CHANGE:
to become different; to become altered or modified; to pass gradually into

Pretty much defines my life lately.

I know it's been awhile again since I've blogged, and I apologize to any of my 'adoring fans' (haha) for that!  Since the last time I posted, SO many things have happened! Here's a short, condensed list of some of the main things.
-We found out I'm expecting another baby (!)
-We went on at least 3 weekend trips to visit family and friends
-We took a long Christmas vacation to the Midwest
-My baby turned 1 (!)
-We found out that we will be moving across country soon (!)

   So yes, you could basically say not much of anything in my life will be the same in the next few months.  If you haven't noticed yet, this has also affected my website.  Because of the busyness of life even just in the last year, I have updated and added new products very little.  Now, with all the craziness of life coming up, I have decided to close up shop...at least for now.  I plan to keep this blog going (as well as I am able) for the time being.  At some point in the next 6 months or so, the URL may change slightly, so watch for that if you are interested in continuing to follow my life and the projects and crafts that I find time for in the future.  I have been crafting a lot lately, so hopefully soon I can post about those things.  This blog may become more 'personal' with more posts about my life and family, to keep my friends and family updated after we move.  I hope you keep coming and checking for updates, or better yet... follow me through the Google link or RSS feed.  
   Also, if there is something that I used to carry, or that I have blogged about, that you are interested in ordering, I would still be willing to take special orders.  Just contact me and we will work out the details! Thanks

   That would be me at the tail end of my pregnancy with Rystin in '10.  NOT looking forward to getting big again...but I'm getting there fast!  I AM excited to have another little blessing in the house and cuddling with a sweet little newborn.  Have been wondering if there will be some pink involved this time, but we will have to wait and see! :)  I am going on 23 weeks right now, so already over halfway there! Due June 9th
    This Christmas, we drove to the Midwest to spend the holidays with the friends and family we have there.  We were gone for almost three weeks, which felt quite long when my baby slept horribly the whole trip! :(  Otherwise, it was a fun time... my baby turned one, and my hubby found a 'job' while he was there!  His dream of being a farmer in MN is coming true.  We plan to move in about a month and a half and I will try my hand at being a dairy farmer's wife!  Both exciting and nerve wracking.  Right now, the biggest stress factor is that we don't know where we are going to live for sure.  That makes it hard to plan ahead (both for our living arrangements, and for the coming baby).  Keep us in your prayers that God will lead us to where He has planned, and will guide us through all these new changes.  It will be a huge change in lifestyle, as you know if  you have visited (or lived) in both the Pacific Northwest and the Midwestern parts of the US!  We are excited to start this new phase in life, and be able to call a place 'home'.

  Thanks for checking in!  I hope to continue to be posting about some of my latest projects in the next couple weeks.  Have a wonderful week and God bless your day!

So it's been WAAAYYY too long since I last posted, I know.
I guess that's just the way summer is, hey!?
It seems to fly by no matter what you do to stop it.  I am having a real hard time seeing all these 'fall decor' ideas and crafts on various websites and blogs!  NOT ready for that yet! I suppose part of the reason for that is the short season of summer we had this year in the great Pacific Northwest.  :(

So I tried to take advantage of the nice days, though I think I made it in our pool about 4 times all summer.  How sad is that?!

I DID get a few little projects done here and there, but didn't get pictures of them all.  We had a baby explosion in the area, so I've done a few little things for some of the local babies that have been born recently. 
Here's a little skirt/onsie outfit I made for a friend's baby, Shiloh Eunice.

Poor Rystin is still my little model, no matter what gender is needed.
Sorry, little man!
The greenish fabric on this outfit that I used for the skirt and flowers is actually a re-purposed sweater.  I love re-purposing things into something new!

Now that all these babies are around, I may have different models if need be.  I just sewed something fun tonight, but it's a Christmas gift, so I probably won't be able to show it for awhile!  I have lots of projects on my mind for this winter, though, and the sewing bug is coming back with the cooler weather.  I guess I CAN find some positive in it! :) 
So hopefully I'll be here a little more often, with some new projects, ideas, and if I really get ambitious, some new products!

Thanks for keeping up!

I realized I never really shared with you the way we made our announcement when we were expecting Baby #2 (Rystin).

I simply painted a onsie for Skyler to wear when my family came to visit.  I also sent a few pictures to people of him wearing it.  I added a few little buttons and such (most of which are hiding behind his arm!), and on the back put the month and year I was due.

It has been such an awesome experience to have two little boys!
They love each other SO much!
My  heart grows so much more each time that I...
...hear them giggling their little hearts out at each other!
...when the first thing they both like to do when they get up in the morning is see each other!
...when they give each other hugs!
...when Skyler tries to take such good care of his baby brother!
:)
Even now that they are old enough to interact and play, they take each others toys, accidentally hurt each other, and so it.  Boy stuff.
SO SWEET!
I had been fairly sure I was having a girl (both pregnancies!), but my boys are the treasure of my heart and I would do anything for them!

I love you, my sons!!

That is my recently organized pantry. 
It's nothing overly fancy, and could do with a few more changes, but from what it started with, I'm pretty thrilled with the way it turned out!

Unfortunately, it was another one of those projects where I didn't think to take pictures until I was halfway into it.
Well, I'll start at the beginning. 
We are currently renting an older home from someone we know through our church.  We've been here for over two years, and we're happy with the place overall.  The decorator/creative/organized side of me has loads of ideas for this house, but the practical/cheap/lazy side of me says, why bother!? 

