photo dump

I uploaded my camera pics to the computer today and found these pictures of Addie eating her first "bunned" (yes, I just made that word up) hotdog, which I am sure all of you were just dying to know about- anyway, I love how these pics captured her- she makes me smile :)

freeze paper stencil

Regan and I finally tried a freeze paper stencil this week.  Regan wanted a shirt to wear to gymnastics.  She designed it, I cut and ironed, and she painted.  Turned out super cute and now all the kids want to make their own shirts (not "I heart gymnastics" shirts. I asked to just to be sure)

There are plenty of tutorial for how to do a freeze paper stencil so I won't bore you with the details.  We did use glitter puffy paint, but brushed it on with a sponge brush.

turtle rescue

We found a snapping turtle in the yard after dinner last night.  We find at least one turtle in our yard every summer- the last two have been snapping turtles.

This guy was pretty big and had moss growing all over his back. 

Even if you've done it before, you never really get used to picking up a snapper.   The hubby was a total rock star though...He didn't even flinch when Tortoise-Rex snapped at him.

Into the wheelbarrow and off to the creek...

I don't think he liked the bumpy ride too much :)

craft show

I know I have been MIA the past week or so, but we signed up last minute for our first outdoor craft show this past Saturday, and I have been busy sewing and getting ready for that.  It was a stormy day (although, thankfully the rained stayed away for the hours that the show was open) so we were super glad I purchased this tent last week!

I sewed a ton of new aprons but unfortunately I finished them in the wee hours Saturday morning so these are the only pictures I have of them all :(  I will be listing what is left in the next week, once the rain passes and I can get some good photos.

In addition to the craft show I also got to go pick out fabric for our next couple of sewing class projects with Regan, my other machine sewing student, and her mom (who just happen to be our good friends), and we had dinner with our neighbors and got a tour of the tear drop camper they are making.  Pretty cool! (this is a phone pic- that is why it is so grainy).

Hopefully you will see me in this space a little more this week :)

free fox softie pattern

My hand sewing class started working on these felt foxes today and I thought I would share my pattern with you all.   It is hard to tell in the photo, but this little fox stands about 7" tall and 6" wide.  If you cut carefully you can get the whole body out if one piece of craft felt (which is what the girls are using, I used wool felt for mine - bought it here). 

Fox Softie Pattern by Amy Wirtz

As always, if you stitch up your own version of my pattern I would LOVE to see it! Please share pictures in my Flickr group! Feel free to ask any questions about any of my patterns and I will answer them in the comments. Happy stitching :)

sewing class

The girls have been sewing away over here every Tuesday afternoon.  Here are the last two projects they completed.

I also started a hand sewing class with these 3 cuties :)  Today was their first day and Lulu was so excited about her project she took it to bed with her to work on a bit more before going to sleep.

a new favorite

I had a customer request a camera strap with lace so I have been playing around a bit with the basket of lace trim I scored awhile back at a yard sale.  This isn't the strap I did for my customer, but it is  currently my favorite of the many, many straps I have made over the years.  It was a birthday gift for a sweet friend.

best friends

We've know these guys for 9 years and spent most of those years living just blocks apart.  They were the only people we knew when we moved here (and us them). Our kids have grown up together.  I am so thankful that the Lord brought our families together!

pretty trash

another project inspired by We Love To Sew :)

when the house gets quiet...

Emmy was in the living room the other day while I was in the kitchen helping one of the kids with their school.  Suddenly I realized it was awfully quiet...  I peeked into the room to find her quietly taking all the Max's clean clothes out of his laundry basket :)

mini field trip

We are lucky to have a wildlife preserve within walking distance of our house and last Sunday they held a free educational event teaching kids about how to protect the watershed area that we live in.  A couple friends tagged along with us and we got to pretend for the day that we had 8 kids instead of 6 :)

After all the activities we did a mini hike through the woods and watched the turtles in the lake.  Addie found this large (for her) walking stick and insisted on using it instead of  the more appropriately sized one her sister offered her.  She's pretty cute :)