wordless Wednesday...

they're the bomb!

So, 'Angry Birds' seem to have taken over our household just a little this past week or so. Those little suckers are hard to resist! Even though we're quite a bit late in jumping on the bandwagon, we're sure enjoying those slingshots and piggies! And Emily's had a lot of fun taking it to a higher level... much to the amusement of her classmates...

She's also made the red bird and is working on a yellow one. She found the pattern here in case you feel the need to stitch your own  bird to toss at someone you love. I know they'll do the trick because I may have tried it once or twice. I'm just sayin'.

finally fall...

Well, if I had to pick a day to say farewell to summer, Sunday was the perfect day. After the amazing weather we'd enjoyed for the past few weeks, the sunshine for the market on Saturday was the ultimate icing on the cake. Then, through the night, the wind and rain came and it's officially fall around here.

It's time for hoodies and slippers and wonderfully scented candles. Oh, and baking something - anything - with pumpkin in it. And have you done your fall decorating yet? I did mine a little early since it made the process of photographing fall and Hallowe'en quilties for my shop a little bit easier. And speaking of fall and candles and quilties and my shop... I have these sweet candle wraps available for sale. Because, hey, if YOU'RE dressed in a hoodie and slippers, shouldn't your candle be all wrapped up too?

coffee anyone?

 One dozen mugs mats finished and listed in the shop {here}...

Do you have a favorite?

craving a strawberry frapp?

So this is what has kept me occupied for most of today... I've been making some absolutely adorable mug mats. I've made 9 to the finishing stage and am so in love. Whether your java comes hot or cold, these little cuties will help you serve it up right! I'm sure that by tomorrow, you'll see the rest of them... no rest for the weary (or the caffienated) around here!

{pattern by thesplitstitch}

oh Canada, eh?

July first, Canada Day, is coming fast! I'm participating in a huge event at the Langley Airport, and will have lots of fabric-type goodies for sale.

These are the newest and Can'eh'dianiast... pillows... and also a little sailboat number to go with the quilt from yesterday... I'm thinking it needs a few stitching lines to accent the boat.

I'll be sure to stain them up, too. Love that cinnamon/coffee/vanilla mixture!

scrappy Sunday...

There is a family that we are very good friends with. The Youngs lived with us, in our basement suite, a few years ago while Scott attended Columbia Bible Collage here in Abbotsford. Their oldest child and our youngest are the same age, just a few months apart. Even though Scott and Jo-Anne were our renters, they also became our friends. It was a riot living together through the day-to-day life of raising five little ones. We learned to share so many things, from dress-up time to clean up time, preschool runs, hospital runs, cooking facilities and bathroom facilities (like when Anna flushed a diaper down the toilet and Scott, at age 28, got the chicken pox and needed to soothe the itchiness in our tub), there was also Madison's Auction, God's van, meals together, and movie nights when the kids were in bed... lots of movie nights. Painting lessons at the kitchen table weren't unheard of, and Scott and Robyn made the coolest angel wings for the Christmas play at church one year... then posed in them! There were even a couple of awesome camping trips together, and who could forget riding the six person bike (loaded down with nine people) through the Tim Horton's drive through for timbits?

The Youngs don't live near us anymore, having moved home to Penticton. We see them as often as time allows and just seem to pick up where we left off last time. We were excited to hear that they're coming to Abbotsford on Tuesday for a couple of hours and so I spent my day today making them a little scrapbook. I've wanted to do this for years but never seemed to find a chunk of time. I had such fun going through dozens of pictures from when our kids were little... so many memories!

(Don't feel you have to look through all of these pictures... I'm posting them partially for me in case I ever get the chance to make a similar album for my family... but in case you're interested...here goes)

Thanks for wandering down memory lane with me!

Poppa ordered and the girls delivered!

A couple of weeks ago, when my dad was shown my girls' handpainted pencils, he decided to place an order with them. (I think he was curious to see just how creative they would be with a challenging order.) He has a great love for fishing and has a fishing buddy with (I believe) a birthday coming up. So the order he placed was quite specific... from each girl he wanted a fishing rod and a net... made into a pencil... one set for him, and one for Rick. I don't quite think he knew the extent that the kids would go to when making their special orders...

