Etsybloggers Carnival Topic: Something to do with work

I've been at my current job since August 8, 2003. Since then I've added another "co-worker" and am currently in the process of creating another that will join the team on or hopefully before February 10th. I am a full time mom! Often called, stay-at-home mom, I can't say that I am home much, so I'm just a full time mom.

What does my job consist of? Making breakfast, lunch, dinner and a gazillion snacks a day for two little girls. Changing diapers ... only for one, and she is being potty-trained. Doing homework with the kindergartner. Going to the park. Going to the library. Doing lots of laundry. Cleaning up. Lot of vacuuming! Finding fun things to do on the weekends and in general laughing!

I love my job! It is tiring...more tiring than any "real job" I had before this. More stressful. More demanding. But also much more rewarding, much more fun and much more interesting! Afterall, just look at my two co-workers!

To find out more about etsybloggers, go to http://etsybloggers.proboards83.com/index.cgi

Tagged: I'm it!

So, here's the deal. I've been "tagged" by two other members of a group to which I belong (etsybloggers): Human Touch Designs (her rad blog is at http://humantouchdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/10/tagged.html)
and Memories for Life (check out her happy blog at http://memoriesforlifescrapbooks.blogspot.com/).

Soooooo.....now it is my turn to tag five other people and share 6 facts about myself. So here are the links to my five tagged people:
SpiritMama: Etsy and Blog (a shout out to you for blogging about my hair accessories)
Jersey Girl Design: Etsy and Blog (your from the state of one of my best friends and I live 20 minutes from B-more. B'lieve, hon!)
Wondermommy: Etsy and Blog (Love the name!)
Miesmama: Etsy and Blog (Awesome handmade stuff)
Grey Eye Designs: Etsy and Blog (somewhat of a newbie, so give this girl some clickie love!)

Now, five facts about me:
1.) I'm five and half months pregnant and crave two things: beer (which I don't normally drink) and running in the mud (I'm a runner, but not sure why I want to get all dirty about it)
2.) My birthday is today. I turn 33 today, which, in case you were wondering, is the same number as one of my favorite childhood baseball players from the Orioles: Eddie Murry!
3.) I married my highschool sweetheart! We've been married for 9 years. We dated for 10 years before that, so I've been with him more than half of my life. And I like him a lot!
4.) My brother is a pitcher for the San Diego Padres, and baseball has been an important part of my family life for as long as I can remember.
5.) I'm a crappy triathlete and a fair marathoner, but after baby #3 I hope to improve the heck out of my time on the marathon.
6.) I love ice cream with peanut butter and oatmeal in it. I've been making this concoction since I was about 13 years old. I wish Ben and Jerry's would come out with this flavor so I wouldn't have to make it myself. Try it and you will see that it is delish! Add some chocolate syrup and it's good to go!

Happy day!

Lilly Pulitzer Quilt, Etsy Sale and New Items

My latest etsy offering is this customizable quilt featuring 25 patches of Lilly Pulitzer fabric! For all of those Lilly collectors out there, you could have a quilt that no one else has! And there is a sale right now that could get you free shipping! Check out my etsy page!

Some other new goodies on my etsy page are what I call "uppitydo daisies." Every ponytail needs one of these cuties:








If you have some specific fabric or colors that you want, just let me know and I will be happy to make you a custom order. That goes for anything on my etsy page!

And, as always, check out my other team members' etsy shops. They have lots to offer! We will be hosting a trunk sale soon. More details will be on etsy, my blog and lots of other blogs too!

Very Special Featured Etsyblogger: Joeyandaleethea

A few months ago, I happened upon a team on etsy called etsybloggers street team, a team for people who "love to blog about their craft, their creative process and other etsians." Well, that sounded like something I would like to join, so I did.

A few months have gone by and I have learned more about the person who started this group and while I've never met her or even spoken to her, I have to say I am extremely impressed by her creativity, her products, her desire to spread the word about her team and her ability to juggle this thing we call being a mom with doing something she loves...etsy!

I strongly encourage you to check out her etsy shop. This little onsie (at right) is one of my favorite items.

