Make It Mondays

This weeks Make It Monday is on Faux Postage. Lisa wants you to either make up your own faux postage or use one of her free printables and incorporate it into your own artwork. This is one of her examples:

Last weeks challenge was on "Time Flies". Guess what? It did fly. I still haven't finished my challenge. Go Figure!! I did crochet and mail a hat to my sister, make a fabric pom-pom, make yo-yo's, took the kids shopping Friday night, etc........ Okay, the time challenge was kind of funny to be my first challenge, because any of you that I have swapped with, know that I don't know what a deadline is!! I will have it done soon though and show you all. I have to do the dishes and laundry first though! Damn!

We all usually go get out haircut every 5 weeks, but because we are so short on money Earl wanted me to cut his hair. Jace was watching me and wanted his done too. Normally we don't cut our little boys hair super short because Earl and I both like the neat little boy haircuts, but because we are short on money and because of the humidity we decided I would cut his hair. I love Jace's haircut! His eyes seem so much bigger now. I'm going to redo Earl's though. We both agree it should be shorter on the sides, but he had to go to work so I will have to finish it tomorrow night, but see my little Jace. He is so darn cute!! He's saying cheese!

Before Shot

&

After Shot

Start a Family Tradition and Make ReUsable Gift Wrap

My sister Cathy suggest to me a few years back to make fabric gift bags for wrapping Christmas gifts. My first thought was, "Oh my gosh, that isn't practical with 8 kids. I'd have to have a ton of them." Then my sister Stacey sent my kids party bags from her boys birthday party and she used fabric bags to put the goodies in. My kids loved the bags and have used them for lots of things so far.

So last year for Christmas I started making a variety of sizes of fabric gift bags. I just use Christmas fabric and then because I know my kids, big and little, try to peek through the wrapping, I line mine with flannel. They turned out cute and they were nice for the kids to carry their gifts home in. So these are some of the ones I made last year.

This is a Valentines Bag and my sister Stacey wants some spider man bags for her boys birthday presents.

I was thinking that Furoshki would be great for those gifts that don't fit into bags.

I think these bags are going to be a nice Christmas Tradition. The kids will look forward to getting them out every year and they will be so much easier for me, besides being environmentally friendly. I usually end up wrapping everything and this will save me a lot of time, once I have the bags made, and I can always use more time at Christmas! I am using Michael Miller fabrics for some of the bags and then I think I'll buy some cheaper gingham and plaids for the rest. I can't afford Michael Miller fabric for all of the bags but I LOVE his retro Christmas fabrics and since these will last a long time I figure I can make some out the more expensive fabric for a few of the bags. I am using penguin fabric for one of my daughters, Precious Moments for another and so on and so on....... This is some of the fabric I bought for this years bags.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this idea with everyone. I wasn't crazy about it at first but after trying it out, I love it!!!

My 3rd Post for Today -- A Very Mary Design is Having a Giveaway!!

A Very Mary from Very Mary Design is having a giveaway that you can sign up for until this Sunday night. Leave a comment on her blog and she will enter your name to win this box filled with stuff. If she gets a 100 comments she will fill 3 of these boxes full of stuff and give them away. Oh yeah!! I want one!! I can always use more stuff!! So go and sign up for A Very Mary's giveaway!

In the Kitchen

Last night Earl made his pasta salad. I hardly ever get any because he takes it to work for his lunch. I snuck some last night and asked him to please make an extra batch to keep at home because it is SO GOOD! He puts sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, marinated mushrooms, a different kind of black olive than the regular ones, pepperoni, fresh parmesan cheese, another kind of cheese, lightly sauted onions, pasta and Wishbone Italian Salad Dressing. There may be more in there, I don't know???

This is Emerils Baby Bam that I alter and usually make at Christmas and include it in with everyone's gift. This year I got so far behind and didn't get it mailed out, but now I have it just in time for BBQ season so I need to get it mailed off to all my parents and siblings. It is really good and adds a good flavor to your meats, potatoes and just about any thing you want to add it to.
Ezie and I made pancakes this morning. Ezie loves pancakes! He added some brown sugar to his batter. He is always wanting to try new things. Tonight he is making his version of pasta salad. He likes noodles, pepperoni, cheddar cheese chunks and salad drsg. on his.

Yo-Yo's and Pom-Pom's

I've been making yo-yo's and then I got this idea off of Queenly Thing's Blog the other day, who had gotten it off of Molly Chicken's Blog, to make fabric scraps Pom-Pom's. I think it turned out so cute!! I can't wait to make more!

