Beans "Kentucky Blue"
- Tomatoes (all are heirloom)
          - "Sweet Pea Currant" (they are the size of peas!)
          - "Blondkopfchen"
          - "Cherokee Purple"
          - "Black Cherry"
          - "Flamme"
- Eggplant "Prosperosa"

Apart from veggies, I am also growing six different herbs and a special marigold that ParkSeeds sells that is supposed to be especially good for getting rid of nemotodes in the garden.

I've been so absorbed in my gardening stuff I haven't felt like sewing much lately. I have one more custom order to finish up and it's back to designing later this week.

Hope you all are staying busy enough to distract you from the winter gloom, unless, of course, you live in a warmer area to begin with. In that case, lucky you!

Rachel xo

The anticipation of spring...

2010-01-22T13:44:00.003-05:00

I have a severe case of winter blues. Well, I'm not depressed, I just really wish spring were here. Found these tulips at our grocery store on Wednesday and they have turned out to be my most favorite thing to look at these past few days. Just beautiful! Now I wish I had planted bulbs this past fall. Aren't they stunning? The rich fushia and purple against my greeny-blue wall is so striking. I think I might print one of these off and frame it somewhere.

Have a lovely weekend!

Rachel ox

Giving Hope to Haiti....

2010-01-18T13:08:00.001-05:00

Last night, just before I went to bed, I sat down to read all the updates on my favorite blogs. On JCasa's blog I saw that she had donated an item to CraftHope for Haiti. I started looking into it and I was overwhelmed at what they are doing. CraftHope has set up an Etsy shop full of donated handmade items. 100% of the proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti to help with all the medical needs. As of right now, they have sold 367 items and raised $7000 for Doctors Without Borders in Haiti in two days! It brings tears to my eyes. Check out their shop and consider buying something to help a great cause or donate an item.

I have decided to donate this clutch:

From the Craft Hope site:

Craft Hope community, it is time to Craft Hope for Haiti. The devastation in Haiti is catastrophic and we can help. At the encouragement of many people we will be opening a Craft Hope Etsy shop to benefit Doctors Without Borders. We are growing by leaps and bounds and as needs arise we will rise up to meet them.

The Craft Hope Etsy shop will allow crafters to donate products and allow folks to purchase them. With 100% of the proceeds going to charity.
This is a call for all things handmade. If you can make it, we will sell it to benefit Doctors Without Borders.

Many people have asked how they can support Craft Hope and it’s charities if they can’t sew, knit, craft. Well, this is the way. You can shop in the Craft Hope Etsy shop, get a beautifully handmade item, and rest assured that the proceeds from your purchase will go to charity. It’s that simple.

For Crafters: All the info on the project can be found right here.

For Shoppers: Visit the Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy Shop right here.

Spread the love everybody and God bless...

Rachel

Such a beautiful, exhausting life...

2010-01-14T08:11:00.001-05:00

Besides being super busy taking care of my kids while my hubby is out of town, I've also been super busy sewing and creating too. Yesterday was very exciting and unexpected. It's so funny now that I think about it. Yesterday afternoon I sold my embroidered, red tea cozy in my shop! I put a lot of work into that tea cozy and I was thrilled that someone loved it enough to buy it from me. Then I got an email from someone who wanted one too, and then another email, and ANOTHER email. I was so confused. How could something that has been for sale for about a month now suddenly be something everyone wants? I just shrugged my shoulders and started having thoughts about how great of a designer I was and how people are discovering me and I am going to be famous one day. (Come on, after a boost like that anyone would start having those thoughts, right?) Well, I looked at my Etsy shop this morning and I've had 31 people fave my shop since yesterday morning. Ok, something HAD to have happened. I was thinking, how in the world did that many people stumble into my shop? So I did a little Google search on my red tea cozy and found that it was in "The Spotlight" section of The Storque on Etsy! Here it is if you would like to have a look. I could not believe it! I was so excited! It was good that I found that otherwise my head might have gotten too big over nothing! Ha ha! Anyway, for what it's worth, I am thrilled that 3 other people love my red tea cozy and they want me to make it for them. I get more of a rush from people loving my creations than the money I get from selling them. The money just helps me create more things that I dream up. It's fueling my hobby! And that's a good feeling. :)

For the sake of putting up a picture with every post I write, here is one of my one-year-old who just figured out how to reach the fresh-baked cookies on the counter! She was thrilled to say the least when she realized what she had accomplished! Love it! :)

Have a beautiful week, everyone!

