making a pattern/pretty fabric/free movie tickets

I made my first pattern and I'm working on a second.

I used a flower and traced it.

I also enlarged a pattern 

from the amazing 

Scandinavian Needlecraft book

that I'm going to use 

to make a darling pillow.

I had a $20 credit at a fabric store.

I bought all this fabric

and  some sweet pink thread

and I only had to pay

$3.00.

So lots and lots of projects.

I won't get much done today.

I'm going to lunch with a friend

and later Jeff, Davis and I

 are seeing the new

Twilight

(it's not that I'm a major fan

but we managed to get 

three free tickets

from our insurance guy

and I didn't have to camp out

and sleep on concrete)!

Is it really June 30th?

A shout out to the emancipation of my Alaska girl!

Hip hip hoorah!

Dreaming of french iron beds.

I have seen adorable french iron beds
before in magazines, books and the internet.
Now,
where are those pictures when you need them?
This iron bed is from Anthropologie.
(which by the way is
a dream of a place---
but super duper expensive.
I just recently went
inside of that store in
Salt Lake City
--for the very first time--
and loved pretty much
everything!
My daughter needs
to get a job there!)
The bed is $2498.00!

Yikes!

That's a planter on the edges.

Amazing.

Look at this cute one.
You can find it here.

This adorable one is from 

Ikea.

It's only $99.00

I know this because we have one in our basement

tv room and I LOVE it.

We are making a craft/office room
(because daughter #1 moved out)

and we have an extra mattress

so I wanted another day bed.

Well, I wanted another one of these because:

1. The price is right.

2. It IS adorable.

3. If we ever move and I have another guest room,

I can put two of these in one room.

How cute will that look!

Very cute.
4. I want to keep our first one where it is.

5.  Jeff said yes.

This is the one (from Ikea) in our basement.

I really do LOVE it.

This one came from here
http://www.french-antique-furniture.com/antique-beds-1.htm
I'm not sure how much it is
but I think they sold it.
How darling is that!

This one came from here:
http://www.haunt.co.nz
How amazing is this one
AND this shop is in New Zealand.

This adorable one is from:

http://euroantiquemarket.blogspot.com/2009/03/portefeuille-dinvestissements.html

Another cute one from:
http://www.lavendarandsage.co.uk

 This one is from here,
very very sweet.


There are so so many cute ones out there.

For now the Ikea one will have to do.
 Jeff needs to put the bed together
(we just got it last night).
The sewing machine is up
and ready.
We have had an armoire
for about 16 years
and I painted it black
a couple of years ago
and it's in there too
(I'm filling it up with crafting supplies).
I'm so excited to have a craft room/office
(emphasis on craft---just don't tell Jeff---wink...wink...)!

How to hug a moose.

It always makes me sad to see real stuffed animals.

We went to a sports store in Provo

and as we were walking down the isle 

I said, "Poor Mr. Timber Wolf" as we passed

a majestic looking Timber Wolf.

There was probably about one hundred

(well, maybe 50) dead animals

over all the walls and on some of the display shelves.

Sad, gruesome and horrifying.

Davis's new obsession is bows and arrows.

Someone gave Davis a compound bow last night

(his homemade bows didn't work well)

and he is so excited to shoot some arrows.

So we went and bought six arrows.

They will NOT be used for animals.

We plan on buying bales of hay.

Right above the checkout counter

was this poor guy.

An Alaskan Moose.

I thought of Britni,

my Alaska girl,

and had to take a picture.

Second and Third flower.

I bought a small piece of fabric

(I think it's angora or something 

really soft like that) 

from the instructor.

Turned out cute

if I say so myself

and I DO!

This one is made of

100% cashmere.

It's very soft 

and oh so dreamy

(this is from one of the sweaters

I bought for $4

from DI).

I put a pin on the back of this one

(I found a package of pins

at Roberts yesterday

and Sally's was out of their 

hair clips).

I also used a piece of

a seam for the middle.

I used a couch stitch

or something like it.

It was my first time.

The instructor said we couldn't 

use the patterns to sell these.

So, if I ever choose to sell

something like this,

I will have to come up with

my own patterns.

IF...

I have heard that if you sell things

you like to make

you soon won't like

making them anymore.

AND

I just don't have time

(that may be debatable)

or the inclination 

to do so

right now.

BUT

I have thought of it.

For now,

I am making these for family, friends

and myself!

Again.

1. I took this picture!

With my point and shoot.

And photoshopped it just with i-photo.

I'm quite pleased with myself.

Again.

So, I had to post it again.

It would be nice to have an SLR camera

and real photoshop or something like it.

I will have to wait.

It's ok.

2. I've been up to SLC three times already this week.

3. I'm making my third lovely felt flower.

4. I found 4 sweaters at DI

today!

(One was $5 and the rest were $4!)

Two are 100% Cashmere 

and one is

85% silk with 15% cashmere

and one with

50% lambs wool

with 50% angora.

All of them dreamy.

I washed them in very hot water

to felt them (or something like it).

They will make the

most beautiful flowers!

5. Davis was supposed to go away

to a youth activity

with his Dad tonight but couldn't.

Jeff still had to go

because he is a leader.

Davis made a bow

with a tree branch,

string and duct tape.

He's very creative

and very pleased with himself,

as he should be.

