And the WINNER is......

Alright, some of you might know about my super duper high tech way of drawing a name for a giveaway, but just in case you don't here is a little showing with pics.

This time, I used the closest, handiest thing that was empty to put the comments I printed and cut out into. It's a big ol' dump truck.



Then, I had the handy dandy dump truck owner, who is also dressed as a fire man today, to help with the drawing.



Then, he unfolded the paper.....



And revealed who the winner is!




Congrats kiddlebug!!! Email me with your info so I can get your prize to you!

Oh, and would you like to see the prize (since I totally forgot to get pics up the other day..)??? Here they are!



Super fun iron-on popsicle appliques! The possibilities are endless with these yummy designs!

30 Things About Me

K, so here goes.....

In no particular order, here are thirty things about me that I am certain you are just itching to know! Okay, not really, but here it is none the less:

1. I officially turned thirty on the 15th of this month. I am looking forward to it being a GREAT decade!

2. I just celebrated being married to the love of my life and best friend for eight years. We met when we were 15, started dating at sixteen and married in 2000 at 22.

3. I am a native Austinite (to answer a couple of you that asked). Born and raised here and we're not too common, really. I think out of all the close friends through the years, my sister is the only other I know that was born here. Funny. I did live a little in the Dallas area and also the Bryan/College Station area for the first year of our marriage while my hubby finished up school there. Despite being a native Austinite, I am loyal to the Aggies, being that I married one. BUT, I was raised a Longhorn.

4. To answer sbonetsue, my favorite cake is Black Forest. My other favorite is cheesecake!

5. What inspires me? So many things! Just looking around at the ordinary can sometimes be a breath of fresh air to inspiration. Hard to say anything specific on that one really. Ideas can just suddenly pop into my head at the oddest times, like when I'm fixing dinner or playing a game with my son.

6. So, I am a native Texan, but I do not have a typical Texas accent. At all. Probably because I was raised by Yankees ( and I say that lovingly). Although, they do not have typical accents from where they are from either. People ask me all the time where I am from. When I tell them, they seem to have some preconceived notion of Texans (like we all ride horses and wear cowboy hats, etc.) and say I don't sound like I could be from here. Oh well, not that I do not have an occasional accent, just not an obvious one. :)

7. kiddlebug asked, " what is one thing you would like to accomplish by the time you are 40?". Wow, so many things! I do have to say I would love to learn more about photography. Does that count? Oh, and travel to Israel. And go sky diving. Okay, I could go on, but I am having a hard time saying just one thing.

8. I am a mom of one. Not necessarily by choice. Infertility can make life, well, not so easy. I have always wanted a big family, but God obviously knows best. Not that I always understand what He wants, but the "Peace that passes all understanding" is an amazing place to be. I love being a mom more than anything and am really so thankful for what He has given and the joy that my son has brought.

9. Reason for infertility? PCOS and Hypo Thyroid. Fun. No, not really, but it is what it is.

10. I have often thought about starting a PCOS blog as well, but hesitate. I do not want it to be a sob story, but one of hope and not focusing on infertility itself, but embracing and living life regardless. Showing how to just live and also cope with PCOS. That there is just so much more to life than PCOS. Not sure if I will ever do it, but I know there is something I could DAILY write about for it. Really. Not always negative, not always positive. Who knows, maybe that should be put on my *to start* list!

11. Hmmm, Laura asked some great questions! I pick: " If you won a $50 million dollar lottery, would you still work? Why or why not?". IF I were to win such a thing, I would probably still work. Right now I am a SAHM, or WAHM, mainly. But I would want to be involved with as much *giving* away as possible. Not sure how, but helping others is very important to me.

12. I have a huge heart for adoption. Always have. People often think it is tied to having infertility issues, but truth be told it isn't. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to adopt. Whether I was to have biological children or not, I wanted to adopt. Still do. Plan to in the future at some point. Hopefully sooner than later.

