my favorite bag i've ever made

so i was really aggravated today. i went to return some gifts at the mall, and although i made out like a bandit with the returns and rebuys, i wanted to choke some of the nasty people in the stores. IT'S AFTER THE HOLIDAYS PEOPLE... LINES WILL BE LONG... HAVE SOME FRIGGIN PATIENCE WILL YA??? ok, now that i got that off my chest...
i was looking at purses and bags today... i didn't really like ANY of them! i guess i'm a custom bag snob now! so i decided to try out a new bag.
it's made out of canvas with a cotton quilted lining. i decided to try out a separate bottom and sides, as opposed to my typical all one piece style. i am VERY happy with how it turned out. it was a titch difficult figuring out how to make the lining fit, but it all worked out in the end.
there are 2 magnetic snaps (to keep thieving hands out!) and 2 regular pockets on the one side, and a large pocket and a pen pocket on the other side.

i now love this bag.

holy exhaustion batman!!!

so here was our tree christmas eve night before we went to bed... we were up wrapping until 12:30. at 3:00am clay came into our room and told me that his stocking was overflowing with presents! he was SO excited... we on the other hand were not so pumped. he climbed in bed with us and i'm pretty sure he just lay there awake until carter came in at 5am. he was not pumped for christmas, that is just what time he likes to get up. neat huh? well, by 6:30am we were done opening presents, done getting everything out of the packages (with the 47,000 twist ties, screws etc that keep them on the cardboard). we got ready, packed up, went to my sister's house and then headed out to the in-law's house. we were planning on staying 1 night... and ended up staying 3!

i'm happy but sad to report that i really didn't take many pictures this year... we lived the memories instead of freaking out and trying to capture them on camera.

chippy was a little overwhelmed at first...

clay, on the other hand, was a pro!

clay just wanted to tear into the "real" presents... and carter was just really excited to have m&ms! "oooh! lookit mommy! emmies!"

clay thinks he's so cool... he got an ipod shuffle
and yeah, as has been clear in the past, we are rednecks... i got gerry a blackpowder muzzleloader.

at nanny and poppy's new house, clay and his uncle dave sat and put together the spongebob submarine legos set...

and carter got the smart cycle... i forgot to get batteries for it, so for now he and clay just think it's a dirt bike!

then carter got a cars bed set... he is SO excited about it. now what are the chances he will start sleeping in a bit later than 5am??? i sure hope the bed set is THAT exciting!

as for me, (among other wondrous things) i got a fabulous sewing center... i think i will put it together tomorrow. oooh... i can't wait to get all my stuff organized!!! :)

what exciting gifts did YOU (or a family member of yours) get???

ho ho ho!

so carter (for whatever reason) flat out REFUSED to sit with clay for a picture. this is what i got... i think he gets his stubbornness from his dad... yeah right!

clayton...

and carter.

merry christmas, happy hannukah, happy kwanzaa, happy new year, a fantastic festivus and whatever else you may celebrate! :)

some of my favorite ornaments...

so i love snowmen... and i just think that this ornament is so cute. i'm sure i'm not alone in this tradition, but i get gerry an ornament every year.. .i bought this one for him a few years ago.
i have some really cute pink ornaments from my mother in law...and of course some elephants... i actually have 6 or 7 elephant ornaments. this one is my favorite though. i got it from joycie and willard (who are/were like another set of grandparents to me) a few years back.
this is among the many kid-made ornaments with their picture on it...
and of course we have a john deere tractor ornament (actually we have another one too)!

then we have some proof that i am a child of the 80's with my care bear ornament...

and cabbage patch kid...

and strawberry shortcake- although this one does not smell :(
then we have jolly old saint nicholas... on a snowmobile

and who DOESN'T have a camouflage wearing, shotgun toting santa claus?and then the ornament that proved to me that we really ARE rednecks... the santa claus made out of a shotgun shell. yes, i'm serious.

so after a long day yesterday... clay and i decorated the tree... he is such a ham!

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree...

so here we go... it's christmas tree time. here is our usual scenario...

1. gerry cuts down a tree
2. the tree is so big that he needs to cut it down a few times until it fits in the living room
3. he gets aggravated trying to get it to stand up straight
4. he puts the lights on
5. clay and i start hanging the ornaments on the tree
6. clay gets bored after 13 minutes and i finish alone.

well, things are a bit different this year... gerry cut down our tree like normal, only this time it was a bit smaller than usual. it still has a bunch of pine cones hanging on it! (and ps, they kind of look like turds... yeah, that's right. i said turds.) it's rather skinny... i'm pretty sure we will NOT be hanging all our ornaments this year- they won't fit!

for the first time since i have known gerry, he puts the lights on the tree... BEFORE he plugged them in to make sure they all worked. and what happened you may ask? the top didn't work, and neither did the random strand in the middle. oh boy was he angry! of course i started (inappropriately) laughing and snapping pictures... i think clay may have been more angry than gerry that i was taking pictures. he kept yelling "mom, you CAN NOT take pictures of the tree when all the lights are not working. mom, do NOT take that picture!" i'm not sure why he was so mad about it, but he was... which made me laugh even harder.

