Totally Fun Blog Train... it's for the birds!

***The links have expired, and the massive mega kit is now available at Faith Sisters for free with purchase.***

This is the first time I've been part of a blog train, so hopefully I'm doing this right! All the Faith Sisters designers put together this amazing collab kit, For the Birds. Hop around to each blog listed below, to pick up the various parts.

4 Shades of Blue: http://4shadesofbluedesigns.blogspot.com/
Adriana Hollenbeck: http://adriscreations.blogspot.com/
AEDesigns: www.aedigitaldesigns.com
Albums to Remember: http://albumstoremember.blogspot.com
AnaFlor: http://anaflordesign.blogspot.com
Audra's Little Scraps: http://audraslittlescraps.blogspot.com
Camie Designs: http://camiedesigns.blogspot.com
Chelly Scraps: http://chelsant.blogspot.com/
Designs: http://www.scrapnfun.de/
Cre8tvlyYrs by Gina: http://www.cre8tvlyyrs.blogspot.com/
Designs: http://diellesdarlings.blogspot.com/
Digiscrapalicious: http://digiscrapalicious.blogspot.com/
Designs By : http://scrappingwithangel.blogspot.com
Digital Compilations by Cinda: http://blog.digitalcompilations.com/
Digital Designs by Lisa: http:/digitaldesignsbylisa.blogspot.com/
Dragonfly Beach Designs: http://alumnaanimi.blogspot.com/
Lindqvist Designs: http://everything-eva.blogspot.com/
Eyelets Scraps Designs: http://eyeletsscrapsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Glayce Cavalcante: http://glaycecavalcante.blogspot.com
Designs: http://juliemariedesigns.com/blog
JZDesigns: http://jbzwick.blogspot.com
Kreative : http://thekreativekarma.blogspot.com
Lifesong Kreations: http://lifesongkreations.com
Makes It: http://www.merchimakesit.blogspot.com
Cardall: http://meredithcardall.blogspot.com
Batton: http://www.blog.mellowbutterfly.com/
Monique Drost: http://moniquedrost.blogspot.com/
Robin: http://robin-giftsyoucanfeelgoodabout.blogspot.com/
Morgan Designs: http://sarahmorgandesigns.blogspot.com/
Scrap Quest: http://www.scrapquest.com/
ScrapWarrior: http://www.scrapwarrior.com/blog/
Simply : http://www.simplysusangodfrey.blogspot.com
Sweet Tomato Designs: http://sweettomatodesigns.blogspot.com/
TMA Designs: http://themathematiciansassistant.com
Willro&co: http://willrownco.blogspot.com/

LAST STOP! http://www.faithsisters.com

Oh, and make sure to check out all the fun stuff happening at FaithSisters for NSD!

Adorable (if I say so my self) and saved me a bundle!

I had Sydney and Sabrina a little over 3 years ago, so have 2 carseats that are still perfectly good. But they were pretty girly. I just couldn't justify spending $80 on another one for this baby. So I bought some cute fabric, grabbed a seamripper to take apart one of the old covers for a pattern, and... let it sit. HA! I'm such a procrastinator. It's been sitting there, waiting and waiting for me for a couple of weeks.

I'm just 37 weeks along today, and all of my other children have come quite late. But Tuesday, I started having very regular, and uncomfortable contractions. 3-5 minutes apart and very crampy feeling. I had had a pretty full day, out and about with our homeschool co-op, playday at the park and then grocery shopping. But I came home and put my legs up pretty much all evening. Then about 10:30, I realized how uncomfortable I was (normal braxton-hicks for me are just a tight squeeze, not crampy), and that it was happening very regularly. I'd also had my insides rumbling and not feeling well... as had my DH, so we think it might be something we ate. So that could have contributed to it all. I went to bed and made sure to lay on my left side. Slowly they relaxed and I finally fell asleep. But the contractions weren't the thing most keeping me awake, it was the thought of everything I still have to do. I've had it in my head that I'd be having this baby sometime the end of May, so I'm not totally prepared. I have clothes and diapers and all the basic necessities... but no bassinet/crib set up. I needed to recover that darn carseat, maybe buy a new stroller, get a swing, clean out the part of our bedroom we've been using as storage, to make room for the co-sleeper, then actually find the bassinet portion of it, figure out who's keeping the other kids while we go to the hospital, etc. AUGH!!!

