Congrats!

A huge congrats to our close friends, Jeff and Shenna, who announced that they are expecting their third baby in September! Can't wait to be an auntie again!

Pillow covers

My old throw pillows were getting pretty worn out looking and I wanted something that would make them stand out a little more against our fabulous red sofa without spending a ton of money for new ones. The best part is the covers are removable so I can take them off and throw them in the washing machine!

Out with the old....

In with, well, the old...but recovered in awesome fabric!

Mouse pad recover

My old Sponge Bob mouse pad had seen better days. Instead of buying a new one, I recovered it in pretty fabric and Modge Podge...

The Simple Apron

I found a really adorable apron online and replicated it with some minor adjustments. Used some leftover fabric from Maddi C.'s blanket (to be posted later). Here is the finished product...

The front


The back

California Here We Come!

Don't get me wrong, I've been to California more times that I can remember and I have enjoyed each trip just as much as the one before. With that being said, I don't think I can ever get enough of it. I love that when I get to that great state, I can stand on a beach and look out over the ocean and not have to think about anything. I absolutely love catching that first glimpse of blue as we drive near the coast and think "That's my ocean. Hello, old friend."

We decided that before we started back into our grueling all school/work schedules, we'd take a nice little mini vacation. We thought about going to Vegas or Laughlin but a big part of our reason for vacation was getting out of the lousy Phoenix weather, so they were out. We thought about Flagstaff, but the hotels are so darn expensive, so that was out. After much deliberation, and leaning on my part, we ended up in California. Beautiful, awesome, amazing California. Carlsbad to be exact, but we didn't see much of it while we were there. The first night we ended up in our favorite town of Oceanside. We walked a good stretch of beach before hitting Joe's Crab Shack. I know we have one here, but there's something about eating over the water that makes the meal awesome. Jimmy proceeded to eat about 4 Lbs of seafood and I ate one of the most delicious burgers I've ever had. Topped off with yummy cocktails and a delicious apple crumb ala mode made a perfect first evening.

The second day we hit the San Diego zoo. It was pretty cloudy the first day and looked to be the whole weekend so of course I used absolutely no sunscreen. The end result wasn't that bad, but the lines of the burn were kind of amusing due to the odd placement of my camera strap and the zig zag part of my hair. I absolutely loved the zoo, up until the end when we were both running on fumes and burned. Here are a few of the pics I snagged while we were there, I made them small because there are a zillion of them and they take forever to download full size. If there are any you would like to see in a larger size, let me know, I'll send it your way:

The bear that made me say "Oh crap, its a bear!"






They were very tired.




The giraffes were out and about!






My favorite picture of the baby panda


Mama panda






The plants and trees there were amazing!


This is Cha Cha. She danced the whole time we were there.


This is Ranchipur. He is the boyfriend to all the lady elephants but particularly to Cha Cha. They never stray too far from one another.

What trip to San Diego would be complete without a stop at the U.S.S. Midway. Yep, we hit that right after the zoo without stopping for lunch and it was awesome!

The Duey

The View of Coronado Island from the deck




The welding shop

After that we went back up to Oceanside for one last visit to the harbor to eat before we made the trek back home the next morning. I was sad it only lasted a short time, but it was so much fun and I can't wait to go back.

Quilt/Blanket #1

I decided that I was going to construct quilts for Maddi and Alex's Christmas presents this year so I went to my favorite store, Hobby Lobby. I had an idea in my head that I would make Maddi's out of pink and yellow fabrics, and Alex's out of blue and purple fabrics. Well, Hobby Lobby had different plans. After searching in the standard calico prints, I ventured to the other side of the department to find a whole lot of the most adorable fabric I have ever seen in my life. I found several prints in different color schemes but with the same general pattern. Alex would get a teal and brown quilt and Maddi would get pink and brown.

I quickly decided that I would start with one quilt and see how it turned out before I bought $500 worth of fabric only to find that my skill for sewing was better when I was a kid. So, without further adieu, the first quilt...



While making the top, I was talking to my friend Shelby and she semi joked "Well if its done in time for Mad's party, you can make her one!" and I did. I was able to finish it the night before (a combination of vacations and such put the project off for a while) and get it to her in time for her 5th birthday party. Here is the finished product, complete with a hand stitched label (thank you, thank you) on the back.



It turned out more like a blanket, however I am qualifying it as a semi quilt because it is tied with yarn to hold the batting in place and it is made of several pieces of fabric. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Oh, and it is SUPER soft.

The Beginning...

So I have decided to start documenting my goings on. Not that anyone cares or is particularly interested, but what the heck, right? So upon my resignation from World of Warcraft, I have had a feeling I haven't felt for a while.

The need to create things, the need to craft, and the need for projects.

With that in mind, I started making cute platters that I saw and copied from one of Shenna's friend's blogs. She's got a lot of really cute ideas on her blog that, unfortunately, won't come in hand for a few years. But it has been very inspiring for my creativity and now I find myself wanting to constantly work on something. Not entirely sure how productive I will be once the new semester starts, but I think I may go crazy without much to do.

I have also felt what some might call the "turning of a new leaf." I feel like I need a change physically and that I turned a corner psychologically and emotionally, leaving me ready for what may come and excited to be at the home stretch of my education and peering into the family future (not for a couple more years, settle down there!)

Here it is, the start of my blog, and don't worry! I'll let you know if anything important happens! Mostly though, I'll be filling this place with my projects and photos (hopefully). We'll see how it goes!

Now, to find a sewing machine...