Sew Blessed

Jump Over to New Blog

2011-03-22T22:07:00.001-04:00

If you are still following me here, please consider joining me over at my new blog! I have imported everything to my new one! Here is the link:

http://www.sodderbug.com/blog/

Craft Club- NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!!! .

2011-02-27T22:51:00.002-05:00

February’s Craft Club was a HUGE success!! Everyone was surprised to learn how easy it is to etch on glass!

March’s Craft Club will feature POWER TOOLS!! Saws, sanders, and drills! And of course your own pair of girlified safety glasses! Here is what we will be making:

Don’t come in dress clothes! You WILL be covered in saw dust! Jeans are encouraged! The cost for this project will be $15. If you would like to pay now you can do so by clicking on this “Buy Now” button.

So simply pick a date, invite your friends and I do the rest.
BEST part of all, if you have 5 people attend, yours is FREE!!!
For more details, contact me at

janelle at sodderbug dot com

Old Electrical Insulator Sconce

2011-02-07T23:04:00.001-05:00

And many more insulator projects to come!!!

New Old Barn Wood Sign

2011-02-06T23:17:00.001-05:00

I made this for a friend’s birthday present!!

Finally, I am starting a craft club!

2011-02-06T17:43:00.001-05:00

After many requests, I am going to start a craft club! Each month I will teach a new crafting technique. The prices will vary, usually $10-$20. The cost will cover all your supplies to make the project. The first class will be teaching how to etch on glass. For $10 you will get to make one of these candle holders!

The cost for this project will only be $10! I will have sand and a candle to put in them. This first one will be at Trish Naylor’s house on Sunday, February 27^th, from 4-5pm. Her address is 6319-B Highway 158 Summerfield, NC 27358. If you cannot make this event, you are welcome to host your own. Just pick a date and time and invite some friends over to your house. I will come to you with all the supplies and teach it in your house. If you have at least 5 friends then you get to make her project for free! Each month I will have a new project, teaching a new technique. At the February class I will bring the March project with me so you can see a sample. Let me know if you are going to attend the party on the 27^th or if you want to host your own party!

janelle@sodderbug.com

336-312-5170

A great gift for the man in your life!!

2011-02-01T22:35:00.003-05:00

Or it can be for your wife, if there are any men reading this! There are four glasses in the set and are $20! I can also make custom pint glasses. Custom glasses are $30 per set of 4. Just email me the words, logo, or team you want on them! You can purchase them on my Betsy page.

Burlap Wreath

2011-02-01T22:13:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day today’s project is a super cheap, fast, simple, and cute wreath!

1. I bought burlap at Hobby Lobby. One yard is plenty and it is $2.99/yard. Use the 40% coupon from Sunday’s paper or print it off online and you have your burlap for $1.79!! Originally I cut it into 4 inch strips. I ended up cutting those in half. So go with 2 inch wide strips.

2. Unravel a little of each side of the strips.

3. Shape your coat hanger into a heart.

4. Put the burlap strips on the wire, accordion style. The coat hanger pokes right through it!

5. Keep putting on strips until it is thick enough that the coat hanger doesn’t show through.

6. Then fold over the pieces of hanger at the top so they are hooked together.

You are done! That easy! Total project cost, $1.79! Can’t beat that! It took me about 30 minutes, most of which was cutting out the strips. The hardest part is figuring out where you want to put this beautiful wreath!!

New Store is open!!!

2011-02-01T21:25:00.001-05:00

I have been making a lot of projects with old barn wood lately! I have received lots of great feedback so I have decided to open a store on my Facebook page! You can find it here! I will add new products everyday! I am also adding them to my Etsy page.

Valentine’s Day Charms!!!

2011-02-01T20:56:00.001-05:00

I have made several Valentine’s Day charms that I want to share with you!!! I also made graphics that you can save and email to your husband if you want a custom photo charm for Valentine’s Day!! Check them out! If you place an order for a custom photo charm in the next day or 2 then you can have it by the 14th!

You can now purchase my charms on my Facebook page too! Oh, and “like” it if you don’t already!!