The work put into this project was just amazing! From the handsewn mesh nets, to the loops of fishing "line", to the handpainted bobber, the girls outdid themselves! Needless to say, Poppa was pretty pleased... and so was Charlie the cat, as you can see.

***

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter! Christ is risen... He is risen indeed!

Shhh! It's a surprise...

The girls and I got a little creative in the kitchen today... tonight is the third installment of Harry Potter and what do girls need on girls' night? Homemade chocolates of course! (Some of us more than others I'm afraid!) We used my spanky new $.25 thrift store Easter mold... Just don't tell Nanny and Auntie Jenny... the girls want it to be a surprise! But don't worry, we're also having chicken ceasar salads and garlic bread to balance out the chocolate!

pencil pals...

My girls have discovered the joys of having penpals... Joy, Savanna, and Tabitha (the daughters of Tammy, Julie, and Sandy) have all recently become penpals with my daughters, Emily and Julianna. What fun! My girls are loving it so far and Julianna especially can't wait for the mail to come each day. They've only exchanged one letter each so far, but I know a great letter writing future is ahead for all of them.

On Monday, I mentioned the handpainted pencils my girls are hard at work on these days... this is what they look like. I think they're planning to have them for sale at a summer event I do each year. They'll be great with my Java Jackets at this event as it's rather granola-ish ... go green!

And, I was happy to see, Joy posted a picture of the pencil that Julianna mailed off to her in her first letter. We're glad it's being put to good use!

(Robyn's pretty much back to normal today. Boy, I don't wish the bug that he had on anyone! And yes, I think we should ask for a raincheck on the girls' overnighter with my parents...)

sweet Sunday...

We had a nice mellow day yesterday... instead of going to church, Robyn took the girls swimming and I worked on Java Jackets in the morning. I tidyed up my sewing room and he worked in the basement (we're slooowly starting our basement reno - woohoo!). The girls are into turning sticks from in the yard into handmade pencils... they strip off the bark, paint designs on them, and then insert individual leads into a hole drilled in the end. They're so creative!

This is the end result of my sewing yesterday... seems to be a cherry theme for some reason! The little quilty isn't quite finished yet, but it won't take long. It's a Country Quilts pattern... of course!

Today's the first day of Spring Break for Emily, and the first day of week 2 for Julianna... what do to today? What to do...?

waking to a winter wonderland

Yep, it was quite the little dump we got here yesterday... pretty big stuff for these parts. It's stopped falling and is looking just beautiful this morning...

...although I'd much rather see a little of this when I look out my window...

a redo... from blue to new!

My sister had this big blue box and didn't want to just get rid of it because of its great size and sturdiness. So, she gave it to me. And, since I'm not into blue, I gave it a little makeover. The stitcherie measures 12 inches square... just to give you an idea of the size. It's based on a stitching pattern by Cheryl.

a little bit of everything today

Tuesday. Where oh where did the weekend go? I've been in a fog since the last child left after the birthday party Friday night. But I'm happy to say that I did manage a shower this morning and blew my hair dry without feeling as though my head would explode. Maybe the end of my cold is near...?

We woke to snow again today. After two weeks of amazing sunshine, it was a bit of a downer, but it IS only January!

Recently I've been stopping by Value Village to check for goodies. This is one from a few weeks ago that Robyn did some fixing on for me. Isn't it a cutie? And rusty red...just my color! $3.99 was just right...

And I thought I'd show the first two candle mats I got finished up. They were quite fun to make and I'm happy with them...

Boring post, I know. I'm sorry! My heart is in it, but my head is still off somewhere else. I think it took all of my energy to go through the motions of getting the girls off to school this morning. I did stop for a coffee though, and did sell a Green Sleeve at the same time, so that gave me a much needed boost!

My new wicker drawer unit arrived yesterday, so I'll be doing some sorting in the office. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get some pics posted of the newly functional work space!

Have a great day!

~Kimberly