Team Gotta Have Faith Golf Outing and Silent Auction

I just finished up this set for Heidi's silent auction to benefit breast cancer research.  Heidi just finished her last chemo treatment, Yay,  and has tirelessly fought the disease for herself and others battling with the disease.  If you live in the Twin Cities area, please attend this event!  You can learn more about it here.

Save Children's Handmade Items

Congress is about to pass a new law that requires all manufacturers, sellers, of children's items to have their items tested. For small businesses, like myself, where most of our products are one-of-a-kind, this will close our doors. Testing would be cost prohibitive. I am all for making sure our items are safe for our kiddos, but for those of us who use natural materials and buy our supplies locally, and try to provide safe, handmade goods as an alternative to mass produced items, this is a blow. Vote here to have this law amended for small businesses!

About the Prettiest Dress I've Ever Seen!

Available here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18341004

Who are you going to pick?

I'm thrilled both of my kids know who is running for President and Vice President but I had a very interesting conversation with Julia on our way to drop off my husband's ballot.

me: who is running for President & VP
Julia: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain, Sarah Palin
me: who did we vote for?
Julia: stickers

Well, there you have it :) Politics according to a three year old! Go out and vote for your favorite sticker.

Happy Halloween!

courtesy of the craft flickr pool

Easy Child's Backpack

picture courtesy of Martha Stewart Crafts

How cute is this backpack! Martha states it can be made in about an hour. Hmmm, have to test that out. I hope to be making one next week. Here is the tutorial. I will post pictures when it's complete!

I hope to start blogging a little bit more. I am also ramping up my dolce baby and hope to have a lot more new things in the coming weeks. I thought I would have a lot more time while my kids were both in school but Jackson is only in school for 3 hours and Julia is only in two days a week with different hours so I have limited time at home by myself. That time is usually spent cleaning or at the grocery store!

Homemade Kool-aid Playdough:

This recipe makes 3 1/2 cups of dough.
Tools and Materials

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 cups cold water

1 packet of kool-aid (any flavor)

Wooden board

Plastic bag or container

Play Dough How-To1. In a medium saucepan, mix together the flour, salt, vegetable oil, cream of tartar, and water.2. Cook uncovered over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Stir constantly until the dough is the consistency of mashed potatoes.
3. Divide the dough into four equal portions.
4. Add 1 kool-aid packet to each portion and knead the mix into the dough to distribute it evenly. Kneading the color into the dough is the fun part -- kids will love it.
5. If you store the play dough in a plastic bag or airtight container, it will stay nice and soft and last for years.

What????? & When will it end!!!

Men and women could be going potty together under new law

I guess I will be going with my children into public restrooms until they are at least 18!!! This, I do not understand at all! How is it discriminatory having men & women's bathrooms. I am with Focus on the Family on this one. Crimes against children are at an epidemic rate right now and we are concerned with being politically correct? Give me a freaking break! Sometimes I want this ship to just stop and let me off to a land where things make sense. I am not saying people of certain sexual orientations should be discriminated against in the area of housing and education but what does that have to do with public restrooms??? I don't get it!

Meet Verna

My Grandma turns 94 on Wednesday and I am always at a loss for what to get her (I mostly do cards) and Miss Emily from The Black Apple generously shared her tutorial for a super cute rag doll that Martha Stewart recently featured on her show. I added my Grandma's name to the bottom of her dress and gave her some gray hair to resemble my Granny :). Here is some more of Emily's work I have the pleasure of owning.

Three Trees Print

Scenes from an Easter Sunday

New Toys & New Skirts



I have been a little behind on my creating due to illness and surgery and two-year-olds but I hope to list my new line of skirts soon. I have some fun fabric combinations with matching tanks!

Illness, surgeries & food allergies!

Well, we have been stimulating the economy with our dr. co-pays! I had a wicked case of the flu which resulted in an ear infection then went on to a tummy bug. I was sick for more three weeks which was not only hard on me, but my dear family as well! Jackson just had surgery but is healing great!



Jackson courageously smiles right after surgery.

Julia's reaction to pineapple (we think) & No, that's not her tongue but her lower lip!

We went to Whole Foods yesterday and Julia sampled 3 or 4 pieces of fresh pineapple. We think that's why she started to transform into the Nutty Professor. She has severe food allergies to all nuts, milk and eggs so we are usually very careful about everything she puts in her mouth but she has had pineapple before so we're not exactly sure what it was from.

