Yesterday we had the pleasure of celebrating my nephew Connor's second birthday at SuperFranks (the absolute perfect place for both kids and parents--wish we had one). Since Connor already has a ton of toys, in part thanks to us and a ton of hand me downs, we went handmade with his gift. I spruced up a couple shirts from Target with appliqués and threw in a cute matching pair of shorts. My sister-in-law Rachel is a big SF Giants fan, so it only seemed fitting to add a baseball appliqué to Connor's orange t-shirt. And Rachel is also a huge Dave Matthews Band fan (just like me!) so I had fun making a DMB shirt. I know it sounds more like I made shirts for Rachel, but I still love how the shirts turned out. In fact, I had so much fun that I whipped up some party shirts for the girls (a heart-shaped balloon for Katherine and a cupcake for Rebecca). I definitely see more appliqués in my future. Too cute and so much fun!

Today's Inspiration Workshop theme is Spending the Day Playing Recently we spent the day "playing" with our waffle iron. This past Father's Day my husband decided to take us on a culinary adventure (I'm so lucky that my guy loves the kitchen). He was inspired to try some recipes from Rachel Ray's waffle week , a reminder that waffles aren't just for breakfast and our waffle iron isn't just for waffles. So we started the day with biscuits and gravy (I must admit we doctored her gravy recipe). We had ham and cheese wa-ninis for lunch (using the waffle iron as a panini press--my idea after reading different ideas). For dinner we had Wa-zones (waffle calzones). And for dessert we had brownies . What a fun and yummy day! Now the brownies still need work (they ended up over done), but everything else was a big hit. If anything, it has inspired us to try making other stuff using the waffle iron. A very useful idea with the hot summer weather (no need to t

This past weekend, in the middle of finishing father's day gifts (including these fun neck coolers ), I managed to sneak some girlie sewing projects in. I shortened a few pillow case dresses I made a couple weeks back and, with some ruffles, I transformed a couple pairs of worn out jeans. I've still got a few more projects in the works this week, like going through a pile of library books on sewing, making a few birthday gifts and trying this adorable tunic/dress tutorial . Can I just tell you how nice it is to have a good sewing machine and cute little girls! Fun, fun, fun!

Lucky in Love by Kenna Elizabeth Life has been a bit of a roller coaster this week, which I'm not quite ready to get into here. So it seemed fitting to look at roller coaster images when it came to this week's Inspiration Workshop theme--Green. I searched and searched, but never found an image that I liked. Although I did run into the odd concept of "green" pedal-powered roller coasters--both interesting and frightening (take a look here and here ). So I changed gears with the green theme and decided to share a favorite photo of mine, Lucky in Love , by my friend Kenna . This photo has made it onto my blog before, but it seemed too perfect not to share it again today.  From time to time I may run into troubles that stress me out, but at least I always have the love of my husband and my daughters, and my family and friends. I am truly lucky in love.

Photo from Teahouse Studio website Yesterday I had the chance to visit the new Teahouse Studio in Berkeley. They were holding open studios this past weekend, so my family and I took advantage of a free Sunday and made a day of it. It was great seeing the studio in person. It's very open and full of light, perfect for creating. The studio is the creative dream and collaboration of Stefanie Reneé , Mati Rose McDonough , and Tiffany Moore (aka Crafty Fanny ). They just barely opened the studio in February, yet their line up of workshops is simply inspiring. How lucky am I to live fairly close to this special studio! The inspiration didn't stop at just seeing the studio. I also was lucky enough to meet both Tiffany Moore and Mati Rose McDonough. It was wonderful to meet them and have the chance to talk with them. They were both really friendly and easy to talk to. It's sometimes easy to forget that there are real people behind the art, the blogs, the websites, etc.. Th

After the fun I had last week while participating in the Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop , I knew I wanted to do it again. So this week's inspiration prompt was "kitchens." This immediately inspired me to want to try a few sewing projects, like personalizing some kitchen towels and making some coasters. But life got away from me (as usual) and I didn't find the time. I did manage to make one happy little coaster which I then used as inspiration for this happy little etsy treasury (I still need to figure out Pinterest ). Enjoy!

I have a bit of a one track mind sometimes and right now I'm on the sewing track. So I thought I'd share some of my projects. The mannequin pictured above was the first project I made with my new sewing machine. She came out of the Tone Finnanger book I mentioned last month , Sew Sunny Homestyle . She is the perfect tree topper for my year round, white Christmas tree (that I'm filling with angels and flowers and hearts....oh my). And then yesterday, my mom, my girls, and I went to an art show in town. On top of seeing beautiful art and my talented nature photographer friend Kenna , we also learned about a brand new quilt shop, Fabric Garden , only open 1 month. The shop was filled with gorgeous quilts, beautiful fabric, and tons of inspiration. As a thank you for coming in to the shop, we were given a strip of fabric with instructions to make these cute tissue holders. So quick and simple to make. And then I tried my hand at some pillow case dresses for the girls. I've

Print from Lillebarn, too Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon This past Thursday, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I know...crazy, huh? It has been something I've needed to do for years, but I was avoiding it. I was scared. I was scared of the anesthesia, the recovery, the pain...... But it needed to be done and now it is! I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am. How proud I am. I faced my fears and I did it! I feel so strong and courageous! You'd think I had just done something exciting like bungee jump off a building (now there's a fear I don't plan on conquering). Nonetheless, it feels so good to know that I faced my fears. I am making things happen, getting things done that need to be done, and it feels great!

With the arrival of my newest "baby," my new sewing machine, has come a renewed interest in all things sewing. I've been pouring over sewing books and magazines. In fact I've requested just about every sewing book I could find from the library. Who knows when I'll have the time to go through all these books.....but that's not the point. I've also visited dozens of websites and blogs which brings me to  Gussy Sews . I've had this adorable blog on google reader for what seems like forever. But I had lost track of it, which is bound to happen when you subscribe to a million blogs (okay, this might be an exaggeration, but only slight). Well, revisiting Gussy Sews has inspired me. So today I am joining in her very first  Inspiration Workshop  to share some inspiration. In a weekly newsletter, Gussy will provide an inspiration prompt to share on Thursdays and this week's prompt is all things handmade. Now this made my head spin at first because I love

Can you believe it? It's June. It's kind of crazy to think we're through another month. Time sure does fly when you're having fun. Time has been flying so much that I find myself participating in Margie 's wonderful One Little Word blog hop, yet still behind with my OLW album . This month's theme of documentation has always been easy and difficult for me all at the same time. I have definitely written list after list of goals, objectives, thoughts, etc.. many of which are inspired by my word, Clear. But it's hard for me to organize my written lists, just as it is difficult to organize my thoughts. I guess I still need to work on my mental clarity. I'm doing my best to get through my lists, even if it is a slow process. One of my goals had been to catch up with Ali Edward's class. I might not have caught up with the album, but I did make some progress with the exercises. I wasn't satisfied with the action I took in March, so I made sure to take