Valentine’s Day Subway Art

2011-01-31T22:02:00.001-05:00

A photo tutorial!!

Little Old Door

2011-01-24T10:28:00.001-05:00

Check out this amazing little old door! I got it from my secret source who takes down old barns!! He is my jackpot!!! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this when I found it!

Using my Silhouette, I made this stencil:

Next I laid out the stencil where I wanted it. I put tape on the rest of the wood so when I spray painted it the rest of the wood was covered.

Then I spray painted! Sorry for the terrible pictures! My Nikon was in the shop so I had to use my phone camera!

Remove the stencil and here you go!

I love it! I have 3 extra doors so if you are interested in getting one, email me your established year! I am selling them for $30! janelle@sodderbug.com

Copying Restoration Hardware!

2011-01-09T23:29:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of what I have been working on!

Bartering for Christmas

2011-01-01T22:26:00.001-05:00

I am going to attempt to log all my Christmas bartering! I think I will be impressed when I finish this post at how much $$$ I saved us this Christmas! I will definitely email my husband a copy of this post so he sees how much I saved us as well! A custom Sodderbug charm sells for $30 so keep that in mind. Here is a sample of what Sodderbug is all about. I make these custom photo charms.

2 Charms for 1 Nintendo DS and one Nintendo Gameboy $110

2 Charms for photographer, Wendy Riley, $$ saving up for s sitting fee towards new family pictures… priceless

3 Charms in exchange for an amazing birthday cake made by Kool Cakes for my daughter (whose birthday is in Dec) $90

Christmas charms for Total Bliss, an incredible local store. I used my store credit to buy Christmas decorations. $110 (my guess, not finalized)

1 Charm for a batch of the One Nutty Girl’s cookie dough, mmm. That was just a straight up splurge! $30

2 Charms for 2 gift certificates to Shane's Sporting Clays for my Dad’s gift. $60

8 Charms for Slimdgm, I just call her Slim! She made me a bunch of these! I gave them to my mom, sister, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law! Each clip board was custom made for their personality and with their names on them. Oh, and she made me one with my Sodderbug logo on it! $240

Running ornaments for Off'n Running, our local running store. When it comes times for a new pair of running shoes they will be free!! $130

4 Charms for Stephanie over at Fontastic Expressions. She is going to make me $120 worth of vinyl cutouts! She makes so many amazing things that I have not made my mind up yet! I think I am going to get bible verses to put up all over my house!

I am sure there is more that I am forgetting about. So far the total I can remember is… $890! WOW!

Old Barn Door

2010-12-01T21:37:00.001-05:00

This barn door is going to be the top of my new kitchen table! I will let you know how it turns out!

Copy Cat

2010-12-01T01:11:00.001-05:00

I totally admit it! I am a HUGE copy cat! Here are a few of “theirs and mine” pics! I am terrible about giving credit to the “theirs” pics. I never can remember where I got them from! I promise to do better at that!

theirs

mine

theirs

mine, I need to learn how to do that dark staining around the edges!

Christmas Decorating for almost FREE!

2010-11-30T22:30:00.001-05:00

Old Barn Wood

2010-11-30T22:14:00.001-05:00

No time to write now but wanted to get the picture up!!

Some of my Halloween Embroidery Files

2010-09-24T22:37:00.001-04:00

Here are a few of my Halloween embroidery files. All of them except the skeleton are appliqués. That means that where you see the background there would be fabric. You can choose the thread colors! Appliqués with a name or word or two are $8.

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-08-26T23:29:00.000-04:00

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

From Pallet to Bed!!

2010-07-17T23:31:00.001-04:00

We are in the process of turning my 2 year old son’s room into a big boy room. I started with the canvas on the back of vinyl flooring. Notice in the final picture how much of Bessie, the cow, I lost due to my terrible measuring!

I had found this picture of a bed and wanted to copy it! I can’t remember which blog I got this picture from!