I finally called our landlord and asked if painting was ok (I had hoped to repaint my boys' purple bedroom at some point....more details there later).  She said yes, so I immediately whipped out the paintbrush and went at it. (Ha!!)  Slight stretch there.  It was probably a couple of months and I started spring cleaning my kitchen.  The pantry was in some major need of TLC, so I emptied the whole thing onto the counters, stove, table, and any other available surface, (see above) and started scrubbing. 

I started brainstorming as I scrubbed (yes, that IS dangerous), and recalled a couple of neat pantries I've recently seen in blog-land such as the ones from Delightful Order and House of Smiths (not to mention all those on Pinterest!).  So I went and checked out the touch up paint cupboard and discovered this pretty shade of blue that was leftover from one of the bedrooms!  THEN I whipped out the paint brushes! :)

My sweet, smiley little boy had a wonderful time watching me work. 
My wild, fun-loving little man thankfully spent most of the day outside!

Here is the completed paint job.  It isn't really a 'walk in' pantry, but more like a 'step in'.  There is room to take about one step into it, then there are shelves on three sides.  The white shelves needed painted badly too, so that also got done.  So bright and clean looking!! 
Too bad I don't have a before shot :(

After adding a few decorative touches... it seemed to be coming together well.  I painted the 'Thank You, Lord' as a reminder of where the blessings of food (and everything else) come from, and to thank Him for them each day.  The white canisters I got for $3 at a garage sale- SCORE!!
The wire baskets are from Ikea, but I got them for I think $4 each at another garage sale.  And lastly, the tall, glass jar was a couple bucks, also at a garage sale. I love the look of glass jars to organize pantry items, so I have been on the lookout for them lately.

Here is the 'after' shot.
Top shelf: Fancy glass serving dishes that don't often get used
2nd Shelf: Canisters with things such as corn meal, pancake mix, and such;  Tupperware containers for chips, crackers, and snacks; and the tall jar with noodles.
3rd Shelf:  Cans and condiments
4th Shelf: Cereals, oats/oatmeal, syrup, etc
5th Shelf: Paper products, drink mixes, pitchers,
Floor: Potato bin, chips, napkins

The white baskets on the left side I got from Walmart for a couple bucks each on the Easter clearance shelves.  One holds candy/goodies, another holds Jell-o mix, and the last holds partially used bags of noodles.  Otherwise you can see the assortment of things stored here.

The right side is mostly for appliances such as the griddle, extra coffee pot, waffle iron, and so on.  The drawer holds individual serving sized containers for my husbands lunches and for leftovers.

I had a lot of fun doing this, and other than getting a bit crowded after a shopping trip, it has stayed in a somewhat organized order since then.  The original cleaning project blew up into a bigger job, but it was worth it!  My husband probably still laughs at me that the PANTRY was the first 'room' in the house I painted, after finding out it was ok! :)

Thanks for stopping in! Let me know about the storage and organizing ideas you use in your kitchen!

I also linked up at this party (thanks DaNita!):

Another hat for Rystin made from repurposed T-shirts

This hat started out like this, but I made it a bit small, so I added the red and white panels to each side and thought it turned out better in the end.

My darling, blue eyed boy!

May God be with you this week, and always!

A friend of mine had a sweet baby girl, Katri Laurel.
I wanted to try my hand at a baby girl dress, as I haven't had much practice at is so far! :)
I was far from perfect (I hope her mommy didn't mind!), but it turned out alright for just winging it based on a dress I have in my "someday stash"!

A button gathers up the top layer, to expose the matching purple fabric underneath.  I actually upcycled a skirt that I bought from a garage sale, so I had perfect coordinating fabric for the layers, and may even have enough leftover to make another baby skirt!

The flower detail.  Sorry. Not great pic quality!

I had my little man be my model! Poor boy! I made sure not to include his face, so he can't hate me too bad later on! :) Good thing I had him to try this dress on or the poor girl wouldn't have been able to get it on, or hardly!  A few adjustments were needed.  But oh so fun! Watch out world, the day I have a little girl of my own! ;)

How's this for a stairway?!
Pinterest find

A blank sheet of paper and a pencil.
Oh the possibilities!
Am I strange, or does anyone else feel the inspiration when buying a new notebook, or turning to a fresh sheet of paper, just waiting to be filled.
Unfortunately, the only thing I seem to write lately is the grocery list! :)
Ever since I was young, I've loved to write, draw, and doodle while taking notes in class!  School supply shopping was almost as exciting as Christmas! Ok, I better stop or you'll start to think I'm REALLY odd!
Anyways... I have a brother who loves to draw.
He turned 11 last month and I wanted to give him some of that motivating freshness that I love.  ;)
So when I ran across the idea of homemade sketchpads, I had to try it.

It was simple really.
All you need is some thin cardboard or think card-stock paper.
I used the pages from one of last years' calendars.
Covering those in fun patterned paper, I created the front and back covers.

I taped them together with clear mailing tape, leaving it lay open.
I then cut regular printer paper to size, and used a stapler to fasten them to the tape and into the cover pages.

So simple.
So versatile.
Kids would love these for doodle books for car rides, church (if that sort of thing is allowed), or to create their own story books.
The rest of us could use them for grocery lists, handy purse/by the phone notebooks, and so on.
My brother, Damen, got a whole stack of them just waiting to be filled.
Happy 11th Birthday Damen!

(of course, I couldn't resist keeping a few for myself!)
:)

Magazine Racks!!

Another Pinterest find...neat idea hey!? 
Let me know if you want to join my Pinterest fun!
Thanks for stopping

3 Years ago today, I made this commitment...

I take you to be my wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

Lord, thank you for the last three years.
The blessings you have given are incredible.
Help us to stand true to our promises and continue
in our love for the rest of our lives.
amen.

Remembering that special day

I'd like to make one of these for our home...

That would be another pinterest find :)