Portabellopixie

Daisy Krazy

Success!  I bought this adorable little crochet hat from a fellow ebay designer a few months ago and Eliza wouldn't touch it-or any hat for that matter.  Having anything on her head was a no-go.  So it sat pretty on her shelf, just waiting for a moment of cute-ness.  And all of the sudden, today she wanted that hat!  I didn't hesitate to pull it off the shelf and stuff it on her head.  She has worn it all day! 

Crochet is a skill I have not yet tackled.  I can manage the straight chain, but beyond that it boggles my mind.  Eventually I suppose I will try it again, but until then I am happy to look at others' hard work.  :)

Check out Daisy Krazy!

Green #2

I have new green pics to tickle your eyes..

More soap, and a cute litte froggy outfit on Ethan.  The vest is by the talented Angie of that*funky*boutique and the pants and shirt (which you can't see, but there is a froggy appliqued on it!) are by me.  The pictures of Ethan are embarrasing-my camera was on the wrong setting (thank you Eliza LOL) and I didn't realize it until about 10 minutes ago as I sat down to edit them.  Anyway, enjoy!  I have another special treat that came in the mail from Ash yesterday for my next GREEN post!

:)  Sandi

Posie Gets Cozy

Greetings all!

Well, we have returned from the celebrations of my Grandpa's life.  It was a fun weekend, with few tears.  I played photographer and bounced around the last 2 days capturing images that will help remember the weekend for the rest of our lives I expect.  I felt important, and a little silly at the same time.  :)  Thank you so much for all of the letters of condolences that have been sent our way, it is greatly appreciated!

I have had the pleasure of being invited to do a launch with the talented Boutique Silvermoon ladies.  The theme was so FUN!  Magazine inspirations..so I went to the bookstore to find something..and I picked up the Better Homes and Gardens - Creative Homes magazine and opened it to find an article on Alicia Paulson.  The article was about her studio (which I totally covet.)  I have been following her blog as long as I knew what they were, so I absolutely had to use her article for my inspiration!

I created an outfit based on the colors of her studio and what I take from her style.  This is the result!  (Alicia's photos are copyrighted, I have been given permission to use them for this project, but please contact her if you would like to use them!)

Check the whole thing out here.

As far as the soap post - I'm thrilled that some of you are interested in learning!  It really is a blast!  It makes you feel smart, since it involves some chemistry.  But don't let that throw you off from it-I was able to do it and I was horrible at chemistry.  :)  So in the next little bit, I will put together a down-loadable (that will be a learning curve) tutorial on the mysteries of soap making.  I will include the best places to buy your ingredients and try and put in it "dummy" style as that is what goes over best for me LOL.

AND - I am going to do the drawing for the magnets sometime tomorrow, so if you would like them-let me know!  They are not exactly a fancy car, but hey they're free!

-Sandi

Good Clean Fun

About 4 years ago I decided that I wanted to learn how to make soap.  Not the melt and pour stuff, the honest to goodness "I made that from scratch" soap.  Fats and lye, essential oils, the whole she-bang.  I blame part of it on the fact that I was living amongst the Birkenstock brigade of Missoula, Montana hippies.  Earthy crunchy type.  So I dove into it-and loved it!  I gave everyone gifts I had made in my kitchen that year for Christmas.  (Now I realize the soap I gave them probably melted their hands, but it was from my heart so it's ok right?)  I mastered the craft and then moved on to something else.

Well, like all good things-I eventually travel back to it.  A week ago I decided it was time to pull out the old chemistry set and make a batch of soap again.  It would be 10 posts worth to go into how it is done.  If there is enough interest, I may put together a downloadable e-book or something for you.  But, for now-I treat you to some clean pictures.

Oh-and I still LOVE Missoula.  I found my husband there and we both have family still there.  It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  This movie takes place in Missoula. 

Little Bits from my Kitchen

Ahh..where to start?  Several events have taken place in my kitchen lately.  I love the kitchen in our home-it is big and spacious, with 2 green walls and 2 yellow.  There is a huge window that you can see the entire backyard through-pefect for spying little hands sneaking strawberries from the garden.  Our kitchen has held parties, craft extravagandas, and many many family dinners. 

Yesterday, I was having a little non sewing creative time and created these magnets.  The hardest part to making these is in actually finding the little magnets in the store.  (In the beading section in Walmart!)  At the exact moment I was taking pictures of them this morning, I recieved a call from my Mom telling me my Grandpa had passed away the night before.

I was talking to her last night after her Colts won (so not my thing, but I was happy for her none the less..) and she was in happy spirits.  We talked about my Grandpa-this was not a sudden passing which helps, but does not completely mend the wound-and she was going to come see him this week to say her goodbyes.  She recieved the call very soon after we had hung up.

I am actually in a very peaceful state, he was very sick and was ready.  I am grateful that I have had the time to get to know him that I did.  And I look forward to seeing him again!

So, today a bittersweet memory was added to my Kitchen, but I have found that my life is much more full of sweet than sour and for that I am thankful.  :)

So as to not leave you all sad, enjoy some pretty pictures of my fabric covered button magnets.  (And a few I have collected over the years.)  I am gifting away the set at the bottom-if you would like to be entered into a drawing for them-let me know!

Sandi

Spring is Coming!

Greetings!

Spring is on the way, and what better way to get ready than with two fun springy sets?  The first of them is what I had invisioned for Heather, but just ran out of time and fabric when I was doing her sample sets for her.  So I am happy to be able to do it now!

"Beautiful"

"Earth and Sky"

On other exciting new fronts, the Jaynes have their exciting launch up and running!  Globalization Custimagination is about designing a set based on a location and allowing the customer to customize it for their needs.