Rachel

A new bag!

2010-01-07T13:00:00.002-05:00

I've seen these bags around in different shapes and sizes. I love this style! It's so me and so Ohsewfresh! I been working on this adorable bag for a few days now. I finally got the courage to draw up a pattern and give it a shot on Tuesday. I hate trying something with my best fabric and supplies with the chance of it not working out and then I would have to throw it away. Kills me. But luck was on my side when I finally sewed it up. You cannot believe how excited I was when I saw how it was turning out. I'll admit that the shape of the body of the bag was not how I intended for it to be. It was kind of a mistake, but after about 3 seconds of looking at it thinking that I had just ruined it, I realized I loved the shape! I would prefer it this way over the shape I drew up from the beginning. It is moments like these that make me want to design more! I love sewing!

You know what the best part is? Each of the flowers are made from the fabric of my two most favorite designers: Heather Bailey, and Anna Maria Horner. Check out their blogs, they are amazing!

This little bag is in my Etsy shop. I think I might make one for me too! Did I mention that it's snowing like crazy outside? I think we have about 4 inches so far! Perfect day.... :)

Rachel

An Oh Sew Fresh Start to 2010...

2010-01-04T17:50:00.002-05:00

I was more than happy to pack away all our beautiful Christmas things a couple days ago. A new year... a fresh start... mmmmm. Sounds good. I love new beginnings. The anticipation of new experiences that will come this year. The ability to do new things with my children as they grown older. Doing all the things I couldn't do on my list last year. Isn't that what everybody hopes for?

Well a new year also brings new challenges too... like, what am I going to do with this undecorated living room? I took all the Christmas things away and there is really nothing left. What did I have up there on the mantle before Christmas? Nothing. Ughh. Here are some pictures of my skimpy mantle. Do any of you have some awesome decor advice for me? Keep in mind I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old.

One area I am particularly proud of is my rather large wall behind our leather sectional sofa. I think I've gone through about 3 different arrangements before I saw this one on Flickr a few months ago and I knew it was the one. Like true love. I couldn't have anything else. So after much persuasion in my husband's direction and a great coupon to Michael's Craft store I bought all the frames. I was the happiest little homemaker that night as I propped them up on the back side of the sofa to try to get an idea of what they would look like all put up. Love never fails either. And I learned that the next day when I spent two hours trying to hang them up and practically destroying the wall with a million little nail holes. (Don't look behind the pictures!) Now my challenge is printing out the pictures to put in the frames. Right now all they have is the bright orange flower posters that they came with. My mom loves them just the way they are! :) I will post another picture as soon as I have filled them.

This is a little decal bird I got from Elephannie on Etsy . I love this little bird sitting on the back door frame! He's made our house his home. :-)

Wishing everyone a fresh start to your new year!

Rachel

Merry Christmas 2009...

2009-12-28T20:21:00.002-05:00

It's Christmas time and I can't think of anything to say. Shocking. I had such a wonderful holiday with my family, but I can't think of anything that really stands out to me. The best part, for me, was just the time away from the everyday everydayness and having some special events planned, and family to visit, and children to spoil, and we are not done yet! We still have Christmas to celebrate with my side of the family. We celebrated my second daughter's first Christmas! And that was very special to me. It is one of the best things in the world to watch a baby discover new and exciting things every other second. The look on her face was priceless as she watched everyone sitting around, laughing, opening presents, hugs, kisses, wrapping paper everywhere, etc. I think she even said "wow" a couple times! She only knows a handful of words, "wow" being one of them.

My oldest daughter is four and this is the first year she really knew what was going on. This was the first year I was able to experience her excitement BEFORE Christmas was actually here. To see her giddiness every time a new present appeared under the tree was so much fun! I was so proud of her when she memorized her first Bible verse ever. "You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." Luke 2:12. And to actually HEAR her say it in her cute little girl voice just melts my heart every time. As we drive through the neighborhood she recites this verse whenever she shes a nativity scene in someone's yard. Warms my heart! Watching my children discover and enjoy Christmas was such a joy and a blessing and will probably stand out in my mind as my favorite memory of Christmas 2009. I guess I did have something to say! :)

Hope your Christmas was as merry as mine was! What was your favorite memory of Christmas 2009? I would love to hear your Christmas stories!

