Little Fingers

I haven't had a chance to be too creative lately..

So.....I came upstairs today in hopes that

something fabulous would come into my head.

I sat looking at my fabric wall

but NEVER had that burst of fabulous.

space

As I sat there waiting for my creative burst

I saw this old piece of pillow

that I had destuffed to use for a new pillow I'd made

and wondered hum........how would the fabric

on the back of that ole' pillow look as a FLOWER?
space

So... I started cutting circles in varying sizes.
Then I found a red bead that I thought might look
kinda cute.... so I sewed it in first.
space
Then I made really big stitches from
the bottom layer up through different layers
(I skipped around with the layers
so that it wouldn't look too exact)
I used red thread so you wouldn't see it,
and pulled tightly as I made each stitch
to make the FLOWER gather.
space

Here is my finished FLOWER...
now all I've got to do is get it attached
to a headband for Brook..
She decided that she needed it more than I did.
space
This is one of the areas dedicated to Brady
in my STUDIO upstairs .
Normally it keeps him busy for at least 30 minutes.....
BUT... NOT TODAY!!!
space

So... I scratched the whole
BEING Creative mode..
and we decided to do a little
FINGER Painting !!!
space
As Brady stuck his little fingers in the paint
he kept LOOKING at me
wondering if I was really going to let him do this...
space
He even told on his self saying
"MOM I gettin' messes"...
I had to laugh as I thought....
some of my best creations were
smack in the middle of
A BIG MESS !!!
space

Here is our new piece of ART...

We painted it on Canvas...

SO... I'm pretty sure it will be hanging somewhere SOON !
space

May we never get too busy in our daily plans

TO SEIZE the moments when they are given.

You might even be surprised that your NEW plan

turned out so much BETTER than the one you started out with.

Creative Cropping

We had a beautiful but busy Spring Break for the MOST part.

Each time Brady saw the sun shining outside

he would ask to go play, or take him to the PARK...

Here are a couple of the pictures I snapped of him playing.

space

I'm not sure how many of you have Photoshop CS3,

but really any editing program

can do basically the same type of thing.

THERE is NOTHING in the world that can

change a picture more than CROPPING.

Of all the tips I can give a mom, or anyone else

who is wanting to have better looking images...

CROPPING is by far and away

the thing that will make the biggest

difference in the WOW factor of your photos.

space

Here are a few samples of the same image and what cropping can do.

space

This is the original shot I took.

space
Here it is cropped once.
The extra width gives the illusion
of the movement of the slide,
but it is a much tighter shot,
and you can see the expression on Brady's face.
space
The final crop is just a focus of Brady's face.
Anytime you want to focus solely on a face or an expression
I recommend Black and White.
It removes all the places your eyes would naturally focus
and moves it to faces and expressions.
I also cropped this one even tighter than the first
and used a slight tilt to still create the movement to the slide.
space
Here is another sample.
This is the original shot taken.
space
This is the same picture cropped and tilted.
You should always use a slight tilt when
there is movement in a picture.
Like running, cars, or SLIDES.
It just seems to gives life to the pictures original intent.
space
This is the final crop.
I again did it much tighter because I wanted
the focus to be on Brady and his face.
I also flipped it to BLACK and WHITE
to remove any distractions the eye might go to
other than his little face.
space
May we all realize that behind a regular ole' shot
there is a WOW picture
underneath most every one we take.
It just needs a little cropping.

MY Project Runway

I finally got dressed today because I had a

PHOTO SHOOT with a fabulous bride...

SO.. I thought I'd take a few pictures of myself

in the shirts I've been making this past week.

I wore this one today... I think it is my FAVORITE so far.

space

I've gotta say.... it was completely FUN to wear

something today that I actually made MYSELF.

and what makes it better is it was FREE stuff

that I was going to give to Goodwill...

This one was half of a cheap tank top (bottom)

and a plain ole' white man's undershirt t-shirt top.

I used the bottom of the undershirt to make the

ruffles on the sleeves. It was the easiest one to make.

space

This one started out to be one of my very favorite sweaters

but .... I didn't read the label and it wasn't supposed to go

into the dryer... SO I messed it up.

The length might have fit BRADY.

spaceI sewed some of the remaining undershirt to the bottom of it
and used more of it to make the side ruffle.
space

This was another plain ole brown tank top

that again was way too short...

