You might remember me hinting about BLS last week, or maybe you remember me mentioning them back in the spring.  It is official now, I am teaching classes at the studio in October.

I’m both excited and nervous, in some ways success scares me.  I’ll be teaching a pillow making class and a vintage sheet skirt class.  If you are local, I’d love to meet you, so please sign up and come sew with me!

Big thank you’s to Georganne- for believing in my work, to Kristin for allowing me to be a part of her studio and to Sarah for making me look pretty!

Also of note- I will be participating/hosting in a silent auction to raise money for Stephanie & Christian Nielson this Thursday.  Check out Design Mom to get all the details.  From what I understand it won’t take long for Stephanie & Christian to max out their insurance benefits, many of us on the internet are doing what we can to raise funds to help cover their soaring medical expenses.  If you would like to help, you can donate using the button in the side bar, wait for thrusday’s silent acution, or come back next month and purchase something from here.   Oh, and if you are local you can come to the Blissfest Market in October and take part in the raffle.  Whew!  That is a lot of options!!

Thank you to all of my readers/customers for your support of my work and creations, I totally would not be here without you and your encouragement!

Thank you for all the encouragement you passed on regarding the Boden dress, I ear marked some $$ and decided I was going to buy it.  That is until I found myself at Marshalls last night.  I found this darling dress last night and *gasp* it was on clearance for $10!  I promptly snapped it up and wore it to church today.

Also wanted to share the last 2 books I’ve finished; And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander.  Think of it as Jane Austin meets Sherlock Holmes, it was a real page turner and I enjoyed it very much.

“So when Emily’s dashing husband died on safari soon after their wedding, she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek. Emily’s intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband’s favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries.”

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom with John & Elizabeth Sherill.  An amazing account of one woman’s experience in occupied Holland.  She and her sister use their house as a safe place for Jews and helped them find refuge with other families in the country.  They are later sent to multiple concentrations camps.  This is written in Corrie’s own words and is a gripping read.  Anyone who appreciated Elie Wiesel’s Night will also be interested in this account.

School started Monday and we’ve already had an invite to a birthday party.  In pondering what to get this little girl, I remembered a post that JC Handmade  wrote about a birthday gift idea.  She made a tote, some barrettes (do I have enough time before 3 o’clock to whip up some barrettes???) and filled the tote with books/games.  I loved the idea for so many reasons, no plastic toys that will be thrown out or added to landfills in a few months, I get to use my sewing machine and the games/books promoted learning.

I was pleased with how it turned out, although I think the handles might be a bit long.  It is lined with the same AH fruit print and I put the two books in the bag.  I really have no idea what reading level the girl is at, or what little girls read these days.  I’m more focused on boy literature- just got an abridged version of Treasure Island yesterday.   What kind of books would you recommend for a beginning male reader, I really want my son to love reading and am struggling to find books that aren’t boring and girly to him.

Over the last 10 years my husband and I have been hauling around a lot of junk, mostly because I am too lazy to go through it and because he is a pack rat.  I’ve finally started going through a lot of the stuff we had- our hall closet now looks lovely and has *gasp* empty space!

Part of the reason for the massive house purging is that I am coming to terms with the fact that our house has only 1225sqft and that I need to use that space wisely since there are 4 people living here.  This means getting rid of pieces that are purely aesthetic- they hold no purpose other than looking pretty.

Enter pretty hutch.

All it does is display china and look pretty- the china could easily be stored in my massive pantry, so I’ve decided this piece has got to go (if you are local and interested in it- shoot me and email).

 I’m thinking of creating a reading nook in the dining/family room where the hutch currently resides. I have this piece that my mom and I found out in rural kansas years ago (she refinished it).  See all those lovely drawers for STORAGE?

Maybe even hang a few of the china pieces on the wall above it and a pretty lamp?  I’m thinking this chair will go well in the corner where the kids little table is.

oh, and the chair needs cushions (in addition to a good cleaning!), Jen gave me the name of a great upholsterer, but I still have to pick a fabric (which you think would be easy for me, but no).  I want to add some color pop to the room…any suggestions?

Also in need of some help?  My mantle.  What on earth can I put up here?  I’m totally open to loosing the mirror. See more of my whole dining room here.

Some people simply live to rearrange and redecorate spaces, me I shake in fear at making choices for my home.  I’m afraid of things not looking good together, or looking boring, or outdated, or not being functional enough, not using the space wisely etc, the list goes on.  Please, please send tips and links.  I would really love some feedback.  Feel free to link back here if you have readers who love to redecorate and want to share ideas!

thanks bunches!

…started preschool today, wearing a little messenger bag that I made for her.

When I picked her up she was so excited to tell me about what she did and show me the things she made.  I took her out for a special lunch after class and really enjoyed every single minute with her.  I can’t believe though that I will have 4 hours a week to myself, I’m almost dizzy with the possibilities!

When I come home from a vacation I always feel that the race of life begins again before I can even unpack the first bag, this vacation is no exception.  Car is unpacked, load of darks are in the wash and the hum of life has begun again.  Slowly sorting through the mail and emails.  School starts in less than a week and teachers need to be met, clothes need to be bought and preschool back packs need to be sewn.

We had a wonderful time in Alpine, it was so nice to feel cold again!  The weather was wonderful and the area was simply beautiful; we hope to go back in the fall. It was so nice to not have computer access or cell phones- we really left everything behind in an attempt to enjoy our time together as a family.

will be adding more photos to flickr as time allows if you are interested.

heading north and east for cooler temps and one last hurrah before the son starts school next week.  will be back in a few days with lots of pretty pics.  husband took this one in oct. 2004, pretty huh?!

feeling a bit drained, it has been a long week with a lot of late nights.  Found some great books while thrifting today, but no chair for the sewing room.

willing to part with the grammar books if anyone is interested (email me).  hope to show illustrations from the 365 book later in the week (potential for embroidery patterns).  so many things i should be doing now, but am gluttonly clicking my way through the Boden summer sale and drooling over this dress but i can’t bring myself to spend  $64 on a single dress for myself.

alright enough whining, i’m going to go fold laundry but not before i slip on some soft jammies.

…here we go again!  I coordinated a last minute girls night out last night.  Two of my favorite girlfriends and myself went to see Mama Mia.  What a hoot!  It is every bit as cheesy and over the top as the reviewers say but to me that was the charm and humor of the film.  The acting was over exaggerated, as you would see in a stage production, but I really enjoyed the whole thing.  I have to say my favorite part was the “Lay All Your Love on Me” song when the men come out of the ocean in fins and dance on the pier, it was the ultimate in cheese but I couldn’t help but laugh out loud!  I’ve since spent the rest of today listening to Erasure’s ABBA-esque.

The best part of the evening was the 2 hour gab fest we had in the parking lot after the movie was over.  Nothing beats good old fashioned gabbing with your friends.  My husband has the hardest time trying to figure out what we could possibly talk about for 2 hours in a deserted parking lot!  If you are looking for a fun girls night out movie, I totally recommend this one.  Make sure you stay through the closing credits so you too can enjoy the humorous visual of Colin Firth and Peirce Brosman in aquamarine spandex!  Since my goal was to have a fun night out with my girls I would say the mission was accomplished!

A dip in the pool while dinner cooked.  Sadly the water temp is in the upper 80’s so it isn’t all that refreshing until you get out.

After dinner I was captivated by the reflection (above the fence line) of the setting sun on the still pool.  Makes me think of the end of summer when all the toys, pools and such are still as the children have returned to school.

the end!