Rachel

A Snowy Day and a Summery Bag...

2009-12-19T13:33:00.001-05:00

It snowed last night! This is the view of our neighbor's house across the street. Oh it was so beautiful this morning to look outside and see the blue grey morning light reflecting off the snow. We only got about an inch but that is plenty for some winter fun.

My four-year-old wanted to go out immediately... at 6am! We eventually got her out the door and she was in heaven. Watching her foot tracks in the snow, making snow balls, eating the snow... oh to be a kid again.

My eleven-month-old anxiously watched her play from the front door. She wanted to be out with her soooooo bad. But me trying to be the good mommy kept her inside to help keep her from getting sicker. (She's had a cold and a cough for about a month now.)

It officially feels like Christmas now since it has snowed. Speaking of Christmas, we were supposed to have our Christmas with my side of the family today before they went down to Arkansas, but my brother-in-law fell ill with the stomach flu and we are not feeling too well ourselves so we postponed it for two weeks from now. Bummer. Oh well, I guess I can look forward to a little Christmas after the new year then!

I made this bag last night for my Etsy shop. I love the summery feel of it. I think I am going to make one for myself after Christmas when I am wishing it was warm outside. :)

Rachel

Marshmallow Bliss...

2009-12-14T13:34:00.004-05:00

So I've seen homemade marshmallows pop up every now and then on different blogs I've read over the past few years and now I've decided to try it for myself. I've heard that homemade marshmallows are devine, but I had never had one... until today. All I have to say is, what in the world took me so long? I looooove homemade marshmallows. They are so much smoother and flavorfuller (is that a word?) than the ones in the bag and I don't even like the ones in the bag unless they are turned into smores. I cannot stop eating them, hence the reason I am promptly going to go to the gym this morning. Never has so much sugar been so ok with me. I'm pretty sure homemade marshmallows are guaranteed kid zingers, but I haven't tried that one out for myself yet. I'll need more coffee for that one. lol

Anyway, I think I'm rambling... probably because I'm in a marshmallow stupor. I made mine peppermint flavored with pretty red swirls on top. Mmmmmm. Perfect for a cup of hot cocoa, don't you think? I had planned to make them with my four-year-old, but I didn't realize how long it takes for the boiling sugar/water to reach the "soft ball" stage. I think it was about 20 minutes, which, in the mind of a four-year-old, it might as well be forever. She gave up on me and made a tent with our kitchen table. If you would like to join me in my marshmallow bliss, here is the recipe I used (thanks McAuliflower!). You should try it!

Happy holiday making!

Rachel

Ready To Go Again...

2009-12-11T11:19:00.001-05:00

I finally got my sewing area set up here at home! Yay! I can't wait to get started on some projects that have been rolling around in my head. Some to go to my Etsy shop and some for me and my family. I am in desperate need of some organization though. All I have right now is the space under my bed. I really want some shelves from Ikea but I don't know if we want to spend the money just yet. Aside from the organization, I feel so complete having my sewing area nearby. *sigh* Do any of you have some great small-space-sewing-area-organization tips for me? I am open to any ideas. For instance, where to store my fabric stash so that it's visible yet out of the way (and out of little kiddos hands). I don't know if that one is even possible. :)

The first project to be completed is my red wool felt teapot cozy. I started this originally to submit it to a book that was being published, but I never got around to it. My main excuse being that I was pregnant at the time. Bummer. I wish I had followed through with it. Anyway, this sweet little number is available for sale in my Etsy shop. My first item to list in a year and a half! I feel so proud. It looks so lonely there in the shop all its itself.

The embroidery pattern is free for download in my previous post!

Free Embroidery Pattern!

2009-12-07T20:54:00.007-05:00

Here she is! I have, available for free, the pattern to my "Girl With Bird" embroidery. For the original one I used just a basic brown for her body and a basic red for her dress and the flowers. Download the pattern, print it out, and use some good ol' fashioned carbon paper to transfer it onto whatever fabric you want to stitch her on. My only request is that you send me a picture of your finished project with her in it. I would love that!