so gerry gave up... i decided that i would give the lights a whirl. now, i will admit that i can be a bit stubborn at times... and i talk a lot of crap sometimes. so i took down his lights and began stringing my own white lights. i talked crap about how easy it was to do lights... and yeah, i ended up with 2 or so feet of tree left and no more lights. so i had to redo it... i continued to talk crap as i redid the lights... and i think i was quite successful :)
by the way, i got this super cute tree skirt last year from old navy and i love it. it's square, and has cute sequined flower-ish designs on it. i love it.

and then here is clay... he disappeared into the basement after i kept laughing at gerry's light job. when i finished my (second) lighting of the tree, i called down for him to come see my great job... and i called for him... and i called for him. i assumed he was "not hearing" me because it was bed time. i was wrong... he was passed out. oh well, hopefully he will be a little more help tomorrow night while we decorate... stay tuned for pictures of my favorite ornaments! :)

bad decision...

so i decided to do the buffalo for africa craft show on sunday. it was ok... didn't sell too much, but i had fun. this morning when i walked in my bedroom and glanced at the tv, i saw coverage of the event... and saw my fat head standing there at my table. EEKS! anyhoo, i had debated between doing the buffalo for africa show and the buffalo indie market. i decided against the indie market, because the crowd hasn't been all that big lately. then what happened sunday??? the indie market was HUGE! it figures...

anyway, all of the stuff i have been killing myself to make recently is going to be going up on etsy... any day now. i need to take pictures and get it up on there. sorry this is a boring post... no pictures or anything. i'm just kind of aggravated by the boatload of stuff that i made and didn't sell :(

holy accomplishments batman!

so clay has been home sick for the past 2 days... which means i was home sick with him for the past 2 days. to be honest, i haven't felt all that great either... as expected with the germs floating around my house (and work!) so anyhoo, today i just couldn't sleep all day like i wanted to. as crappy as i have felt, i probably really SHOULD have slept, but i didn't. so i decided to do a little sewing... which turned into a LOT of sewing!

you can't really see the size of these, but they are little mini totes. they are adorable little purse sized bags... i just think they are the cutest!

then we have spongebob, cars, and thomas the train bags...

a few more traveling art shows...

and a few bigger purses... ok, i have to admit, the one on the left i made 2 days ago... but everything else here i made today. TODAY! 7 bags and 3 traveling art shows... i'm so impressed with myself. oh my goodness, i almost forgot... i hand sewed buttons on the covers of 8 wallets too.

as a side note, i have been watching a bunch of movies lately while i sew. last week i watched "step brothers" which i can honestly say is now in my top 3 funniest movies of all time. i watched it 4 times in 3 days... no joke. it's hys-frickin-terical! i also watched "baby mama" which was decently entertaining... pretty predictable, but whatever. tonight as i sewed i watched "fred claus" which was pretty good... anything with vince vaughn i will watch. and i'm finishing watching "this christmas" as i type... very cute. it made me enjoy chris brown more than i ever had before... my goodness can that boy sing!

anyhoo, just trying to get ready for the buffalo for africa show on sunday... wish me luck!

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

so we went out to franklinville today to have a day of fun in the snow... good gravy it was cold out there! carter and i played outside for MAYBE 13 minutes. it was really chilly! i was trying not to be a weenie about it, but when i asked him if he was cold he said "yeah." and then i asked him if he wanted to go back inside he said "yeah!" i was SO glad! the radio out there said that the temperature was 13 with a wind chill of -4!now clay and gerry on the other hand... they did a little sledding. the driveway out there is 1/2 mile long... they made it REALLY far!

for some reason, after the kids were really overtired and trying to thaw out, we then attempted to take our annual christmas pictures. this is always an incredibly torturous event. there is always 1 kid that won't cooperate... today it was carter. we had clay carter and david in their matching (adorable) sweaters, and grace had on her cute red dress. carter would NOT stop sticking his fingers in his mouth, fish hooking his cheeks and sticking his tongue out... it was really pretty funny. but we didn't get any good pictures. we will give it another try this week... but this just might have to be another year of separate pictures. oh well... my question is this- how do families with numerous children pull off the group photos where everyone is not only looking at the camera, but are sitting nicely and looking adorable? HOW DO THEY DO IT? WHAT IS THE SECRET? anyone???

i've been tagged...

so tina tagged me... am i'm not happy about it. what happens when you get tagged??? first you are supposed to take a picture to post just like you normally would. next, you are supposed to take a step back and get a picture of the full surroundings. how embarrassing!!! my LIFE is a big enough mess... you can only imagine my sewing area! it's ok though... i can take it... and i WILL get tina back for this!
here is my first picture... 3 new traveling art studios that i was able to get done tonight. i have 3 more cut out... perhaps tomorrow???