13. Who taught me to stitch? My Gramms. I love my Gramms and I am so blessed to have her still in my life. She is a spunky, fun and amazing person who has taught me so very much in the way of sewing, knitting, crochet and the like. Thank you Gramms!

14. I craft almost daily. Some days not, but still have ideas in my head all. the. time. Now, If I could just manage the time to get them all out of my head and accomplished! That's one thing I would like to do in my next thirty years! :)

15. anymommy asked what I did 10 years ago for my 20th birthday. For the life of me I CANNOT remember! I can recall my 17th when my hubby (then Boyfriend) threw me a surprise party. And I can remember my 21st because it was "Boot Dance" at Texas A&M and it just so happened to be on MY special day which worked out nicely, cause I got to dress up and taken dancing! But, for whatever reason, my twentieth seems to elude me.

16. I started figure skating at the age of four. I continued until about 19/20 years of age. I started out in *singles*, or whatever they call it now, but eventually took to Ice Dancing and LOVED it! Miss it, but would miss my husband and son more.

17. I still have my first pair of skates. They're in a box, but I still have them.

18. Michelle asked, "Did you grow up in an artistic family or is this something that you discovered about yourself later on?". Ya know, I would love to say I had two incredibly creative parents, but not really. My sister, definitely artistic. More so than she knows or applies. I still have a drawing she did that I adore. My grandparents, SUPER creative. That's a whole other blog post. My Gramms I've mentioned and my Papa, wow, the amazing things he could do with wood and paint. Simply amazing. So, to actually answer the question, I somewhat have come from some inherited creativeness and artistic abilities. The sewing gene though comes from my great-grandmother. :)

19. I love dark chocolate. And coffee. I am not afraid to admit I have a serious Starbucks addiction.

20. I want to run a marathon. That is on the list for something I want to accomplish in the next five years.

21. I haven't made a quilt yet. Have one to make. Two actually. That is on the "to do by end of 2008" list.

22. I love the color brown. Pink and purple are what my son will tell you are my favorite colors (they were when I was a little girl) but as I have gotten older I love brown. Green and brown together. Okay, I love many color combos. It is so hard to pick just one!

23. I LOVE, love, love fabric. When I was little my mom would often *lose* me in department stores. Where she found me? Feeling all the different textures and colors of the fabrics. Yeah, I know. Crazy.

24. I designed and made my own prom dress. Why? Well, I could not find what I was looking for! I did that often as a teenager and still sometimes now. When I can't find it, I attempt to make it.

25. I did not make my own wedding dress. I designed it, but ended up choosing another one. Store bought. I have honestly always regretted not making it myself. not that I didn't like mine. LOVED it. Just one of those things I always wanted to do and didn't. Lesson learned, yes? Yes.

26. Wow, am I boring you yet? Still with me? Good, let's keep going....

27. I love reading. I do not do it nearly enough though. Currently the only books I am reading are for my women's Bible Study group. We are reading ' For Women Only". Very good read. Easy read.

28. I need something else to read soon. Any suggestions? Other than devotionals. Got plenty of those to catch up on.

29. I have never gone snow skiing. I know! This coming from a former figure skater. I have also never taken a hot air balloon ride, but really want to someday!

30. What has been my best birthday ever? I honestly don't really have one. I guess each passing year....cause I am thankful to still be here! :)

K, so I hope I didn't bore you too much! I think I got everyone's questions answered. If not, I am sorry. You can always email me if you really want it answered! :)

Alrighty, so on to other things.....LATER today I will announce the WINNER of the giveaway! Can ya stand the wait???

Happy Anniversary Baby

To the love of my life and best friend. You are my everything. With you I still feel sixteen.





Happy Anniversary Baby!

Giveaway coming...

Are you excited? Are you just waiting for this fabulous day of May 30th to come for when I announce the winner? I know you are just waiting SO very anxiously....