Click here to Download

Speaking of her, I have another project she is making an appearance in! Here is a picture of it in the works. I think I might try to sell this one.

Hope you all are having a great week! We are for sure, as we are all finally getting over being sick for such a long time.

Rachel

Winter Birdie Blues...

2009-12-06T13:28:00.003-05:00

About a couple weeks ago, I was really stressed out with pretty much everything. Being a mom, a teething baby, being sick, EVERYONE being sick, a hubby not happy with work, several dreary days in a row, not even scratching the surface of my to do list and yet still being run-into-the-ground busy, etc. So after the girls were in bed I skipped on over to my in-law's house (they were out of town) to get a change of atmosphere and some peace and quiet. Believe it or not, even when the kids are in bed and asleep, you are still on "full alert" for any sounds that might come out of their rooms. You just can't stop listening... even in your sleep. Anyway, I just sat down with my sketchbook in my lap and started drawing. I've never done that before. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to draw but I didn't know how to make it turn out the way I wanted it to. I told myself "just start drawing". So I did and lo and behold, it turned out exactly how I wanted it to. I REALLY liked it when I was finished. It took me about an hour to sketch it out. It makes me feel peaceful. I think I am going to hang it up as a reminder to get away from everything when everything starts becoming to too much (as soon as hubby gets home, of course). I felt so much more collected and calm when I came back home. I'm disappointed that no one else I show it to seems to like it as much as I do, but that's ok. I can love it even when no one else does.

Sorry this sounds so depressing. On a happier note... I am VERY excited about setting up all my sewing stuff here in the next few days! Yay! Can't wait!

Hope everyone has a great week...

Rachel

Trimming The Tree...

2009-12-03T08:30:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures of our tree! It took us 3 days to put it up and decorate it. So goes the life of a family with little ones, right? Anyway, it turned out beautiful!

That's me in the ornament and my baby girl in the lower right! :)

Happy Holidays!

Rachel

I've Been Practicing...

2009-12-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

Just because I haven't been selling anything in my Etsy shop for the past year and a half doesn't mean I haven't been sewing and making things, mostly for my house! Here are a few:

I repainted and recovered the cushion on this old gossip bench from the 50s or 60s. In case you didn't know what a gossip bench was, they would put a phone on the table and a phone book in the cubby. Fully equipped for gossiping!

This pillow is one of my favorites! I made yo-yos out of my scrap fabric (hardly made a dent) and sewed them together! It was a lot more time intensive than it looks. I honestly thought that it wouldn't take any time at all. I also made the pillow behind it with a sweet pleated ruffle.

One of the first projects I made when we moved into our new house was these fabric covered mirrors. I bought the frames at IKEA for $1 a piece, then removed the mirror, padded the frame with batting, covered the frame with Heather Bailey's fabric, and put the mirrors back in! That's it! I LOVE them!

I made these curtains for my kitchen. Not much, I know, but if you were here you would see how much they add to the kitchen. The colors of this room are yellow, red, and teal! Sorry about the crappy picture, yellow light and rainy weather don't help.

Have a great day... :)

Rachel

A Broken Back And A Turkey Brining...

2009-11-28T12:07:00.001-05:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! We had such a wonderful holiday. I love big family gatherings because you don't have to cook a lot and you can visit with people you havn't seen in a while all at the same time. A LOT less stress in my opinion. I was in charge of bringing a turkey! A biggie, I know. But I was so excited about making it for everyone. I got my turkey from a local turkey farm called Bowman Landes. They raise free range turkeys. I have to say, they are DELICIOUS! They have a much more meaty texture, not as spongy as other kinds and ahhhhh... the flavor! I decided to try my hand at brining and I will never, ever use another turkey cooking method again. (Well, I guess I say that now, but maybe I'll want to try another method in the future.) I used a brine kit from this place. I roasted it breast side down for an hour at 425, turned it over, lowered the temp to 325 and roasted it for 3 1/2 hours more. I also kept it covered in the roaster until the last hour and a half. That's it! When my uncle was carving it for Thanksgiving dinner there was so much juice coming out my dad had to hold a towel to the edge of the counter to keep it from spilling on the floor! Besides it being perfectly juicy, it tasted divine! Everyone loved it! I was extremely satisfied with how it turned out. Here are a couple before pictures of the turkey and it brining. Unfortunately, I never managed to get a quick picture of the finished masterpiece because as soon as we showed up at the house my uncle took it and started carving it. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and not just because of my awesome turkey! lol