I will be very glad to leave this winter behind us. It has been filled with way too many dr. visits!! I will have more crafty updates soon!

Some Great Finds

Target has some lovelies in the dollar bin for Valentine's Day. I love the red and white wrapping paper that can be used all year round! I think I will use the red hearts for Valentine's pouches for my kid's Valentines.

"My Folklore"

Wonderful Lecien fabric from the "my folklore" collection. The blue and chocolate was a steal at $3.98 a yard! So much fabric, so little time.

More crafty projects coming this next week, as well as a fun tutorial.

A Long Absence

Yikes, has it really been three months since my last post? Christmas was wonderful and it was filled with laughter, family, crafting, and late nights but now I am ready to see what 2008 has in store.

These were some fun teacher gifts I assembled. The rosemary mint soap was from The Fuzzy Bunny who has fabulous soap. The washcloths are from Kate Quinn Organics and the cutest cards were from tagyourit. Great service and quality from all of these sellers!

New Packaging

Even though I have taken a hiatus from blogging, I am ready to explode with all of the ideas I have for both my dolce baby and dolce. Why isn't there more hours in the day?

Here is a sneak peak at some new packaging for my bib, burp cloth and blanket sets. I am addicted to packaging but I also like it to be reusable.

I also have some new hair accessories that will soon be available in my dolce shop! Perfect for the littles, as well as their mamas :)

Well, let's hope it isn't another 3 months before my next post. I am so thankful for all of my blogging friends, as well as my customers. You truly are the best~

Some New Things....

Well, not from me, but some amazing things from my fellow crafty friends. My friend Jen, Itty Bitty Barrettes, has some fun new letter wall flowers to keep all of your child's barrettes and Amy, of Zooziis, has a fun new car catch-all for your cell phone, etc. I'm happy to say she sent me a promo to try out and it is amazing. I do detest cell phones and only have one for emergencies or talking with my husband (free minutes) but it is also great for chapstick, etc. My purse is a bottomless pit of who-knows-what and this is a fun organizational item. I'm off to a little vacation with my fam and will hopefully return with a refreshed attitude. Crafting and sewing is my sanity outlet and I do not get to do it very often!

Artist or Graffiti Artist?

Well, I have been up since 3a with a sick child. Jackson has been throwing up every half-hour since 3a and it is now 10a. Poor guy. So excuse me if I sound a little punchy! My dear husband has also been up since 3a and is willing to work from home since I am throwing a baby shower for a dear friend tomorrow and I have much to do! This blog has been neglected since I started teaching and bible study has now started.

Julia has also been quite the artist lately. Her canvas you ask? Well, our wood banister and furniture mainly. My husband bought about 5 sharpie (permanent) pens to write Jacksons name on his baseballs and such. I do think I have gotten rid of most of them now since they appear in the most unusual places but not before she made her mark. The couch she is pictured on above was the hardest hit. I had a professional carpet cleaner come out since I was sure they could remove the stain but no such luck. Black ink on a camel colored couch is not a good look and we decided we would save the couch for when she moves out and needs furniture :) The ink off the banister did come off with polish remover but it does not come out of fabric.

Well, it's off to do laundry. I can't grow a plant to save my life but I can grow dirty laundry baskets like nobody's business!

Itty Bitty Barrettes & a Giveaway My friend Jen opened her shop on Etsy called Itty Bitty Barrettes.
She sells the cutest barrettes and wall flower holders for all your barrettes. Trust me, you need these to organize your child's barrettes. She loves to do custom orders for her wall flowers and barrettes so you get exactly what you need! Are they not the cutest!!! She also uses velcro on her barrettes so they stay securely in your child's hair.

I am doing a special giveaway for the red barrette so please comment on this post by Sept. 1 for a chance to win this lovely!

Grandma

We'll miss you! 96 amazing years and a wonderful family to show for it. Please say "hi" to Dad for me ;)

"It's an eyeball, Great-grandma"

Vine Bib and Burp SetFun New Packaging

Modish Bird Set
Some fun new sets and packaging that are in the shop. Look for more soon :)

Coming soon....

I have been hard at working thinking up some new designs, sets, fabric combos, and fun new packaging. The graphic above is going on some new packaging I am really excited about. I also gave my blog and shop an updated look. It seems I get bored easily :<)

I am hoping to add my new sets by the end of August. We'll see! Also stay tuned for a "Sweet Set" giveaway!