We have also start a new blog, Behind the Seams.  Check it out for up to minute happenings with the Jaynes!

Eggs, Tails and one BIG day...

Whew!  It has been one very busy day.  Where to start?

How about with that sewing project I promised on last post?  This is for a sweet customer of mine who I love to sew for!  She wanted a fun bubble style romper with a big hat, and this is the result.

On to other topics..the day started out pretty normal.  I got to sleep in as my little kiddos were both sick and up late last night.  So we all had a bit of a lie in.  (Yes, I am a Potter-head.)

When Dustin came home from his Judo class, I rushed out the door to go to a local retirement home and play the piano for some sweet women there.  Have I ever mentioned that I play?  I love it..it is soothing and creative.  I have played..well..as long as I can remember.  I signed up through my church to play on Wednesdays this month.  It was relaxing, and they all enjoyed it.  :)

I came home to get some serious work done-the Jaynes have a launch tomarrow and I am NOT ready!  I have one set just about done, and I LOVE it.  It is out of my favorite fabric right now.  This launch is going to be amazing, I can't let out any info..but you don't have long to wait at least.  I have seen a few sneak peaks, and I wish my pocketbook was much bigger than it is!  This little lady has 2 listings that are so original and beautiful!  I love them both!

Anyway, so in my attempts to get ready, my children had a little unattended time today.  While I thought they had a video on and were occupied..well..I was wrong.  When I emerged, I found a smashed egg on the floor, which had been swept with the broom.  Well, at least she tried to clean up right?  Well, as I was cleaning that up, I couldn't help thinking what a great story to blog about.  So I decided to take a pretty picture of some eggs to include with the story.  When I opened the fridge to pull out some of the 2 dozen eggs we had..there wasn't a single egg in there.  I spent the next 45 minutes tracking down eggs all over the house.  I only found 4.  Of which, luckily-only 1 was broken.  I searched and searched..

I had visions of us having to vacate our home from rotten eggs taking over.  As I stood in the kitchen as frustrated as I've been in at least a month..I looked at the fridge once more, and decided to check the freezer.  Tada!  There they were, the rest of the eggs, again, only one broken.  :)  But now my problem is this-some of them were hardboiled and some were not.  How do you tell the difference?  Spinning them or something?

So I threw together a quick dinner, threw it at the kids, and threw them in the tub.  Then we settled down for a story and all was well again.  If you haven't read this book, you must get it!  It has counting, textures, and colors galore.

Then after Ethan was in bed..I found a tube of lip gloss smooshed into a box of peeka blocks.  Ahhh..well that's ok-it wasn't really my color.

By the way..the little paisley stamp on my jumper collage is by this talented Digi Scrap artist..The Shabby Shoppe.  Check her out-she is amazing!

And, tomarrow is another day..  :)

Sandi

Sneaky Pie

My loving Mother and Father in Law came to town this weekend.  Their visits usually consist of home repairs, painting, fixing the roof, trips to the hardware store and anything that would fall in with those lines.  Let's not forget Becky's need to do every dish in my home, vacuum every floor and wipe down every surface.  :)  It is all out of love and I greatly appreciate it.

This trip though, I decided to play a trick on them..heehee.  I found a super cool pie plate that will go wonderfully with this collection.  I slyly suggested making an apple pie.  Dustin and Colin were all too happy for the idea, and while Becky and I both are not fruit pie fans, it was a blast to be in the kitchen with her and my kids making the boys a pie.  (While they were painting the basement LOL!)

Dustin's family are all amazing cooks.  When we were married I asked Becky to give me a few of Dustin's favorite recipes.  I imagined Saturday mornings cooking ebleskevers for him..I soon received not a few recipes but an entire cookbook that she lovingly created for me.  There are so many recipes in there and it has become the first book I turn to when I need something special to make. 

Several of the recipes are from his sister Maren, who is an amazingly talented pastry chef at the Montage resort in the Loft restaurant.

Anyway, we had a ball making that apple pie!  Hope your weekends were as fun as ours!  Next post, something sewn!

Green

I have a crazy love for the color green.  I don't know what it is about it..but it makes me happy.  It's all over my house, everywhere you turn..

Today's post is a viewing of some of my green collection.  I have been collecting from about the time we got married and registered for green dishes.  I remember being so so excited, because we printed off our registry and they had been purchased!  Along with the coolest bamboo silverwear ever!  However, our wedding celebrations passed and no green dishes or bamboo silverwear appeared.  :(  I have come to believe it was a case of getting married too close to Christmas and the need for a last minute gift.  Oh well, we have since aquired much fancier silverwear and I started a beloved collection of green things.

I found this 1950's bowl at our local antique shop for only $7.  It was the week before Christmas however, so I rushed home (more like sprinted) and told Dustin about, hinting for the rest of the week.  I was so happy he found it!

This is a shrine to chochki (sp?) lovers everywhere.  They are all thrift store finds and all of them vintage.  I paid less than $1 for each piece.  Oh, except for the white cups and plates..those were a gift from Dustin's boss.

Ok, so this isn't green, but I absolutely love it.  Dustin gave it to me for our anniversary, he bought it at the antique store with my fancy green bowl, so I say it goes in this post!

On the design front, here is my latest!  Take a full peek!

Drumrole..

Ok, so for the last month I have been teasing people telling them I joined an amazing group on ebay, but not letting the news out as to who it was.

But I am spilling the beans..Boutique Jaynes!

I am honored they have invited me to join, they are an amazing group of designers and have some big things in the works.

I have taken a break the last few weeks, but my creative energy is bounding up and I need to get back to work!  I have a huge chunk of yummy fabric on it's way to me that I can't wait to get in to!

But for now..here's a little pretty to peek at.

(Ok it's from last season, but I love it and am going to relist it soon!)