finishing up some WIP's

Yesterday Micah asked if we could please work on his quilt- which really translated into, "Mom, will you please finish my quilt."  He's waited so patiently and I have been saying "no" to so many things lately with all the last minute tutor prep that I had to oblige...

And while I was at it, I figured I might as well sew Regan's backing on since that was all she had left to do.

Two WIP's off my shelves and into someone else's space, yay!

craft camp wrap up

I missed posting pictures last week (and taking them too, apparently, as these first 2 shots are the only ones I got from the whole morning!) but the girls made these flower mobiles.  Honestly this was probably the least favorite craft we did.  Those felt flowers were a bit tedious and it took us the whole 3 hours (with a short break for snack) to finish them up.  I also did these with Tallulah and the other student in my hand sewing class this summer- not sure if I ever posted pictures or not...

Today was our last class and we did freeze paper stencils.  The girls picked their designs last week and I had them all cut and ready to be ironed on to the t-shirts when they got here this morning.

They turned out super cute (sorry for the dark photo!)

We dipped marshmallows in chocolate and sprinkles for snack- these ones got a little messy, but tasty :)

And for our final project the girls did crayon canvases.  Now is a great time to stock up on 50 cent crayons at Walmart for more of these.  This project is always a big hit, if you haven't tried it yet you should!

I had such a great time crafting with these girls this month!

catch up

Since my last post I have buried myself in school prep.  Lesson plans for CC...

Science notebooks for the kids in my class.

All bound and ready to pass out next week!

Making a tri-fold dry erase board for my classroom.

Copying, dividing by week, and putting the kids work into binders so I can easily pull it out at the beginning of each week.

Updating our weekly checklists.

And drinking lots of this (recipe below) as a pick me up to...

give me the energy to get through this mess! (this picture is from last night. I almost had the table clean this morning when Regan started a craft project and covered half the table with paper scraps!)

In a 24 oz cup mix:
2 tsp Braggs raw apple cider vinegar
juice from 1 lemon (or about 1 TBSP lemon juice)
2 packets of Stevia

Add 1/2 cup frozen fruit and 1/2 lime
Fill with ice
Add water and shake.
I got this recipe from one of the directors at tutor training and have been drinking it every day since- it's really tasty (The first time I sipped at it, getting used to the apple cider vinegar taste, but I quickly grew to love it!) 

I'll be back soon with pictures from the last two craft camps and our school lineup for this year!

stepping outside my comfort zone

Earlier this week I got a phone call from my good friend (who also happens to be my CC director).  When I had seen her earlier that day she had been having a one of those days where you just want to crawl back into bed so that nothing else "bad" can happen. The first thing she said when I answered the phone was "this day just got a little bit longer".  She then asked if I was busy on Saturday (today). Sadly, one of our tutor's had to step down last minute b/c of some health issues. There was going to be one last tutor training today in Richmond.  "Do you want to tutor, and can you go to the training?" She asked.  The idea of me tutoring wasn't a totally new topic for us- I had told her I would be a substitute this year and honestly I think she has asked me every year for the last 4 if I wanted to tutor, but up to this point the answer had always been no- either from me or my husband or both.  I was caught so off guard by the whole conversation all I could do was say we would talk/pray about it and let her know in the morning.  Of course I had to call her back 30 minutes later and ask all the questions that I was too shocked to even think of when she called. :)
Before I go any further, let me back up just a bit. The last few months I have been feeling God prompting me to slow down and let go of a lot of the things that occupy my time.  I have been so busy trying to juggle being a wife and mother,  homeschooling my kids, teaching sewing,  expanding my business, sewing/product development... (the list goes on) and the truth is, I never have been able to juggle.  The one thing that should be most important to me, my relationship with God, seems to suffer most, closely followed by my commitment to homeschooling.  That said, I have been quietly contemplating what things need to change and how to implement those changes- although I will say, I have not done the best job of actually implementing them, but God is gracious.
You might at first think that adding in another pretty significant commitment doesn't seem to make much sense, but instead I felt like God had been prompting this desire to simplify exactly for this purpose.  I could have never considered tutoring if I was still determined to be expanding my business, sewing more, teaching more sewing classes etc.  And today, as I sat in training God just solidified something in my heart that has been a long time coming- when I was younger, I always though I would spend my life in another country on the mission field- I was ready to give up everything and go where ever God led me.  The reality is though- I have my mission field right here, but I have been unwilling to fully give up myself and serve God right were he has planted me.  Sometimes the big sacrifices are easier to make then the small ones.
So, this fall I will be tutoring Foundations.  This is a big step outside my comfort zone, but I am excited to see how God uses this in my life and in our family and the CC community.
More about our plans for this home school year are forthcoming :)