I got some really great deals yesterday during all the Black Friday sales. I wanted to go back out again today to get some wrapping paper and other things, but I threw my back out this morning. Bummer. I wasn't even DOING anything. I think I was peeling a banana for my 10 month old and something popped and now I can't turn my head or lift it back or anything. Ugghh. I am ashamed to admit that my almost-four-year-old has watched a grand total of 5 hours of tv today, being that I can't hardly do anything for her. I feel like such a neglectful parent. Hopefully I'll feel much better tomorrow. I keep thinking that maybe this is a blessing in disguise. We have all been a little sick for about three weeks now and it seems like we are constantly fighting whatever it is off. The past few days I have felt worse and worse and I started praying that God would heal our little family since I wasn't doing a very good job at it. But I couldn't stop doing things and pushing myself to go out and get more and more things done. I had a whole slew of stuff I wanted to do today, but I can't now. I think God is telling me to slow down and get some rest. And you know what? Aside from me not being able to turn my head, I feel better! My throat isn't scratchy and I don't feel so foggy. Yay to that!

I am so excited the Christmas season is finally here! I am hoping we can get our Christmas tree up and decorated here in the next couple days. Check back soon, as I will be posting some free embroidery patterns like this one! Hope the start of your holidays has been a joyous one as well! Blessings...

Rachel

18 Months Later...

2009-11-23T14:18:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe that it has really been 18 months since I last posted on my blog! Time flies. And the older I get the faster life goes by. Well, in the last 18 months we have had a new addition to the family! Ava Elizabeth. Isn't that a pretty name? We actually found out that we were expecting her just less than a week after my last post. She is such a doll baby! ...and funny too! She is always making us laugh. We have also moved into a new house! I love our new home, even though it is a little on the small side, it's such a warm home. Very cozy and welcoming!

This last weekend Jim and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Seems like yesterday we were getting engaged and now it has been 5 years already and two kids! We went on a little get away to Columbus and stayed in the Embassy Suites Hotel. Let me tell you, Jim LOVES that hotel. He couldn't wait to wake up in the morning and get a cooked-to-order omlet. I'm hooked now too. The breakfast IS really good (even though I can't eat eggs). We had a great time. A lot of reflecting, holding hands, daydreaming, talking about the kids, and planning for the future. It is so nice to come back home refreshed and ready to tackle the next year knowing that we both are on the same page.

I'm looking forward to writing more on my blog and I can't wait to see what becomes of it! Blessings to all of you... :)

Rachel

In Awe of God...

2008-05-02T07:32:00.000-04:00

I don't have a picture for this post, but I wanted to let everyone know that we are safely home in Ohio now. Yay! We just spent the first night in our corporate housing and it is WONDERFUL. We will have everything we need for the next 60 days. Also.... (drum roll please)... we sold our house! Well, it's not set in stone yet, but everything has been done including the house inspection and everything is a go! We are supposed to close in four days. Can you believe it?!?! It wasn't up on the market but 6 days and we got an offer! It's easy to say that all of this is luck, but I know God did everything. He has smoothed the path over for us so much we hardly had to do anything. Seriously. He sold our house for us, He got us up here safely, He got my husband a wonderful job, He gave us a nice place to stay for 60 days, He has given us money right when we need it, He has kept us all healthy and strong (which is no small task) during this hard transition, He has moved us to an area where our family is, and the list goes on and on. The biggest blessing for me is that God helped me not be so worried and anxious about everything. That is what tears me down; the worrying. But I didn't even freak out about anything at all and now I feel like I was able to enjoy our move. I was completely at peace about everything (and I slept soooooo well :) ). I can't believe how much God loves us to do all this for us. I am floored really. I feel so unworthy. Now I am starting to sound like a preacher. Well, I just felt like telling everyone how blessed we are.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! God's blessings to all. (Since I have so much of it.) : )

As life goes on...

