Blast 61 :: Skipped a beat

Whoops!

Late nights with a little teething somebody and busy days with a rockin' preschooler - (not to mention their sibs!) makes for one tired mama these days.

Monday?

I crashed. Head to the pillow and gone kind of crashed.No crafting for me that day...

Same with last night. So while I did craft up some pants for Little Miss...I about passed out before posting my ...well nothing post for Monday.

Truth be told, it was something though...some serious goodness of other kinds.

Little Miss and I had a crazy good time making oodles of goodies (passing on the pics of the chocolate chip cookies - mama can't have a camera in her hand every second now, she might look kind of weird) and generally having a focused, nicely flowing day.

Skipped a beat in the 365 but making my mama's heart totally skip a beat or two.

It was a good day.

And Tues?

Well, yes in fact. There was crafting.

Sorely in need of pants for Little Miss, I poked around for some fabric that would make durable and comfy pants (sometimes tough to come by both criteria in the same pants) and found an Ecosport skirt a lovely lady had sent along my way. The backside had a tear which could have been repaired but, I thought they'd enjoy a new lease on life covering the booty and leggies of Little Miss and her sidekick, Little Miss Jr.

Not to mention that I had a minute to snap some shots of these gorgeous garden flowers gifted to me by a sweet friend...

Sometimes I wonder...just how blessed can a girl get? Feeling pretty darn lucky these days.

Blast 37 :: Hoot! (and a giveaway!)

Another late night creation from tidbits of the ever present sewing basket. This little guy is twice recycled. There never is an end to some good repurposing, I tell you. Originally, this was a lovely yet small cashmere sweater that had shrunken in someone else's hands. I came upon it and decided it would make the most comfy pair of longies..once these were outgrown they went back into the pile awaiting a new fate. One of which is this little owl. Yes, another owl...;) My creativity will surely expand here soon, really.

And now... the giveaway! How about 2 of those flower fairy crowns from the other day? Why yes, I think they will do nicely. Just leave a little note here in the comments section ~ the winner will be announced in Monday's post :) Good Luck!

On another note...how about that Irene, huh? Goodness...thinking about folks near and wide and saying a little prayer for their safety and comfort....

Blast 4:: More Envelopes....(and some blueberries)

Because someone....a little someone loved those little envelopes and wanted to make notes for friends, herself, her family and maybe even passersby on the street at the rate she was going.

And this was good! Time to break out the bag of vintage and newer wrapping paper I thrifted about a year ago.

I decided that I would mix it up and make some fancy cards for some of the envelopes...

(blue card stock is from  here - our absolute favorite craft store) and use just plain paper construction paper for others.

I loved seeing how just by folding the paper you can highlight certain parts of the designs.Such a treat to see little birds or flowers popping up in just unexpected but perfect spots.

But, I'm jumping ahead a bit. Because our crafting didn't get going til well into the evening.

First, our day started with this....

Which, of course, led to this....

Then some swimming for the bigger kids, a nap for baby (hmmm, I think I'm beginning to see a pattern here) and a little craft-prep time for mom (while the dishes soaked, again). When the guys got back we had some dinner and got to card making. Two hours later I realized it was way past bedtime....time seems to have its own speed in summer.

After the older kids were asleep (another mama party ensued  - hmmmm, I think some little people are getting their sleep schedules slightly muddled). When they were tuckered out, hubby and I watched Pirate Radio (fun movie!) while I folded, and folded and folded some more into the wee hours of 2 am (the time we are scheduled to give the strep cure so I was a little justified....maybe).

Paper crafts are usually not my first choice for crafting (one reason why, although I loved the vintage wrapping paper, it sat around for a year). I think it has to do with my confidence level in my creative abilities. See, look at that, yet another reason to add the list of why this stash blasting so good! It gives me a push me out of my crafting comfort zone. So glad I gave it a whirl  too since I found this really enjoyable and something that was easy to do with the kids and while watching a movie. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Another part of this process that was enjoyable was the feel of working with the older wrapping paper. It has a different weight than most wrapping paper made now. Much heavier and often  texturized. It was also super sweet seeing old tape marks on the paper from years ago when someone had been gifted something inside it then tucked the paper away for later use. Such fun imagining what may have been inside those packages so long ago and the relationships they represented.

Maybe even a little more fun? I also imagine those people never would have guessed that 40+ years later their saved paper would be repurposed by a mom and her kids to create cards to say "I love you" and "You're my friend" and... "Thank you".

Yes,anonymous  ladies of long ago....thank YOU for your saved treasures still enjoyed today...and maybe even for more years to come.

Blast 1:: Owls

I was informed many...many....many times from Little L's sibs that she was sorely lacking in toys. Mind you, this began the day she came home with me; fresh, new and thoroughly unable to hold a thing. So, you can imagine the excitement when she actually was able to grasp a finger and hold onto an object for more than a second. Then came the ultimate fun - what we fondly refer to as  the "shark attack " - that mad rush of energetic "get it in my mouth now" craziness when this babe has her grip on something. Awwww, our sweet little shark... (note: the cashmere is super soft against baby's skin and the carded sheep's wool inside makes it extra cuddly too).

Maybe this is a bit of cheating as these were made within the past 3 days as part of my destressing from a house full of strep. But maybe not so much, as I had these sweaters sitting around for ages, waiting for their new lease on life in some new form or another. See, that's completely my problem here, not wanting to "waste" any of the goodness I have laying around. Thinking I could always make something better so I had better not waste it on <insert perfectly fine idea here>. Pretty silly, huh?  That's how I ended up in this mess:

ahem, literally. sorry for that eye sore...

I admit, in the moving in, moving out (still working on that one) and all the in between...getting this space set up has been the last on the 'to do' list. Someday I say...someday...But that's a whole 'nother post.