She has lots of other great and original products you'll want to "add to your cart"! She uses lots of great fabric and has some really cute appliqued items for babies that make great gifts for expectant mothers!

Her blog has lots of goodies too (not to mention some good tunes streaming while your read)!

Congratulations to Joeyandaleethea for a much-deserved feature!

Blog Carnival: A Childhood Memory I'll Never Forget

There were a couple of memories that immediately came to my head when I thought about my childhood, like constantly drawing with crayons, playing baseball on an all-boy team (I was the only girl) and going to Orioles games with my dad, BUT one event that impacted my life for several years to come was a particular bike ride when I was seven...
It all started with my sister and I heading up a big hill on our bikes. I asked my nine-year-old sister if we were allowed to go up this hill -- a hill that I might mention was, up to this point, off limits. She said, "Yeah. Mommy said we could." So, I pushed to the top of the hill and was looking forward to the fast and easy ride down.

About halfway down the hill, my handlebars started to wobble and I was going too fast to control my bike. I hit a gravel pit at the bottom of the hill, flew over the handle bars, landed on my face, lost two teeth (one was a front tooth) and got a nasty booboo on my arm. Not good. I was carried home by a complete stanger and handed over to my mom, who was nine months pregnant!

For the next several years, my two front teeth grew in as buck-toothed as one could get. So, I was left a red-headed, freckled, buck-toothed little girl. I got braces later and my teeth are fine now, but that is a memory that my whole family laughs at today. My sister still feels a little guilty about lying and telling me that were allowed to go down the big hill.
Even to this day, I think about that wobbly trip down the hill! I did two triathlons in the last year and I have to admit, there were some hills that brought me back to that infamous hill!

I guess the moral of the story is: never trust your big sister. And if you do, never let her live it down! Right, Jenny!

Amy and Heather and Anna Maria, Oh My!

I just created this block this afternoon and it ended up featuring some of my FAV designers, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Anna Maria and Jennifer Paganelli. Fresh colors and great graphics by each designer make pairing them together easy! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this block. Something is telling me to make a center medallion quilt out of it -- kind of round robin. We'll see!

Pillow Talk

For quilters, making a pillow out of a block can be a form of instant gratification that often escapes us during the usual long quilting process. I made a Dresden Plate block a few weeks ago for a long-term quilt project. Not wanting to take away from that project, I made an almost identical block to make into a quilt pillow and put on my etsy page. The pom pom trim really solidifies the look I was going for: happy, colorful, cheerful!

Another pillow that I made is a "tooth fairy pillow." This was made from a vintage apron with a really great pattern on the fabric. I fussy cut the pocket portion of the apron and made that the center of the pillow--a place for all those precious lost teeth. Some frilly trim finished off the look.

Pillow Tip: For both of these pillows and most of the ones I have made this year, I have made a back flap for easy insert and removal of the pillow form. To me, this is a more finished look than hand sewing the two sides together at the end of the process. Take a look at this pic of the purple pillow to see what I mean...

Thanks for tuning in to pillow talk!

What a doll! Matching Dresses!

Here's an idea for all you crafty people with little girls who love their American Girl dolls or other dolls of choice. Go to your craft store and buy about a yard of the pre-smocked fabric. Measure your daughter's chest size and cut the fabric to that size. Sew a seam up the back, add some straps and repeat for the doll (Cut about 4" out of the smocking for the doll so her dress isn't "all smocked"). Taa-daaa! You have matching doll sundresses for about $14 total and in about 1/2 hour! Love it!

Big Game and Big Sale!

So, today is the start of the Etsybloggers Team Sale, which last for five days from 8/13 to 8/17 and features many sales from many of the shops that are a member of this cool group. Click on the graphic on the right for a list of all of the shops' sales.

AND, today my little brother, Josh Banks, pitches for the San Diego Padres against the Milwaukee Brewers' CC Sabathia! The game starts at 7:05 p.m. PT. Keep your fingers crossed for my little bro'! Check out the press on Josh if you're a baseball fan!

A Quilt Block as Self Portrait

If ever there were a quilt block that I could say is "me," my newest one would be it. I used some of my FAVORITE scraps to create this Dresden Plate block:

This block is just like me: organized...and also crazy. I love it for that reason. It's also BRIGHT! Another reason I love it!