But, you will have to wait just a few more days. Meanwhile, I will be starting to answer some of the very good and thought provoking questions you have asked me!

First things first before I do that though. I have finally decided on WHAT the giveaway will be! It will be a little something I've been wanting to do for a while. In addition to having my actual designs on onesies or tees, I've also thought about how fun it would be to turn them into an iron-on applique patch kinda deal. Wouldn't that be fun?! To have a fun Cherry delicious Popsicle tote bag or on a pocket on a skirt or apron? Possibilities are simply endless and best part, there is no sewing required! Unless you really want to. :) So, I will be giving two iron-on applique designs away! They will be the cherry delicious popsicle and a new flavor of Tangerine Creamsicle designs. Fun, huh? I will post pics of them tomorrow.

K, so next post........30 things about me! Fun stuff, I think.

Thirty..not quite something

I'm officially 30. There. I said it. That really wasn't so bad.

Now, on to other news....

I am going to have another givewaway! I love giving things away. So, here is what ya need to do to be entered into the giveaway that will happen May 30th:

Leave a comment on this post. Then, for an extra entry, post about it on your blog and let me know and I will enter your name TWICE! And, if you would like to be entered THREE times, with your comment ask me a question...anything you might want to know about me or what I do, like how old I was when I got married, where did I grow up, do I have a dog (yes), etc. Just be nice and keep it family friendly. M,kay? K.

That's it! I haven't decided exactly what I will giveaway yet, but look for a post soon about it! If you decide to comment with a question I will plan to answer it in a *thirty things about me* post, since I am 30 now and all.

Happy Thursday to you!

Robots are cool

This is a little something I have been up to for the past few weeks. I received a request from a certain Monkey Boy for a "robot pillow....and mama?! I also want a spaceship one too...cause they're cool". So, off to designing I went. I am still working on the spaceship one, but here is a glimpse of the robot one.



The son of mine was involved quite a bit on the design and color scheme of it all. Being that his two FAVORITE colors are blue and green...well, it had to be those colors!



I wasn't sure my draft of a robot would be *cool* enough, but he approved it, thankfully. Now, I just have to sew it together and stuff it and voila! He will have a new decorative pillow for his room. And of course, the spaceship one must not be left out. Gotta get back to work on that one. I think it will be a nice addition to his room that is currently quite a mixture of things that are, well, all boy and very him. The color scheme of it all seems to revolved around green and blue mostly , but it's funny to look from one end of the room with his trains and train table, to his bed with a train/puppy quilt combined with a mod looking octopus, to above his bed having a race-car checkered flag pennant-type banner to then looking at the window with very mod dot window *mobile* treatment type deal. Then there is the soccer stuff mixed in. ALL him, all boy.

I really enjoyed making this and have some fabric left over I might make a few one-of-a-kinds and add them to the SHOP. Sometimes I think there needs to be more nifty boy stuff out there, handmade of course.

Happy Tuesday to you!

Dino fun

Okay, I am attempting to get back into the swing of posting! I feel like I've been a little off lately, so I promise to try and get better at this.....

For now, I will do a little show&tell. This is something I designed and made two years ago for my son. After two years of "field testing" I have to say it's held up pretty dern well. It's a backpack, in case you were wondering. Before this one I had made him a puppy one. Same design and style essentially, just with a puppy on the front instead of a dinosaur. We are pretty into dino's and robots and the like here.



Anyhoo, it all started out with him needing a little backpack for pre-school. I wasn't pleased with the cheap-y, plastic-y, very commercial options out there that fell apart after only a few uses. Of course, I say this as he is now using a 'Cars' backpack. But that was due to a temporary, we thought we had lost this one and needed another one fast, kinda deal. However, he has since not wanted to use this one for school. No matter though, cause this one now houses dinosaurs for carrying around and such. Whew.