and here you go tina... my mess! i will point out a few key items... see that iron? i NEVER iron my clothes (or gerry's for that matter... that is his job!) but i need it to make my checkbook covers. uh, what else... there is the obvious stack of fabric to the right of the iron. that would be a stack of new bags that i cut out tonight. the pink gift bag holds the scrap pieces of fabric that i just can not throw out. to the left of the pink bag is my ribbon container (you can't really see it). oh yeah, and on the right of that pink bag is ANOTHER stack of cut out bags that need to be put together. then there is my good ole sewing machine... it was a cheap-o, but it rocks! i can sew through so many layers of fabric that it's crazy!

so folks, those are my pictures... now i must tag 2 people. i'm going to tag josie from whom i bought this traveling art studio pattern, and the new girl. the new girl is a blog that (i'm not sure how) i happened upon a while back. it cracks me up! i feel as though i unknowingly write it in my sleep or something... we think A LOT alike! :)

well girls, it's your turn now! let's see some mess please!!!

bring on the redneck comments...

so i did something new tonight that never in my life would i have ever thought i would do... (get your mind out of the gutter you sickos!) i helped gerry cut up his deer.

now don't misunderstand me... i had no part in the skinning or quartering or anything like that. where i stepped in was once it came into the house looking like something you would buy from a butcher, i helped cut it up. as gross as i thought it would be, it actually was quite interesting... i felt like a surgeon or something.

now don't panic people... i will not pick up a new hobby of butchering. i promise! actually i have a plan to get a TON of sewing done this weekend before the buffalo for africa show at my alma mater... oh yeah, it's next sunday the 14th at frontier high school from 12-4. just in case you're feeling the need to shop!

birthdays, thanksgiving, surprise party and just plain ole chaos!!!

so i had quite the busy week/weekend... last saturday the whole family went out for dinner to celebrate all of our birthdays... spike's, christiane's, gerry's and mine. here is nanny with carter and grace... poor woman couldn't even eat! the kids would NOT get off her lap! clay thinks he's super cool taking care of little baby dave...

then carter had to follow in his big brother's footsteps...

then we had thanksgiving dinner at my house... and not to toot my own horn (i said toot) i must admit that everything was delish! friday morning my sister and i decided to brave the stores and do a little black friday shopping... ok, so we went out at noon and missed most of the crazies. i have to say, we got some REALLY good deals, and for once in my life, i'm pretty darn close to being done shopping! :)

saturday was the long awaited surprise party for my girls... my sister hollie is turning 40, and my sister in law christiane just turned 30! old ladies... ha! it was a LOT of fun... although i am glad it's over. jen and i have been trying to plan this party since august... and it has been REALLY difficult to not mention it to either of them. i can't even tell you how many times i almost slipped!

well, the buffalo for africa show is next weekend and i have a LOT to get done between now and then... i guess i have a busy weekend ahead of me!

oh yeah, and gerry got another doe... yep, another dead deer decorating the tree in my side yard. eew!!!

it's been a while...

so i have been m.i.a. for a bit here... i wish i could say that my absences has been because i have been making so many things... or because i have been busy xmas shopping... or pruning my money tree. actually, i'm not exactly sure WHAT i have been so busy with. i have THOROUGHLY cleaned my entire house (which took 2 days). i cleaned the fridge, the cupboards, reorganized the kids toys... i was really on a roll. now, my mom is in town and staying at our house... and i have been thanksgiving shopping... and recipe searching. i will be making my very first thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! i just need to realize that although i have WATCHED a bunch of shows on the food network, i am not an actual CHEF from food network. i hope i don't get carried away! well, i will update and let you know how it all worked out... in the meantime, it's my birthday (not as fun anymore) and i have to get ready for work (boo!!!)... happy turkey day ya'll! and don't forget the TRUE meaning of thanksgiving... EAT TIL YOU EXPLODE!!! ;)

UPDATE

so, just a productivity update for ya'll... since friday i have made 100 hair bows, 8 wallets, 6 checkbook covers, and 2 traveling art shows... all while watching both boys and running the house alone. i have a bunch more art shows and 2 more wallets cut out... but a sudden, and TERRIBLE cold has halted my productivity :(

my goodness have i been productive!

so i have been unusually productive today... my sister in law and i packed my in law's house for a few hours, while the kids ran around terrorizing the place. we each had our ipods on (to tune the kids and my mother in law out a little) and just went to town. i'm happy to say that other than clothes and kitchen dishes, they are completely packed and ready to move!
once i got home, and got chippy in bed, i started sewing.
this is the traveling art show pattern that i got from mr monkeysuit. i am SO happy with how it turned out! it is supposed to have a pack of crayons on the left side, and an activity book on the right... i will be buying those to fill these soon. it was super easy and fast to make... i just think it's damn adorable! and then i finished off some more checkbook covers and coordinating wallets...

yeah, i made 8 wallets and 6 checkbook covers tonight. i'm a little obsessed... now that i have finished all of the checkbook covers and wallets that i had cut out, now i will obsess on the traveling art shows for a while.

on another note, for those of you who care... carter was up AGAIN last night! he woke up and came down to my bed at 2am... and was up until 4 something. once he went back to sleep, it was only until 7:30. needless to say, i'm going to bed. zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!