I'm not sure how that happens.. haha

space

The blue part was a shirt I bought years ago

at Banana Republic.

After having Brady... I just don't

do TIGHT around the belly anymore..

The MUFFIN top is not attractive.

So I used the bottom of it to attach to the tank,

and the sleeves to make the ruffle and the tie.
space

This is the brown sweater that I

made last week. Just thought I'd throw it in

for my "THINGS I MADE" day.
space

I wore this one over the weekend,

and it fits so much better now that

I don't have to constantly pull my sweater down

to cover my crack showing..

43 year old cracks are NOT PRETTY!!!

space

Here is the other one that I showed you earlier this week.

It is one of my other favorites..

I wear tons of black so it will give me lots of new options.

space

space

I am so excited to be able to make stuff out of

my old YUCK stuff...

I figured even if I only wear it a few times,

or make a total mess of something I'm trying to create....

THEN nothing lost since it was all headed out anyway.
space

And the bonus is....

I now have some NEW clothes without spending a penny....

AND they all cover my CRACK.. haha

space

May we all take a few minutes to go

GOODWILL shopping in our OWN CLOSET.

Even if you don't like what you make...

then you weren't wearing it anyway...

The Greatest Grandi

Sunday afternoon my SWEET MOTHER came over for her

64th Birthday Party !!

(she might not want me to say that)

space

It is so fun for me to get to have

a PARTY for my mother.
My birthday is on January 1st and

I have always NOT SO MUCH enjoyed that date.

When I was young everyone was out of town

on my birthday, or their parents were hung over

from the night before, or they were just plain broke from Christmas.
space

BUT.... my mom always made sure I felt special on my birthday.
In fact... when I was a really little girl I used to think they
had a tv parade for me since I didn't get to have a party.
(I'm not sure if my mother planted that idea in my head
that the NEW Year's Parade was for me....
or if I just came up with that on my own. )
But... I thought that for years and years.. haha

space
So... for me to get to give a tiny bit of JOY
back to my mom ON HER BIRTHDAY...
was the best part of my DAY.
Of all the people in the world who have come and gone
throughout my life..... ONE PERSON has always been there
to support me, to hold my hand, to love my children,
to dry my tears, give me advice, to call me EVERYDAY,
to show anyone who would look... a wallet full of pictures,
to hold my hair out of my face when I was sick,
to cheer for me no matter what I was doing,
to feed me countless FAVORITE meals,
and most of all to make me feel that I was the
absolute GREATEST kid in this entire WORLD.
That person is MY MOMMA..
space
This whole family is better just for having known her.
AND forever blessed because she has chosen us to LOVE.
space
SO..... to the ONE and ONLY 64 year old woman
who does not have a SINGLE wrinkle
because she never goes out in the sun
(and never had an ounce of plastic surgery)
I want you to know how very much you are LOVED..
NO one in this family would be where they are
without YOU !!!!
space
I only wish for my children that I can
MATTER to them as much as
my MOMMA Matters to me.
To truly LOVE is the only gift
I can think of... that you GIVE....
and by giving it, you get back more than you've been given.
space
"The moment a child is born,
The mother is also born.
She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the MOTHER never.
And from that moment on
NEITHER of them will ever be the same."
author unknown
space
May we never forget the unbelievable power
that one woman can have in our lives...
Make sure to make it worth remembering!!

Ruffle Ridiculous

Everywhere I turn lately....

I'm seeing RUFFLES..

They are in magazines, in store windows,

on my favorite website http://www.anthropolgie.com/ ,

and ALL over my favorite show PROJECT RUNWAY..

space

Since I have ZERO extra money to go shopping with

I thought..... HEY why not go through some of that ugly CRAP

I cleaned out of my closet (I'm still not finished with by the way)

and see if I can make something RUFFLED out of it.

THIS is WHAT I MADE today...

I gotta say it was the best FREE fun I've had in a while.
space

I used this shirt... which must have been from the

"I don't care if my stomach shows days"

BECAUSE ... let me tell you those days have GONE BY..

and it is WAY too short.
space

and I used this shirt...

ALSO WAY TOO SHORT
to put together to make a little piece of my own

RUFFLED RAGS...
space

It was the easiest thing I've done in many months..