One day last month I went to my husband’s work to have lunch with him. As I was walking to my car I noticed their LARGE trash pile. It was calling my name!! My poor husband! I may not be invited to lunch again! I found this large pallet and asked him to bring it home. To my surprise he did!

First Scott (and Nicholas) reinforced each board with a screw.

I found these 4 inch casters at Harbor Freight for $3.99 each. I needed 6. I was able to use Sodderbug $$$ to purchase them so that makes me happy that it didn’t come out of our household budget!

Nicholas handed me the screws and I screwed them on!

We carried it into Nicholas’s room and this is what we had.

I had not measured it and thought I would not mind if it was a little larger than the mattress but it took up way too much space in him room. So… we took it back out to the garage and completely undid everything we had just done. We cut 10 inches off the width and the last 3 slats. Then put it all back together. I think it was totally worth it! Nicholas is sound asleep in his new bed!

He loves that Bessie is right next to his head!

I might turn the bed tomorrow so that it is on the right wall and not covering up so much of the canvas. A funny note about the comforter… it is from my college days! Inside of the comforter is my older comforter from middle school age. My mom had taken two sheets and sewed them together and put my old comforter inside. So it is 21 years old!

Just a reminder, my blog has a new place but I am double posting until I get you all over there! Here is the new location: http://www.sodderbug.com/blog/

More Wooden Blocks!

2010-07-10T17:43:00.001-04:00

So I have gone a little wooden block crazy lately. I do most of my photo editing for these on picnik. i just print them out and mod podge them on!

I have a new blog now! I am double posting until I get you all over there! Here is the link to the new one: Sodderbug

My Boy and his Patch!

2010-07-10T17:21:00.000-04:00

Scott draws tractors on Nicholas’s patches to get him to wear them with!

Here is a pic from Mother’s Day!

Sweet Treat Ceramics

2010-07-09T08:41:00.002-04:00

Check out this super cute plate I had made for my in-laws! My friend, Anja, made it! To get one check out her website!! http://sweettreatceramics.com/

She turned this:

Into this:

Isn’t it just the perfect gift!!??

Don't forget that I have moved my blog to a new location but am double posting until I get you all over there! The new location is http://www.sodderbug.com/blog/

Wall Mural on Sheet Vinyl

2010-07-09T08:32:00.000-04:00

My son is almost 3 and we are starting the change his room from a nursery to a big boy room. The theme will be farms and I wanted to start with a wall mural. We are renting our home so I wanted to paint it on something that will come with us when we build our home. My friend, Anja, who is an amazing artist, recommended I paint it on the back of sheet vinyl, or aka linoleum flooring. The back of it is paper so it is actually white easy top paint on. I just used my acrylic paint and had at it! Well, to tell the truth, Anja drew it. Then I just painted within the lines. She really made it beautiful when she went back and added highlights and lowlights. To hang it my husband used drywall screws and large washers along the top. Shhhh, don’t tell our landlord, we promise to fill in the holes before we move out. You have to make sure the screws are going into studs because the mural is quite heavy! Last, we (my husband) put trim molding around the edge to make it look framed! Check it out!! I LOVE IT and so does Nicholas!

Isn’t it just incredible?!?!?!?

Don't forget that I have my blog in a new place! I am double posting for a little while!
Here is the new place: /http://www.sodderbug.com/blog/

Shout out to my “followers”

2010-04-07T00:44:00.001-04:00

PLEASE come to my new blog site and become a “follower” there! You can still be a follower through Google Friend Connect or you can sign up to get email updates! If you love my new site as much as I do, you can find my designer, Melody, here!

Here is a pic of what you will see:

See, still Sew Blessed!!!

My New Site!!

2010-04-02T10:41:00.001-04:00

Click here to go to my new blog location!

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to the amazing, wonderful, makes me smile during a tough week, can't say enough about, Melody Watson, I am sooo excited to tell you that I have a new blog site! I have changed domains and now my business, Sodderbug, and my blog are in one place together! I just launched it today so there may a few things that need to be tweaked but hopefully it will go smoothly! Please follow me there!! Check it out!!!