2008-04-19T20:31:00.000-04:00

Well, I haven't posted anything in a long time! Time flies. I have some exciting things going on in my little corner of the world. We are moving! Back home. Ahhhhhh..... It's such a nice breath of fresh air. I really miss our home, back in Dayton, Ohio, and our family and friends. It's been really hard living in a completely different area of the country and having to start from scratch, making new friends, finding fun things to do, and just plain living on our own with no one to run to when we are having a rough time. We've grown a lot. A LOT. And now we are ready to take our grown up selves back home and see it in a whole new light. Absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. I will miss it here though. This is our first house ever. That's definitely a milestone. I have decided to make an embroidery/applique picture of my favorite spot in the house: my kitchen window. I love looking out and seeing the sparkling leaves of my beautiful oak trees quivering in the wind (it's always windy here), and watching all our neighbors driving off to their jobs in the morning and then back home again in the evening. It really makes life feel really methodical. I think that is why I like it so much. It kind of makes me feel secure knowing that every day everyone is going to go work and come back in the evening. So that is what I'll think of when I see the picture I am stitching up. I am going to hang it (where else?) in the kitchen of our new house.

This is a picture of our kitchen when we moved in. Love at first sight...

Here are a couple pictures of my daughter having fun with a pot of water! Who knew that all you'd need to keep a toddler happy for 2 hours would be to let them loose outside with a pot full of water? Seriously. Anyway, she had a blast!

I was featured on a blog this week! Here is the link to Mama's Magic blog. She also has an Etsy shop called Baby Friendly Beads where she sells necklaces made to keep your baby's hands and feet busy when your holding him or breastfeeding him. They're ingenious really. Have a look!

Bye Bye Baby...

2008-03-17T10:28:00.000-04:00

Don't worry. She didn't die! Since moving to Texas our little family has made some pretty big realizations about what we want to do with our life. One being that we want to travel. A LOT. Well, in order for us to pursue our "dreams" some changes need to occur, like selling our house, moving into an apartment, downsizing our "stuff", and... giving away the cat. I've had my cat since she was born practically. The summer I was sixteen my grandfather, my dad, my sister and I took off on a 27 mile bike ride. (None of us knew it was going to be THAT long.) I physically could not bike the very last mile so I walked it. After a few minutes of walking my bike down the road, I felt something furry between my ankles. I looked behind me and saw a little gray tail and immediately jumped because I thought it was a squirrel! Well, it turned out to be a 1 week old kitten who was starving and sick and she could not find her momma. So she chose me instead! My dad wasn't about to take in another animal so even after much begging and pleading on my part he still made me carry her out to the woods and leave her there. Lucky for me she bounded through the grass right after me all the way back to the road. After that, my dad couldn't say no. So I've had her for 8 years and now she has a new home. I really like the new family that is taking her. I think she will be happy with them. I'm still sad though.

On a happier note, I am really enjoying my new Etsy shop for baby stuff! I love making little baby quilts, and burp cloths! Soon I am adding baby slings, diaper and wipes pouches, and boppy covers! I am having so much fun! I am going to try my new slings out on one of my friends who just had a baby a couple of weeks ago. She's gonna love it!

I Loooooove Patchwork...

2008-02-24T17:56:00.000-05:00

Well, sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time. I am still getting used to this whole blogging thing and every time I go to post something new, I can't think of anything interesting to write about. Or at least anything interesting to you! I do have some new things to tell you and show you today though.

My aunt asked me several weeks ago to make her a fanny pack with one of my purse designs. Sounds hard, doesn't it? I was very intimidated to say the least. She was kind enough to send me one of her old ones for reference since I couldn't find a single basic fanny pack pattern anywhere. After many sessions of measuring her old fanny pack and trying to decide on a design I finally had my pattern to work from. Whew! That was hard enough, but then I had to actually SEW it together. Yesterday afternoon it came together a lot smoother than I had expected and the finished product was way better than I had expected too! I was soooo happy. I can't believe how good it looks! (Not bragging, of course.) : ) I really can't wait to see what my aunt thinks of it!

My OhSewFresh Baby Etsy shop is going really well! I've sold the one item I put up for sale in there! Yay! I guess you could say that I would be doing better if I had something else for sale in there. I know, I know. It's been empty for a week, but not for long. I am working on several adorable little baby quilts to put in there. They take a lot longer than you'd think.