Here are a few simple directions

if any of you guys want a FREE Ruffle shirt from

your Closet Crap.. haha
Start off with a shirt or sweater of any kind.

haha.... after the green pea BOOB ordeal (a few weeks back)

you might want to make sure it still fits.

space

Then you can take another shirt (like the first one),

or any piece of old clothing...

LIKE THESE GOOFY GAUCHO PANTS

I had left over from some era of my past....

( I'm sure at one point they must have been slimming) haha
space

After I got the two separate pieces cut apart,

I sewed them together to make my shirt

LONG ENOUGH to cover any sign of stomach.

spacesIt looks like a dress but that GAUCHO fabric fits stung.
space

Then I used some more of the GAUCHO fabric to cut strips.
These are what you need to make the RUFFLES.
This t-shirt fabric is really the easiest to use.

You truly can not mess this up.

I didn't measure a single thing and it worked fine.

Sew a long, wide seam right down the middle of the strips.

Then gently pull ONE of the threads to start your gathers.

You can get them as loose or tight as you like.
Then lay them on your shirt and start sewing

right down the middle of the gather

in whatever type of pattern you want.
I did the first one around the collar

and this one just random down the side.

pace

Here is my finished

Sweater RUFFLE Shirt.
I will try this weekend to (GET DRESSED)
so I can take a picture of them ON..
I really did check first .... and this time they fit...
NO GIANT GREEN PEAS to take apart. haha
space
Brady watched me sew all day...
and could not at all understand
why I was taking pictures of my sewing machine table.
HOWEVER... after a few hours
he decided it must be some kind of fun
and joined in with his camera too.
space
May we always remember....
Sometimes being broke leads to being your most creative.
space
If you have some time this weekend
dig through your CLOSET CRAP and
see what you can make.
I'd LOVE to see your creations.

Day at the ZOO

Yesterday was the most BEAUTIFUL day

here in Fort Worth that we've had in a LONG time.

SO... instead of doing the ZILLION THINGS I needed to be doing

My Daddy and I (seized the moment) and

took Baby Dot to the ZOO..

I'm not sure who had more fun !!!

space

It was the most perfect day for the ZOO.

NOT one bit cold, NOT one bit hot...

The animals were all out and happy to be on show for us.
Brady is just obsessed with animals of most any kind

and was old enough to REALLY enjoy them all.

WE had nothing more important to do than spend

a day with a little fellow who was

totally engulfed in JOY...

SO... we stayed and looked at each animal

as LOOOOOOOOOONG as he wanted. haha

space

Here is a small sample of our incredible day.

space

I must say... this man who Brady calls PAPPA DOOTS

is NOT the same man who raised me..

What an incredible change one man has done in his LIFE,

and in HUGE part because of BRADY...

space

That little boy....

space

is the glue that makes us all FAMILY,

and the JOY that makes us all BETTER PEOPLE !!

space

Each day I see his face I am reminded that

WE are NEVER too old to start over,

and it's NEVER too late for each day to be

THE BEST ONE OF YOUR LIFE !!!

spacespace

May we always remember that

TODAY is all we've got...

Make it ONE to REMEMBER !

Proud of ME

All I can say is YIPPY....I'm PROUD of ME !!!!
Tonight at class I finished my 4th major project..

My ottoman started off 2 weeks ago as a mere sheet of plywood

and tonight it turned into THIS !!!!!

space

WOW what an adventure this was....
The plywood was cut and formed into a box with a lid.

Then we added our foam core for the lid & covered it with batting.

Next we made our lid cover & stitched the seams to make edges.

Our ottoman opens to use as storage so we even covered the inside of the lid.

Next we folded our seams over and stapled them so that all our lines are clean.

The box frame was also covered with batting.

Then we learned to sew the fabric to form the box frame and its insides.

The pieces had to match up perfectly so they would fold over the inside.

That fabric was fitted, creased into lines, & stapled along the inside of the box.

Then we even covered cardboard with fabric

so that the bottom would be totally finished out.

space

Here it was after the end of class last week.
space

Then Tonight came the WELTING which I have learned

MUST be cut on the diagonal in order for it to move around corners.

Here is my finished product with the welting (or trim) added

and my TOP button.
I also added legs (they are in the first photo) and my ottoman is DONE.
I've got to say....

I am pretty proud of my WORK..

I looked at it again when I got home & couldn't believe I did that.

May we take the time to do something we've always wanted to try.

You NEVER know what you might turn out!