Christmas Concerts and Christmas Trip

Here is our second grader at his Christmas Concert. He just lost his two front teeth, and his dress shoes!!


He is our ornery child so when I saw them pull out these sticks I was a bit worried.

Thankfully though he didn't start acting up until the sticks were put away:) No, this body movement is not part of the show, but hey at least the one in the red sweater isn't my kid!! LOL

Here is our third grader at her Christmas Concert. Unfortunately hers was not in the auditorium but in the gym and my camera doesn't like the gym. Most of her photos turned out blurry.

I wonder what she is thinking in this one!

My husband and I went out of town this weekend for his work Christmas Party. On the way we saw this herd of deer. I just had to pull over and snap some shots. Aren't they pretty!!! They all stopped and stared at us too!

Etsy, Some News and a Messenger Bag

Ok I've been off this blog for quite awhile. I have been held up by a few things: one I've been doing a ton of Etsy business (stitchingsymphony.etsy.com) which is quite time consuming, I've been preparing for holidays and holiday parties, I've been sewing a bit and probably most exciting and I guess you could say time consuming is I've been fighting morning sickness. Yep we're expecting!!! I know I know we must be crazy, but it's a good kind of crazy. However, my morning sickness seems to be more like morning, noon and night sickness and has had me laying in bed watching t.v. trying not to sick up!! That part is not exciting at all!!!

Anyway I wanted to tell you all about these great soaps.

I found these great glycerin soaps on Etsy and just had to have them. I bought them from a shop called "KelsiesMommy" and I love love love them!!! The multi-colored one is called 'relaxing blend', the other round one is 'wildberry swirl', the green one is 'green apple' and the the pretty clear blue one is 'fresh rain'. They all smell exactly like they sound and I highly recommend this shop!

I also made a messenger bag for my husbands' supervisors' daughter. It was very difficult to make as it was my first bag that I had to use separate pieces for the bottom and sides. I think it turned out fantastic though! I'm very proud of it--even if the colors are not my taste!

Whew!!!

Wow I've been so busy setting up my Etsy shop I haven't had time to blog or to sew!! Finally it's all set up with over 130 items listed so please go check it out at stitchingsymphony.etsy.com --lot's of stuff for everyone!!

I'm getting ready to start sewing again first thing tomorrow even though I still have more books to list on half.com. I'm having quilting withdrawals so it comes first. Maybe I'll add more books some time later this week:) maybe!!

Also my mom came over the other day and helped me decorate more on the house and guess what???-- we started painting the last wall to be painted in the living room!! woohoo!! And an even bigger woohoo!!!---my husband finished it!!!!!WOOHOO!!!!

Ok that's all for now--I'll get to sewing and posting some more this week.

Let me leave you on a funny note: My three youngest children and I were sitting at the dining table for lunch the other day. I was in a seat that I could see the living room sofa. I noticed while I was setting the table one of our cats sitting on the edge of the sofa. Then later during the meal I saw a different cat sitting there. Then towards the end of the meal I saw yet a different cat sitting there!! I say to the kids, "wow, every cat in this house likes that same exact spot on the sofa!" Then my nine year daughter says very casually, "Hmm, it must be a time share." LOL!!

Hair cut and Santas

My son decided the long curls were inhibiting his sports performance, sooo off with the locks!!

And here is a santa wall hanging I made for my aunt.

Kitchen Curtains

So I attempted to make some kitchen curtains. Now I've never had any sewing classes or done any type of sewing other than bags, pillows and quilts. So curtains were a bit scary. I studied the tutorial for three days until I finally decided to try it. I followed the tutorial to the best of my ability, but still had to have hubby help me with the measurements. We measured the actually window, even drew out the plans and studied what I thought to be every possible problem. That said you would think with all my preparations and even collaborating with my personal math wizard hubs, that my curtains would be near perfect right! Wrong!!

I wanted to make curtains that have a cascade on each side and valance type middle. This is the window before...

This is my big problem!! I made the two cascades and stupidly I let my math wizard talk me into his "space saver cutting" as well. And although something about it seemed wonky to me, it wasn't a strong enough feeling, and I went with hubby's cutting plan to save fabric. Well......although his plan absolutely did save fabric in the beginning, it has actually cost fabric in the end because both cascades are facing the same direction!!!

I decided to hang what I had so far until I can get to the fabric store and buy more grape vine fabric!! LOL Maybe the half curtain look will grow on me.... I doubt it. :)
On a happier note, here is the pencil bag I made for my daughter. She broke her pencil box at school and wanted to try a baggie instead. I even added handles this time!

"Love Me Tender" top finished

I finished the "Love Me Tender" top and I really love it. The colors aren't very good in this photo but it is mauve, green, cream and pale yellow. I'm planning to hang it in the living room when it is finished. Now off to work on a new tiny wall hanging.

Today is my birthday!!

It's been a very nice birthday! Here are my lovely flowers from my dad in the cutest kitty coffee mug! I collect cat figurines, pictures, stuffies, etc. and he has made it an annual tradition to give me something kitty every year!! Isn't he the best!

These are the beautiful iron baskets from my mom. Aren't they gorgeous!! I need hubby to attach two of them as flower boxes and then fill them all with pretties. I can't wait!!
These are the great fat quarters from my mother-in-law! I just love fat quarters!
And this is the beautiful window art from my friend Lois! It is going to look so great in my kitchen!
Thank you-Thank you-Thank you to everyone for my wonderful birthday gifts! You are all so wonderful to me!

Also this is the wall hanging I finished today from a book called "Seasons of the Heart" by Karla Eisenach. I added a border though as it was too small in my opinion.

Thanks for stopping by and you can email me at stitchingsymphony@gmail.com anytime!!

Where's Waldo, I mean, kitty?