Just in case the link does not work the web address is:

www.sodderbug.com/blog

test 2

2010-03-28T00:23:00.002-04:00

signature working?

test page

2010-03-28T00:19:00.001-04:00

signature working?

Shutters and Block Letters

2010-03-22T20:47:00.001-04:00

Burlap Egg??

2010-03-22T20:07:00.001-04:00

Ya, this one did not turn out quite as planned. It looked pretty cool in my mind when I pictured it. It is kind of ugly and large and I don’t think it will be on display in my house!

Recycling A Canvas

2010-03-15T22:18:00.001-04:00

So I had this old canvas and some extra burlap… wala!

Burlap Curtains

2010-03-08T22:22:00.001-05:00

We are in a rental house right now so I soooo don’t want to spend much money on window treatments! The burlap is $2.99 at Hobby Lobby and I used my 40% off coupon so it was $1.80 per yard. I splurged and bought 12 yards! I made curtains for my living room and craft room and still have a lot left over to do more with!!! I used this tutorial to make them and it really was super easy! Life to the "T" tutorial

I forgot to take a before pic so I am posting a few random pics!

My son, Nicholas.

My daughter, Reese and my son, Nicholas.

Don’t know who this is behind the mustache! Pics next week of this project!

Clip Board Fun

2010-03-01T21:00:00.001-05:00

I need to add more ribbon to the top but I am liking it so far! The clip board was $1.99 at Michael’s.

Wooden Blocks

2010-03-01T20:56:00.001-05:00

I saw these somewhere in blogland but can’t remember where! If it was you… I am so sorry for forgetting! Let me know and I will give you credit!

I HAD to copy them! Here is my first attempt at it. I got a little mouse (the name of my little sander) happy! Next time I won’t sand so much and I will sand BEFORE I layer on the Mod Podge!

And (a very blurry) Me!

Picnik Fun

2010-03-01T20:48:00.001-05:00

If you don’t use Picnik you are soooo missing out! Check out these cool pics! If you need a tutorial let me know! I am going to Mod Podge them to wooden blocks. The first two are of my son. The third pic is of my daughter.

Finished Firehouse Pics

2010-03-01T20:42:00.001-05:00

Check this out!!! I am so proud of it! I photographed the whole alphabet at a local fire station! Before I was a stay*at*home mom I taught 8th grade Social Studies. One of my former students is now a firefighter! That makes me feel old! His last name is Bull and this will be a gift for him!

Growth Chart

2010-02-22T22:11:00.001-05:00

I have been holding on to this piece of scrap wood knowing I would find a use for it eventually! My son tore our paper growth chart so I made this one! It hangs in my daughter’s room.

Peg Board in Craft Room

2010-02-22T22:06:00.001-05:00

I gave the peg board form of organization a shot this week and LOVE it! A 4 ft by 8 ft piece is $16 at Home Depot and I had them cut it into thirds for me (free). I think it was a pretty good deal considering I will get to make 3 of these. My daughter wants a pink one for her room. I think I will use the other one in my 2 year old sons room for him to hang up his tools. Maybe then I won’t step on them all over the house (not likely!)! So here is what I was attempting to copy. It was on Just a Girl.

The board comes already white.

I found some things around the house to put on it and then spray painted it!

I am still trying to figure out the best way to hang everything but I am VERY happy with it so far!! :)

Tassel Branding

2010-02-14T23:37:00.001-05:00

Tassels – After rereading the Nester's book, The Ultimate Tassel Guide, for the 100th time, I remembered that she talks about branding them or doing something to them that sets yours apart as yours. I came up with a clip on the bottom to hang accents on.

Craft Night with my mom and sister!!

2010-02-14T23:33:00.001-05:00

Last night my sister was in town so we had a craft night! I brought stuff over to teach them how to make a couple of things! Here is one:

My sister’s (who has 2 boys) family rules

My family rules… take note of the last one!! I had to put it on there even if it is only just a dream!!!! Keep in mind I have a 2 year old and 5 year old!

heehee! :)

My Valentine

2010-02-14T22:45:00.001-05:00

My husband hit it out of the park today! I got a card and a gift certificate and it totally made my day! My husband is NOT a romantic guy so this was HUGE and I soooo appreciated it! Here is a picture of the french toast I made for breakfast!!