I also created this other block within a few days:

It also makes me happy. I've now become addicted to using scraps. Check out more images on my flickR page!

Etsyblogger Carnival: Grilling Recipe

Hey everybody!
My recipes is for the most awesome grilled potatoes you will ever taste. The recipe comes from a cookbook that is (for some crazy reason) out of print. It's the Vera Bradley cookbook: Cooking with Friends. This is my all-time favorite cookbook. The recipes are tried and true! I've made about 20 recipes in this cookbook (so far) and continually pick a new one to try! So my recipe is called "Chips Grilled Potatoes" and the book states that this was submitted by Stefanie Chevillet.

Ingredients:
6 medium pototoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 slices of bacon, chopped

1.2 cup oil
2 tablespoons of cornstarch (although I use flour)
rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

The directions state: "Prepare the grill. Combine the potatoes, onion, celery and bacon in a medium bowl and toss to mix well. Place on a large piece of foil coated with nonstick spray.

Whisk the oil, cornstarch [or flour], rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper together. Drizzle over the potato mixture. Top with another piece of foil sprayed with nonstick spray. Seal edges to form a packet.

Place on the grill [second rack is what I use]. Grill over hot coals for one hour. The potatoes will cook evenly, so there is no need to turn the packet over."

It's awesome. Try it at your next cookout!

Featured Etsyblogger for August 2008

I'm a proud member of etsybloggers, an amazing group of artisans and lovers of hand-crafted items who have blogs, in addition to etsy storefronts. This month's featured etsyblogger is talented jewelry designer "TuLips Treasure Box."

TuLips Treasure Box uses nature materials, natural gemstones, crystals, tiny beads, glass and silver to create wonderful handmade pieces like this one:



I hope you will check out this talented artist at her etsy page and her blog!

It's Raining Quilts!

I shouldn't be on the computer right now, since a huge crash of thunder just shook the craft room, but I've been MIA on this blog for so long that I must carry on! Since I've written last, I've finished four quilts and many other handmade items, like belts, fabric covered buttons and pillows. Check out these at my flickr page.

The first quilt that I am happy to have finished is a scrappy quilt for my niece, Emma. She turned 7, and has always been a crafty little girl. She really appreciated the time and effort that a scrappy quilt takes. I really enjoyed making this quilt. As you may know, when you make a scrappy quilt (a TRUE scrappy quilt) you spend a lot of time going through your scraps and if you are like me, you can remember what piece of fabric went into each quilt. I was able to use fabric that went into many different quilts, including my first quilt, a quilt I made for my first daughter, quilts that I've made for close friends and family and quilts that I actually managed to keep for myself (a rarity). So, Emma's quilt is an important connection to all of these others. I like that!



The second quilt that I made was my first "made for sale" quilt. My sister was my first quilt customer. She asked me to make a quilt for a couple who is getting married, and the only guidelines that she gave me was, "keep it neutral." This quilt is what I came up with.



The other two quilts are tests of a pattern that I've created that I hope to get published in the next month and sell to quilt shops and make available on my etsy page. I hope you will check back for that. It is a fat-quarter friendly quilt pattern that is great for beginners and advanced quilts. I achieved two completely different looks with the same pattern and I'm really excited to see what other people come up with.

Hope you are making lots of "handmade items for everyday use."

Fabric Lines: Do you stay on the straight and narrow?

I've only been quilting for about five years, but in that five years I've seen the exponential growth of many popular designers. Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Anna Maria Horner, Valori Wells and Joel Dewberry are some of my favorite designers with unbelievable fabric lines. I've read a few articles here and there that hint at the notion that perhaps these fabric lines are causing us to lose some of the creative process with quilting because we might pick fabrics from all of the same line and create an albeit well-coordinated but "familiar" quilt -- something that looks similar to something someone else has already created. But, what I find to be true for myself is that these fabric lines are so creative and the colors are so carefully chosen that they inspire me to be more creative. In fact, I might buy several pieces of fabric from one designer's line but I like to spread that fabric out in several quilts. I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks, so please respond to my poll at the right.