looking around on etsy is a past time of mine, of course! There really are so many wonderful artists on there. But it is often hard to find them. I came upon this new seller today and wanted to share because I think it is worth checking out! Her knit creations are so adorable. They are calling my name for a little easter basket surprise or two! You can see more right here.
So I haven't been posting for a bit. I have actually started a few posts and then walked away from them. Reminds me of how life feels right now. I personally and not so secretly hate cold weather. And we have had 2 out of 3 kids sick for almost 8 days back to back. That is enough for me to never get anything done and feel like quick sand has taken over my energy level. I honestly could not see my bed the other day because there was so much laundry waiting to be folded and put away!
We celebrated our oldest's 9th birthday on Friday too. So we had some festivities amongst it all as well.
I am eagerly looking forward to Monday. Everyone has somewhere to be and life can get moving a little again! Hopefully more interesting thoughts will come my way as well. I have several sewing projects on my to do list and I had better get moving on those too! Hope your weekend was fun, warm and full of good health!
Recently I finished some new pillows for our couch. (I got them done Heather!) But one pillow, I am especially happy with and I wanted to share how easy it was to make. I found this great tutorial off of the Anna Maria Horner blog a while back. She was on Martha and teaches how to make these fabric canvas pictures below:
And here is the one that I made using her Wren template. It now sits happily on our mantle. 
Fast forward to the pillow frenzy...I decided to use this template just like we do our Olliekate appliques. I was so happy to have it all complete and I think it adds a nice touch! Simple to make, just involves some tracing, interfacing and some sewing. She has a few other animal designs you can use too or make your very own. Hopefully all these new pillows can buy us some time on our worn out couch that has lost the war with 3 kids using it!
One of the things that I really enjoy doing with my kids is reading. It has always been something that we can share and I love watching how they grow through the choices they make in books and their ability to read them. Our youngest absolutely loves books, she always is bringing us several to read to her. But my favorite thing to watch is when her brothers will read one to her. It is precious to me.
Our 6 year old is really into reading independently now too. He is loving Tomie dePaola books because his class did a big project on the author recently. He is so proud of what he can read and loves to share with us. His enthusiasm has been pretty recent and fun to watch.
And Kate's favorite books right now? They have to be these:
All of the series from Usborne That's Not My... are a hit and this little alphabet book has such great illustrations inside. It comes with a bag of foam blocks so you can make the letters yourself. And Peek a Moo is always a fun one too.
I believe a love of reading begins early and I do hope that this is one thing I can instill in my children. And I am always looking for new reccomendations for them. Would love to hear of any that are favorites at your house! 
We were treated to a snow day today. Really puts a halt on the schedule and the kids were thrilled. Kate got her first shot at sledding and thought it was pretty cool, until of course she was too freezing to continue! On to the hot chocolate, the board games , some pumpkin bread in the overn and a chance to relax for all. Thanks winter for a little bit of white!
In honor of our 1st anniversary on etsy we are having a sale for the month of February! We began our shop with our wonderful t-shirt creations and for the next month all of our tees will be 25% off.
That is just $19.50 for long sleeve, $18 for short sleeve and $13.50 for baby onesies! What a deal, so snatch them up now while they are on sale!
And many thanks to all of our customers over the last year, we are hopeful for continued growth in 2009! Happy shopping!