And I got these flowers from my Dad!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-02-14T22:38:00.001-05:00

Button Crazy, GIVEAWAY and tutorial (short version)!!!

2010-02-14T00:24:00.001-05:00

So I am a little obsessed with making buttons! I love them even though I have no idea what I will ever do with them! Oh wait! I will put them in Sodderbug charms!!

GIVEAWAY!!! Have a fav? Don’t care for one? Let me know! Leave a comment! I will giveaway 1 charm to someone who leaves a comment Thursday! Make sure you leave your email address so I can contact the winner!

Want to know how I made these? Short version:

I went to Blackberry Paper online. Found a paper I liked, right clicked on it and saved it to my desktop. I went to Picnik, uploaded the picture, added text, a border, resized to 125 X 125 and saved it. If you need more details leave a comment and I will add a full tutorial.

A few charms from my giveaway and for myself!

2010-02-11T23:43:00.001-05:00

Top row, first pic, my charm! It says “I Love Scott”!

Check out top row, number 3! Ultrasound pic!! LOVE IT! My friend, Mary, has the 3 boys in the next pic and is pregnant with a girl! This is her Valentine’s Day present from her husband!

Third row, second pic, his Nana made this hat for him and this charm is for her!

Bottom row, first pic, a super special freebie! Her husband is currently deployed so I made this for her. I told her it will be her Valentine’s Day since her husband is away serving his country!!

Nester Knock-Off

2010-02-08T22:04:00.001-05:00

I know this is not nearly even kind of as good as the Nester’s but I had fun making it!!! I love how it turned out! I bought her book (only $10), The Ultimate Tassel Guide, on how to make the tassels and it was totally worth it! The topper is a Christmas ornament.

Here is another one I did. I used scrap fabric and tore it into strips. The topper is a finial off an extra set of curtain rods.

The tractor was a Christmas ornament and it hangs in my 2 year old son’s room!

This ornament was gold and I spray painted it black!

This one was brown and I painted it black too.

Giveaway!!!

2010-01-30T22:25:00.001-05:00

You may have noticed that I am giving away 20!!!! free charms through my Sodderbug business! All you have to do is put my “Sew Blessed” button on your blog and I will make you a charms with your button on it!

Here are 3 of the ones I have made already!

One Nutty Girl

Life to the "T"

Marbles from Heaven

I threw in a Saints charm since she is from LA!!

Here is my running list so you know when I get to 20!

Thank you all for participating! Whew! That really was a lot of work! What was I thinking when I came up with a 20 charm giveaway?!?!

Recipe for Rachel Ray

2010-01-27T23:22:00.001-05:00

Totally winging it Tuesday morning, I made a super yummy breakfast casserole for MOPS! Here is a rough recipe for it:

Spray a 9X11 baking dish with PAM. Put a layer of crescent rolls rolled out flat on the bottom of the pan. In a blender mix 10 eggs, a package of precooked and then microwaved bacon, 3 cut up greens onions, 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and then the SECRET ingredient, a tub of chive and onion cream cheese. Poor in pan and then top with another package of crescent rolls out flat. Bake for 30 minutes 350!

Technorati Tags: recipes

ENJOY!!

Blessed Pancakes

2010-01-27T23:14:00.001-05:00

Oh my! I (we) made the best pancakes for dinner tonight. I added peanut butter to the batter! It was soo good! I also added chocolate chips to some of them to make Reese’s (my daughter’s name) peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes! Good thing I did an hour of cardio this morning!

Valentine’s Day Heart with Leftovers

2010-01-27T22:23:00.001-05:00

Theirs

Mine

I used old wood from a friend’s burn pile and had my Dad make into a rectangle. Then He stapled rat wire on the back. I used a coat hanger and shaped it into a heart. Then I tore strips of scrap fabric in to pieces and tied them around the heart. Next time I would make my strips of fabric shorter because I think it is hard to tell it is a heart! Cost… zero!