6. I did 100 sit ups tonight, 

again.

Not 1500 but it's a start.

7.  Having a hard time

going to sleep.

Again...

Flower power.

I took a class tonight 

in Springville 

at the 

Cornwagon Quilt Co.

Marianne Michaels 

taught the class.

It was fun, easy

and look

what I made!

The back of the flower has

a hair clip on it

so you can easily put

it in your hair,

on your purse,

on your clothes,

or whatever of yours you want!

(This cute purse I got in Costa Rica--

how cute is that flower on it now!)

I'm going to make more!

What fun!

The teacher had this amazing book

and I fell in love

(with the book--silly).

It is a lifestyle book,

not one with patterns

and such, but

beautiful fabrics,

inspiring nature,

cool furnishings,

a wonderful house

(which reminds me 

a little of our own house
except ours doesn't have as nice flooring
or as nice furniture
or as nice other stuff.
I guess it's only similar
in my dreams
but ours has just as nice views
or even better.)

The book is beautiful.
I can't wait to curl up
and read all of it!

ksl.com - 95-year-old's workout puts others to shame

ksl.com - 95-year-old's workout puts others to shame
This guy is amazing!
95 years old.
1500 sit ups.
Wow.

dandelions

If God had wanted me otherwise,

He would have created me otherwise.

~Johann von Goethe

There lurks, perhaps, in every human heart

a desire of distinction, 

which inclines every man first to hope,

and then to believe,

that Nature has given him

something peculiar to himself.

~Samuel Johnson

"The miracles of nature 

do not seem miracles

because they are so common.

If no one had ever seen a flower,

even a dandelion would 

be the most startling 

event in the world."

Crafting with Aunt Cheryl.

My niece told my sister 

that she wanted to do crafts with me.

So, today was the day.

I found just the right shade of lime green felt.

She picked out the buttons.

I helped her a little.

She wanted the top corners just like that.

This is her cover for her Game Boy DS.

It turned out darling.

How cute is she!

Great job!

Finally.

Garden finally planted.

Yeah.

Frodo.

Frodo loves us so much

he will sleep on our shoes.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

 Jeff deserves whatever motorcycle he wants
or at least a very nice guitar
but what he got was
a box o stuff
for a Super Hero.
I wasn't creative myself.
I found it via Craft
from Jordan Ferney of
Oh Happy Day.
What genius.
Jeff IS a Super Hero
and so it made sense to me
to give him
Super Hero supplies.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Look what I found...

Davis and I walked through two

Antique stores (really mostly vintage stuff)

in Springville.

I found these great buttons

in Tasha's Treasures.

What fun!
(It's been a little crazy this week,
I guess not much different
than most weeks...
come to think of it.)

Today I saw...

I have followed a cute blog

called TODAY I SAW...

for quite sometime.
She recently stopped her blog...
so sad.
It was very sweet.

Months ago I received

a hand drawn post card from her!

She recently hosted a

card exchange

and
today I received my card

from Julie in the Netherlands!

How cool is that!

Tonight I finally worked on

and
finished my card that

tomorrow I will send to Julie.

And here it is...
I actually saw the hummingbird a couple of days ago
and

the tree doesn't really look like that

but
it's really true that I saw a hummingbird

on the top of a tree out my window.

How cool is that!

Addie, Ellie and Frodo

These animals make me smile.

Most pets display so many humanlike traits

and emotions it's easy to forget 

they're not gifted with the English language

and then get snubbed

when we talk to them

and they don't say anything back.

~Stephenie Geist

Tile + work = aching back and bruised gluteus maximus means I need more exercise!

This is from last week.

Stormy and cold.

But beautiful.

Hard to believe it's already the middle of June.

Almost officially summer.

I helped my dad tile

on Friday and Saturday.

Hard hard work.

I can't believe how sore

I've been. 

And I mean very SORE!

Today I'm doing better.

I helped a little more today.

I may be ready to 

tile our own house.

With Jeff's help 

(he's helped them alot).

We've both learned

a ton about tiling.

I knew my hours

and hours of 

watching HGTV 

was good for something!

By the Way:
My dad is 72
and work horse
doesn't even begin
to describe how
hard he works.
He has worked
so hard
getting everything
ready to tile, cutting tile
and tiling.
He also lifts 50 + pound
buckets through his house.
He's stooped over by
the end of the day
but he says
he's perfect when he wakes up
in the morning.
Remarkable.

Frodo playing with a fly---part 2.

Frodo continues to play with the fly.
What a silly dog.

Frodo playing with a fly.

Frodo found a ginormous fly and tried to play with it.
Adorable.

Hugging a moose.

Alaska girl and boy saw a baby and mama moose.

They sent me this picture.

Awwww cute.

Done.

I am done!

I finished tonight.

That's why the pictures are weird.

No natural light.

I also need to take off my nail polish.

I made this for Davis's teacher.

"A teacher affects eternity;

he can never tell

where his influence stops.

~Henry Adams.

I didn't know till too late that she was

going to miss the last two days of school.

Davis has summer school

with the same teacher.

So it's off with Davis in the morning (finally).

She deserves a million bucks.

She's getting a sweet embroidered bag

instead.

Almost done.

I'm almost done!

I just finished sewing the edges together

(because I had to double the felt).

Lots to do today!

Lots.