I like the word yo-yo and actually pom-pom is pretty cute too! My sister, Cathy, teaches English as a Second Language in the evenings to adults. She said her students were asking her about yo-yo's the other day. Cathy said they'd say the word yo-yo and laugh, that just saying the word brought a smile to their faces. So, I guess I'm not so crazy after all!! Right??

What is everybody else making?? What word do you think is kinda funny or cute?

Check out my kids, Ezie and Mallory's blogs too see what's going on in their lives! They're pretty cute little blogs, if I may say so myself!!

Pictures of my Swaps, my Day and SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!

Twyla received her package from me yesterday for the Parasol and Paper Swap.

Here's what I sent her. Cards, tags, fabric squares, charm, laminated parasol girl pictures with crocheted edges that can be used as little ornaments, parasol stationary set and a package of paper parasols. The pictures on Twyla's blog are much better than mine though if you want a better view.

I also sent her a hanging glove that I made.
Tina was the host and my swap partner for the Vintage Cowgirl Swap. Tina is on vacation in Arizona for 2 weeks so she will have a package waiting for her when she gets home. I hope she likes it!! I made her a bag and it is lined with brown flannel and has another jean pocket on the inside. You can't see it but I machine quilted around every cowboy boot on the fabric. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I crocheted around two laminated cowgirl pictures making little ornaments out of them. I also sent her some of my version of homemade "Emeril's Baby Bam" I added cayenne pepper, rosemary and some extra garlic. It is in the bottle that the cayenne came in but I sent Tina the recipe that I used. I hope she likes it!

This is what I sent to my 3 swap partners and Emily for hosting the Itty Bitty Swap. I don't think they've received them yet, but I hope when they do when they enjoy there little treasures!I made some little tiny yo-yo's and crocheted flowers. Each of the tins has a crocheted flower attached to the top. Then there is a bunch of other found treasures.

Okay, that's enough of that. I did a ton of dishes yesterday, some laundry, made a new batch of laundry soap and I weeded my little garden yesterday. I finally have some rose moss coming up. I planted a few plants of it a couple of years ago and boy, oh boy, did it ever take off! My Grandpa used to plant rose moss every year. He actually used to mix the pollen?? whatever you mix together to make your own unique version of the plant. He was such a wonderful man and fantastic Gardener. I love to plant some of the things that Grandpa used to plant.

I also made some more yo-yo's and crocheted some stuff. I had a pretty productive day! I tend to do more crafts than housework and I am determined to try to equal it out. My poor house has become pretty neglected and overwhelmed with craft stuff.

I also took Jace outside last night and he played with the Bubble Machine. My daughter brought Anthony out too. The boys had fun playing with the bubbles! Then after the kids finally went to bed Jace and I laid in bed and played Kiss, Kiss, Tickle, Tickle. He loves to play that and I do to I get to give him tons of kisses and here him crack up laughing. I had a really nice day!

School's Out For Summer!!

Ezie and Mallory are finally going to be out of school today! They have a half a day today and then they're done for a couple months. Actually, Mallory is probably going to go to summer school because SHE wants to prepare herself for third grade. She is already testing at a high 7th grader in reading. I'm so proud of her!! Ezie needs the summer to relax, he says. He's not nearly as motivated as Mallory is, but he does very well in school too. Lexie got out of school on the 16th so she's already been enjoying her break and quite honestly I've enjoyed her being home to take care of Anthony. It gives me a little bit of a break. The kids started going to The Boys and Girls Club in the evenings so they can get out of the house and play with some of their school friends. They went to wood shop last night and loved it!!

Well, hopefully I have another productive day today!! I'm sure going to try! I hope all of you have a wonderful day today too!!

Wordle

When I was visiting blogs I saw something cool on Rachael Rabbits Blog. It is a site called Wordle . You can type in up to 150 words and it makes them into a collage type thingy bopper. You can choose your font, background color and text color. There are some really neat ones in the Gallery. I played around with it for awhile and here's what I came up with.

The Fist One I Did is to Use My Name and Things About Me

Next, I typed in words that reminded me of my 3 sistersThen I typed in me and Earl and my kids and their families

Then I did my parents and all 6 of their kids and their families.

Anyway, I though it was pretty cool. You get a hotmail code after you save your collage and you can print it off also. You can make t-shirts, cards, framed pieces or whatever else you like out of the images. Check it out, it's pretty cool!!