Can You Read This??

2010-01-27T22:18:00.001-05:00

I went to a couple of fire stations around and took pictures of things that looked like letters. I also did the same thing on a farm. Here is my first attempt at framing some of the letters, well matting them. I still need to buy the frame. The matte came as a double white set. I really wanted black so I spray painted the top one black with my chalk board paint. I might write out the rest of the verse along the bottom with white chalk.

LUV GOD

Deuteronomy 6:5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

In-Progress Projects

2010-01-27T00:25:00.001-05:00

Here are a few projects I am working on. We’ll see how they turn out!!

A chandelier for Reese’s room. $10 from Goodwill!

Not liking this one so far. A couple of my friends bought metal letters to decorate with. Theirs turned out great! I tried cutting my own letter out of a sheet of metal (will NEVER do that again) and am going to paint it… I think I am going to need help on this one!

My inspiration for this one (Theirs)

Life to the "T"

One Nutty Girl

Shaping things with barbed wire…

I LOVE YOU MOM!

2010-01-26T22:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday MOM! I love you sooo much! XOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Ultimate Compliment

2010-01-26T22:48:00.001-05:00

I admit it. I LOVE to copy people! Lately I have seen pictures of peoples’ shoes… yes, peoples’ shoes! I think the pictures are showing their favorite shoes. So here is my copy!

Hers (Life to the "T")

Mine

Junk Store Find

2010-01-23T07:01:00.001-05:00

When I was up in NY for Christmas I went to a store called Toby’s. It is not really an antique store, just a junk store with stuff EVERYWHERE and roof that is falling down and leaking all over! I found a bundle of silverware wrapped in duct tape for $5. Three of the spoons had an N on them so I made this for my friend, Trish Naylor.

I LOVE this window!!!

2010-01-22T22:41:00.001-05:00

I am so excited about how this window came out!!! I painted it this week!! The verse on it is Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God”. It is one of my favorite verses. I plan to hang this in my living room maybe by a wide ribbon?

A couple other projects to share!

2010-01-22T22:33:00.001-05:00

Hand-me-down sweater, embroidered the N on it, came out pretty cute for a freebie!

This shirt got more comments than anything I have ever made!

I made this little coat for Nicholas completely out of scraps…

Scott had the dress shirt in the donate pile because he said the sleeves were too short.

I LOVED this set that I made for my niece, Dani!

Surely you have seen these glass blocks around. I repaint it for each holiday!

One more copied project!

Thiers…

Mine… I made it for my mom for her birthday.

You like??

I can make that!

2010-01-22T22:18:00.001-05:00

Are you ever out shopping and see something you love and think, “I could soo make that!” Usually at that point I take out my cell phone and take a picture of it or if I am on my computer I right click and save to my “Projects to Copy” folder. I thought I would show you a couple of projects that came about like that!

Thiers

Mine… my daughter hated it and never wore it!

Thiers

Mine

Thiers

Mine

Thiers

Mine

I don’t always like mine better but it is fun to try to make it instead of buying it! This is the next thing I want to copy… a super girly chandelier for Reese! I have been looking on craigslist for a cheap one to redo.

Embarrassing Moment!

2010-01-19T00:42:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe I am sharing this but a friend (or maybe she is not really my friend and that is why she told me to post this… heehee) said I should.

So I am at the YMCA, just finished a hard workout and am in the shower. You know how sometimes a really good butt scratching feels so good in the shower? Come on admit it, no one can ear your thoughts! Yes, well, I gave my butt a really good scratching. Then I realize that I am about to walk naked through the locker room to my locker with huge red lines all up and down my butt and everyone will know exactly what I just did. (They only provide hand sized towels and I usually use it to partially cover my front goods.) Can you picture me kind of walking funny, making sure my butt is always facing a wall while I walk.

NOTE TO SELF: NEVER GIVE YOUR BUTT A GOOD SCRATCHING IN A PUBLIC SHOWER! or bring a full sized towel…

Sorry no picture to go along with this one. LOL!!