Where was I? Ah, dino pack. After a little trial and error with the puppy one, I chose a slightly better faux leather to sew this one out of. And I apparently had lost my mind as well when making this, cause I decided to sew the entire thing by hand. Yes, you really just read that I had sewn this entire backpack by hand. Why? Not sure other than my machine I had at the time really didn't like sewing my fabric choice and it was a whole lot less stress by hand than chewn up vinyl stuff in the machine. Honestly though, I really have come to like sewing by hand. It's very relaxing (depending on what you are sewing). Mainly embroidery and such is what I hand sew.



A little close up of the dino himself. Cute, isn't he? Can dinosaurs be cute?



This is a view of the back of the pack. One of the things I liked about the straps is I made them with parachute-type buckle deals, so it was really easy to attach to whatever I was needing to (like a stroller when he was small enough for one of those) when he was not carrying it himself. That way it could do more than just adjust the strap length, if that makes sense.

It's been a while (obviously) since I have made one for selling purposes and I was thinking I just might try it again. This time by machine, I think. What do you think? Something you might like your little one using for pre-school? I have two other designs as well being the Puppy and also a Poodle.

I have also thought about turning them into a pattern that others could sew themselves. That might take some time and thought. I mean, I can draft and make a pattern for myself to follow, but for others to read? Well, I don't know. Depends on how much interest there might be in such a thing.

Hmmm......

Things past....maybe present???

Okay, wow. I took another little bloggy break! Totally not meaning to, but ya know sometimes LIFE happens! And could someone tell me where April went to? Is it really May already? Seriously, cause that means I will be turning 30 in like a week! Really, I will be. I've heard it's a great decade, so I plan on forging ahead and enjoying all it has to offer! I wonder if it will include wearing glasses? I seem to maybe be heading that direction.....with reading mainly. Bummer.

Anyhoo! Enough about that. I do plan on having a fun little giveaway in about a week or so just cause. I think I might also do a "30 questions" type deal too. Maybe just tell 30 random things? Or maybe you guys might have some questions (fun, family friendly ones, please) you want to ask? Perhaps? Hmm, something to think about. If you're game, go ahead and post a question in the comments (have I told you how much I LOVE reading your comments? Well, I do! ) and I will do my best to answer then next week. :)

Alrightythen, I really had something more to this post than rambling thoughts. I did. But, it's late and I must get some sleep. Crazy, I know. Sometimes I think it's totally overrated, but for now it is just what I need.

Nighty nite!

Whoops

Well, I took a bit of a blogging break that I did not expect. So much going on. Did you have a good weekend last? Same here. Well....all except for the little *fender bender* that resulted in a totaled vehicle. That was no fun. Thankfully everyone is just fine. Really, even the car was just fine. However, the air bags deployed (even though it was really a tiny fender bender) which I think caused more damage than anything. Literally. I was not in the car (poor hubby, but I so love him and am not mad...because he is OK! and my son is OK and no one was hurt!) but when my hubby got home and I saw my car after the insurance guy came out and said it would most likely me totaled ( or whatever the term is), I thought it was a joke! Seriously, you have to really look for the damage to see it! BUT, my car is not so young anymore and the cost to fix the air bag deal alone was atrocious! Insane. If the air bags had not deployed I would still have my car. The car I love and that we brought our son home in. I know it really boils down to being simply transportation, but I went from being pregnant, to having a newborn to a now about to be going into kindergarten age child next fall in that car! It was a fabulous and very functional car! I miss it so. However, thankfully we were able to turn right around and get another vehicle (same type, just slightly upgraded and a different color) within two days. Whew! Really, it just looks like I got a new paint job and re-upholstered insides! Good, yes?! I think so. It honestly feels no different other than the color thing. Although, I got slightly confused the other day coming out of Joanns looking for my car. "Oh yeah! That's it starring me in the face....that would be my new-ish car right there!".

Wow, was that long winded. Sorry 'bout that.

Happy almost Thursday!