What I made for the Not So Shabby Summer Swap

Not So Shabby Summer Swap

This is what I sent to Melinda

A bag I made out of Amy Butler fabric. I have a piece of quilted fabric between the outside layer and the lining. I also sent her some fabric squares, notecards, I made her two cards with vintage summer theme on them and some tags I made.

Now for everyone else to get their packages!! I always get so nervous!

I made some more yo-yo's yesterday. I'm not done with my Monday Challenge yet, but will be soon. Today I need to clean house, crochet a project, finish my challenge, work on a couple of swap things and I'd like to make some more yo-yo's. Oh, and we have a ball game tonight. Sounds like an exciting day, huh?

What are you doing today?

Make it Mondays

I'm sure many of you have seen Lisa Vollrath's sites and/or art work. If not, you should! Lisa has some excellent tips and ideas on how to use different objects and techniques to create some really cool art. Lisa has 3 different sites, LisaVollrath.com, Go Make Something and Ten Two Studios. She has tips, techniques, projects, challenges, free printables, items for sale and much, much more.

Lisa has a Monday challenge on her site appropriately called, "Make it Monday's". Every week she picks a theme and you are suppose to make anything you want using that theme. Today's theme is "Time Flies".

I've decided to try to do Lisa's challenge every week. We'll see how I do with that, but I'm going to try. So check out her site and enjoy!

I made some yo-yo's over the weekend. Yo-yo is a cool word, don't you think? I became fascinated over the weekend with this word while I was on A Very Mary Design's blog leaving a comment to win some fabric scraps. I was really tired and you had to think of what you would do with the scraps and who ever had the best idea won. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I thought of yo-yo's. Yo-yo, Yo-Yooo dude, Yo, hey yo, yo-yo. Oh well, I think it's a funny word. Sometimes I just get a little goofy, especially when I'm tired! It did inspire me to make some Yo-yo's though. Yo-yo! Have a wonderful day!!
Sherry

Dance Recital 2008

Mallory 2004 - She was only 3

2005 - 4 years old

Ezie - 2004 - 6 years old

He broke his arm 2 days before recital and had to have surgery so he missed recital , but he sure looked cute for his pictures!

2006 - 5 & 7 years old

Ezie and Mallory 2007 - 6 & 8 years old

Ezie & Mallory in three different dances this year, 2008. 7 & 9 years old.

Mallory is being a little dramatic - she is into posing this year!! Ezie just wanted to get it over with so he could get home and play.

This was Ezie's last year to dance. He wasn't really into it this year. Mallory received her 5 year trophy and can't wait for next year to start. She loves to dance. They were both asked to be on the competition team, but it costs a lot of money and it takes a lot of time. Mallory still wants to play baseball, cheerlead, and learn to play basketball. So she will continue in regular dance classes and we will keep going to the recitals and loving every minute of our beautiful little dancer!

These Boots Were Made For Walking (some vintage shoes my kids wore)

Most of my boys wore cowboy boots, but for some reason this is the only pair I can find right now. My oldest son Jeremy wore these about 29 years ago. I can't find a picture of Jeremy in his boots because in his birthday pictures he always had sneakers on because he has a late May birthday and he was in shorts by then. My mom bought these little winter type moccasins for Chad (my second son). He wore these when he was oneish so they are about 27 years old. He wore these all the time, they were so cute!
Chad with his little moccasins onI bought these two pairs of shoes at an estate sale and my daughter Lexie wore them a couple of times. They were to cute not to put them on her little feet. I love these shoes!! Lexie with the little purple shoes on. She looked so cute!!

Okay, these aren't vintage boots, but I loved these little pink cowgirl boots on Mallory. I bought them for before school started when she was 6.

Mallory in her gaucho's and pink cowgirl boots.

Sneak Peaks at My Latest Swaps and Boy Are They Ever Late!!!

Everything is not pictured

For Melinda for the Not So Shabby Summer Swap

For Anna, Pam Eileen and Emily for the Itty Bitty Swap
(The last picture is distorted because it was to hard to get a closeup without showing you guys everything that is in your containers)

For Twyla for The Parasol and Paper Swap

For Tina for the Vintage Cowgirl Swap

Finally, I have my swap stuff from the last 4 swaps I signed up for done and ready to go!! I am so sorry to all the ladies that I did swap with for being SO late on getting you your stuff when you all were so prompt about getting your swap items out. I can't apologize enough!! They will be on their way and you all should receive them early next week. Again, I am so sorry and I hope you enjoy your stuff!!!