Here is the one I sold last week. ( The one above.)

And here is the one going up this week! Probably on Wednesday. It is made from a new fabric line called "Swell" by Urban Chicks. It's supposed to look like vintage 1940s and 1950s fabric. I love it! Besides the fact that it is so summery and full of sunshine, I love how well all the prints go together and complement each other. I wish I had a baby again to wrap up in this quilt! (No, I am not pregnant.) I will hate to see this one go. Just in case you were wondering, there are 384 pieces to this quilt! And, yes, it did take a long time to put together. That's my wonderful husband holding up the quilt top for me! I love you hunny!

Anyway, hope you all had a great weekend! Now I am going to go nurse this cold I got yesterday. Back in a few days...

Finally Finished!

2008-02-02T17:06:00.000-05:00

It's done! My Heather Bailey quilt is finally finished! I started it back in September and now it is complete. You know, the whole reason why it took me soooo long to finish is the binding. Yup. The binding. Everything else was done except the binding. I am way too perfectionistic about those kinds of things. On Heather Bailey's blog she has a free tutorial on how to perfectly bind a quilt with pretty little mitered corners and everything. Well, she machine sews on the binding on one side of the quilt and then flips it around and hand sews it to the other side of the quilt. It looked so beautiful and perfect, so nothing else would do for my quilt but to hand sew the binding on. Three months later...

Anyway, my sweet hubby took care of our 2 year old all morning so I could do whatever I wanted to do. I took one look at that quilt and I thought better to have a finished MACHINE SEWN quilt than to have an unfinished quilt forever, right?. And that was that. I snatched up that dusty quilt and had the binding sewn on in half and hour. That's all it took! I will never hand sew a binding onto a quilt again! (Well, maybe not never.)

Now I have a wonderful idea! Since I like making quilts so much (provided I machine sew on the binding) I am going to make some beautiful baby quilts to sell in my Etsy shop! They are going to be gorgeous! The first one will be the same as the quilt I just finished only smaller and with a lime green fleece backing so it will be oh sew soft on baby's skin. What do you think? I promise you'll love 'em, just wait until I show you! Maybe I'll add a sweet ruffle around the edge too.

Here's a stowaway I found in my fabric stash this afternoon! I love fabric so much, I wish I could sleep in there too! It looks so cozy in there. Ha, just kidding! I'm not really THAT crazy. Or am I?

Have a great weekend everyone! I love all the comments!

Yay for Warm Weather!

2008-01-29T09:10:00.001-05:00

I am so excited because today is supposed to be a high around 69 degrees! Oh, how I've been wanting warm weather! Well, it's not exactly warm, but it's warm enough for an afternoon at the park. My daughter is going to have so much fun! She has had a chronic case of cabin fever for the past few weeks and I don't know how I will be able to get through without a few lovely days like this to get the "wild child" drawn out of her. We had a warm day a couple of weeks ago and we took the family to the Dallas Zoo! I had never been there before and it was Katie's (my daughter) first time EVER! I was so excited, but of course, our camera had to die after about only a dozen pictures. So there's not much to document her first zoo visit but here are the best ones:

This is her first carousel ride! Can you see her in there? She refused to get on that horse, but as soon as it started moving I quickly set her on it and she had a blast! The biggest smile you ever saw! She liked it so much, that when it stopped I couldn't get her down! She would not let go.

By far the most exciting moment at the zoo was the gorilla exhibit. He was so animated and energetic! He would run from the bottom of the hill there straight up the windows and stop right in front of us! It was really scary actually and Katie jumped several times, especially when he pounded on the windows. I started to feel like a gawker. The poor gorilla would just sit there and look at you with the strangest expression that I had never seen before. I started feeling sorry for him being caged up in there. It was as if he was trying to make some sense out of why we were staring so intently back at him. I don't believe in evolution, but he sure seemed human to me. As you can see, I think just about everyone at the zoo that afternoon was at the gorilla exhibit. That's me and Katie in the front.

If you ever get a chance to visit Dallas, then stop by the zoo. It's smaller but it's kept really nice and clean and the landscaping is beautiful! They also have a little safari that you can rice a train through, but we didn't get to do that.