craft camp week 2

We had another fun day of craft camp today!

Prep for this week was much simpler than last week since we only did one project.

We decoupaged fabric onto wood bunting pieces.  It was pretty straight forward and these girls did it in half the time in took the adults to do the same project on craft night a few months ago!

During our snack break Regan and one of her friends taught the other girls the cup song game...

Somehow it just happens that all 4 girls in the camp are gymnasts, so there were lots of handstands and back handsprings going on throughout the morning :)

Here are the finished buntings- They all turned out so great- this is a great group of crafters for sure.

girls night

Last night my friends Dianna and Kaeli and I got together for a little crafty fun.  These are the awesome ladies that I do all my craft shows with and who are always up for a late night of crafting.

We were all in need of a fun new pin cushion so we decided to pull out all our scraps and make these.

One of my favorite things about crafting with a group is seeing how different each persons projects turn out!  We didn't quite finish them before we called it quits (sometime after midnight) but here is the almost done photos of all three...

and here is mine, all stitched up and ready for pins :)

ghetto kitchen re-model

So, we've been having some fridge drama for the last month or so.  We recently replaced our teeny, poorly working fridge with a new one.  I did tons of research trying to find the the perfect fridge to fit in our kitchen- the space available was smaller than a standard sized fridge.  I though I had found the best fridge for our space but we kept having problems with our produce freezing and ice cream melting and after several unsuccessful attempts at fixing it, I was done.  After a week of phone calls and visits to Lowes they finally agreed to replace the fridge, even though I think it technically needed one more repair to be declared a "lemon".  When I went back in to pick out our new, new fridge we found a great model on sale for just the right price- only one problem.  It was 2.75" larger than the space available- so, me being the crazy person I am decided to buy the fridge anyway and make it work.  So I went home and chopped the edge of our counter off!

The fridge came two days later and it just fit into the space! 

It is a bit of a tight fit and I need to make a few small adjustments still to make it work for us but now I am itching to tear out the cabinets and finally finish re-doing the kitchen!  Not too likely that that will happen any time soon, but a girl can dream :)

crafty dreams

About two weeks ago I dreamt about this doll sleeping bag- right down to the fabric choice and size of the patchwork squares.  Every detail was so clear in my dream I had to make it!  It turned out really cute and before I ever got a chance to take decent pictures of it I sold it last week at our craft show!  I will definitely make more- it was so fun to put together. 

craft camp- day 1

This month I am holding a craft camp for girls 10 and up. Yesterday was the first day and the theme of the day was accessories.  We made rings, necklaces, bracelets and headbands (pictures below).  Next week we will be doing wooden bunting (like the ones we did on one of our craft nights).

The girls worked hard and made some super cute stuff

We took a break for S'mores cupcakes (yum!)...

and a little zip-line action.

here the girls are showing off all their crafts- :)

And finally, some close ups on yesterday's projects- rings

fabric covered button bracelets strung on fold over elastic

These necklaces are from We Love To Sew (Still one of our favorite sewing books!)

And the headband tutorial can be found here (this one is missing the piece of fabric that covers the seem, I could not find my finished sample).