So still no baby, thank goodness. But I finally got my act together and got the cover made. And I LOVE IT!!! I'm so happy with how it turned out. I forgot to take a picture of it before I ripped the first cover apart, so I'll show you a picture of my cute Sabrina on her 1st Independence Day...

And here's the new carseat, all ready for the new baby boy soon (but hopefully not TOO soon) to join our family...

Yo ho Mateys! TallShips and a freebie...

Yo ho mateys! This kit be perfect for all your high seas adventures photos, Caribbean dreams layouts, or just for some ol' pirate fun. Full of texture and depth, this kit has so much more than what you can see in the preview... I just couldn't fit it all in! But find a complete list of everything here. This week it's on sale for 30% off at Digital Freebies. You can also find it in my shop at FaithSisters.

Here's the full kit...

Find just the elements right here.

The papers...


The alpha...


And a few fabulous CT LOs using the kit.
By Jenn...


by Bohunka25...

And another by her

And one by me...


Ok, and finally here's the freebie sampler. Click the image to go to the download...

Easter sewing

I got to work plenty early on these dresses... but still ended up madly sewing Friday morning before leaving to drive the four hours to my folks' house for Easter weekend. I actually had the little girlies' dresses done, but was working on finishing up Sage's. All the dresses started as Ottobre patterns (from the summer '05 issue) but morphed into twirly dresses. Afterall, even almost-eleven year olds need a good twirly dress every now and then.

Here are the original patterns, so you can kind of see the changes I made:


Sydney's went together beautifully, no problems at all...

Sabrina's, not so much. I guess that's what you get when you stay up til 1am sewing. I mixed up the measurements for the bottom two tiers. When I sewed on that middle green one, I was thinking that it was a lot fuller gathers than Sydney's had been, but it didn't register why. So after serging and topstitching it all, I had to pick it out, UGH! Still after all that work, it ended up fine.

Sage's dress gave me a few minor headaches, just because while I sew well, actually fitting dresses is a skill I'm still working on. I had to modify a few things to get the fit right. But I actually love it and so does she. The zipper went in like a breeze, and she just looks fabulous in it.
BACK:

Twirly front:


And all three girls together...

Suddenly obsessed...

...with craft blogs. It started with a visit to my midwife last month. Waiting to be called back, I picked up a copy of Mothering Magazine. An article highlighting some fabulous craft blogs caught my eye and after I was called back, but still waiting for my midwife, I swiped a sticky note from her desk and started quickly writing down blog addresses. My very cool midwife walked in at that moment and after she asked what I was doing, told me to just take the mag home... she'd trust me to bring it back. **Note to self... you forgot to return it this week, make sure you stick it in the van so you have it to return the next time**

I came home with the magazine and spent hours that night and the next pouring through craft blogs, which lead me to gorgeous etsy shops, natural parenting and creative homeschooling blogs, and back in circles to the craft blogs. It started with SouleMama, where I (think I) found Angry Chicken, which led me to the Camp Creek Blog and on and on. I bookmarked dozens of projects, emailed them to myself so I wouldn't forget, sent some I knew she'd appreciate to my mom, etc. And now I've added some to my sidebar. It's more for me, so I remember to check them out, than for anyone else. But just in case you have a crafty side, you might want to see what fun things there are. Careful though, you might end up snagged, caught, locked in this craft blog obsession!

PS, a side effect of my obsession is putting an unbelievable number of books on hold at the library. Knitting, farming, crafting, sewing, teaching children, creating with the wonder of life... you name it, I've got it on hold. All thanks to these fabulous bloggers. It's a good thing books come from all over 5 counties and are sometimes checked out by other people... so they trickle in, or I'd never be able to carry all the stacks home.

PPS, Check out the Feed Your Soul Free Art Project that I just discovered, where some great artists have put pieces of art that you are free to download, print and hang in your home. Isn't that cool???