I am hoping to get a couple new bags up in my shop here today or tomorrow, so be sure to check in every now and then. I have so many bags to be made and so little time to make them. Hope you all are doing well! Until later...

Sew, sew, sew...

2008-01-24T20:51:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of a beach out in San Diego that my husband took on his business trip earlier this week. He says these were taken right when the sun was coming up. Isn't it beautiful? I wish I could have gone with him.

The past couple days I've been sewing like there's no tomorrow. I've made four new bags and I've already cut out the fabric for four more! I can't believe I've worked so much on my business and I want to do even more! I feel so guilty working on my business so much because it takes away time from my daughter. The hardest part about running my little business is NOT working on it and taking the time to do the things that are more important, like playing with my daughter and keeping the house clean and checking my voicemail and calling everyone back. Has anyone else had this struggle? It's SO hard. If some of you do have to deal with trying not to work on your business so much, tell me what your tricks are. Lord knows I need them.

I got so many great comments and a couple buys on the blue patchwork bag that I decided to make another one with Heather Bailey's "Freshcut" line of fabric. I think it looks awesome, if I do say so myself. It turned out really well! I never get tired of Heather Bailey's fabric.

Speaking of fabric, I bought some of Grand Revival's "Barefoot Roses" fabric. I bought it yesterday afternoon from Cabbage Rose Quilt Shop and I got it in the mail today! Talk about speedy delivery! Of course their quilt shop is only about a day's drive from me but still. I'm impressed. I can't wait to show you what I make with it! It truly is some of the most beautiful fabric I've ever seen, and it appeals to the romantic in me.

So I will be spending the next couple of days working on my other New Year's resolutions and not so much on my business. Like learning French, and reading biographies, and working out, and cooking gourmet meals (or trying to at least). : )

Good night everyone and thank you for all the encouraging comments. I love to hear from you! Keep 'em coming!

Baby Booties and Summer Sunshine (or lack thereof)

2008-01-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

I went to a baby shower this morning for a good friend of mine. I haven't been around a lot of women in a long time and it was sooooo nice! I forgot how much I missed the company of other women. I have a hard time trying not to get too caught up into my business and I forget what a blessing it is to talk to another woman for awhile and not do anything else. Anyway, I made a special gift for my mom-to-be-friend. I made a pair of baby booties from Heather Bailey's "Bitty Booties" pattern. Aren't they adorable? I noticed at the baby shower that I am starting to get a reputation for making things for people at each of their showers of any kind. Several women came up to me and asked me what I made for the mom-to-be, assuming that I had made something. Other's came up to me and said "You made her some baby booties, didn't you?". It is nice to have people recognize you as the-one-who-always-makes-gifts-BY-HAND person. But at the same time it could be a curse. Now everyone will expect me to make something at every shower, birthday or Christmas. That's not such a bad burden to have though in my opinion.

My husband is going out of town tomorrow on a business trip to San Diego and he's taking the only camera we have with him. So I had to make something to put up in my Etsy shop today. That way I won't feel behind when he gets back because I won't be able to take any pictures for new listings. Like I said before about my business - I'm addicted. And that's putting it mildly. So here it is! My new tote. Told you it would have linen in it! I think it looks so fresh (pardon the pun) and summery! And I really need that right now considering we are all in the depths of Winter's gloom.

Anyway, hope this brings a ray of sunshine to your weekend! And I hope you enjoyed my ramblings...

My First Post!

2008-01-17T09:47:00.000-05:00

Another beginning to another year. I guess it's the perfect time to start a new blog, right? Well, here's mine! My new blog! Yay!

Well, so far nothing super exciting has happened yet this year. Just taking it day by day. I tried to spend Christmas break designing tons of new designs for my bags so I could already have the ball rolling by the time January came around. But I think I enjoyed not having anything to do just a little too much because I finished my first new design of the year just yesterday. I've had some pretty successful brainstorming the past couple days because I have a few more new designs anxiously waiting to be finished. I can't wait to make them so I know they will be good!

My new bag is made from a heavy natural linen that I bought from a girl on Etsy. I hope she has more because I LOVE it! Linen is wonderful because it pairs beautifully with almost every fabric of every color and every design. I'm afraid I will never get tired of using it. And just a hint to my other new designs: they all have linen in them (except for one). Shocker, huh?