How could I have forgotten?!

2010-01-13T23:51:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite memories in 2009 was our trip to FL! My cousin got married so Reese, Nicholas, Mom, and I drove down together. You could not pay Scott enough to go to FL in the summer. While we were there Mom watched Nicholas one of the days and Reese and I got to go to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom! We opened the park and closed it as well! The big picture in the hat makes me laugh because she looks like a little version of me!

Top 10 of 2009

2010-01-11T18:56:00.001-05:00

In 2010 I am going to try to do a little better with my blogging. To start off the year I have made a list of my favorite 10 projects from 2009. Here we go!

This is a shot at making my own stationary for birthday gifts. I had Reese draw a big birthday cake and scanned it. Printed it on cardstock and wala… I will not buy birthday cards anymore! Not that I ever did!

The land lords in the house we are renting replaced the windows this year so I asked to have the old ones.

A couple of cute canvases!

And of course I started soldering!!!!!!!!!!! This was a custom order for someone who wanted a picture of a tree in it. I thought it came out pretty cool! www.sodderbug.com

I started painting glass this fall!

I made the whole alphabet and plan on doing one out of pictures taken on a farm! My plan is to have a book printed for Nicholas to practice his letters and just for a keepsake! I might also print out the letters of his name and have them framed to hang on his bedroom wall!

My new embroidery font that I LOVE!!

I made baby slings!

This is a tassel that I made out of a finial that I took off the curtain rod in my living room. I tore strips of scrap fabric that I already had. It cost me nothing to make! I made several of these and sold them at a craft show for $20. They all sold fast!!!

Here is a collage of sewing projects. Going around clockwise starting in the top left corner…

I bag I made for my mom, a couple of Johnny’s I made for Nicholas, a dress for Reese. She picked out the pattern and the fabric! Next one, I took a pair of too short jeans, cut them off and added a ruffle and ribbon belt. I also painted the tractor on the shirt. A to-shirt that I (or maybe it was Anja?!) painted a dancer on and added fabric to the bottom to make it a dress. Added a ruffle and appliqué heart to the overalls. A couple pairs of pants that were too short for Reese so I made them capri’s and added ribbon and buttons. A baby sling. This next one is an original idea. A little boy had a blankie that was totally tattered but he still liked to hold it at night. I made this bag that has loose elastic on the top so the blanket is inside and he can put his hand inside the bag to sleep! And 2 burp clothes!!

Here are my Top 10 for Memorable

Events of 2009

(good and bad)

I brought in the new year at the hospital! This was so fun! I brought all kinds of horns and noise makers for the patients. I handed them out at 11 and you could hear them making noise for the next 2 hours!

I completed the Chicago Marathon!!!!

(including the 17 weeks of training)

We moved from Browns Summit to Greensboro

…the only bad thing on the list!

I started Miles for Smiles. This was a dream 3 years in the making!

O Sew Precious is no more! I Started a new business called Sodderbug!

www.sodderbug.com Check it out!!

Family vacation to Lake Lure

I got my new camera

We got passes to Emerald Point for the summer!

I completed my first race pushing a double jogging stroller!

We participated in the neighborhood 4th of July parade

We spent a day at Belews Lake with friends!

A super fun, gigantic, overflowing, bubble bath with Reese! We had so much fun making this mess and I will remember it forever!

Ready for the pool to open!!!!

2009-05-22T20:51:00.000-04:00

We are sooo excited to go swimming this weekend!!! We are planning on swimming and having lots of family time! We have a "showing" of the house tomorrow so I have been cleaning this evening! Scott is working on one of his lawn mowers and like the prechildren days, I have puuled a chair into the garage and am sitting out here with him while he works (with the monitors next to me!). I finished a new dress for Reese this week that is one of my favorites! Nicholas's vocabulary exploded this week! He added "get you" to the list and he says it and then wants you to chase him. We went to Barnes and Noble this am. Nicholas kept screaming "tacta" whenever he saw tractor books! I tried to keep him somewhat quiet but it was too darn cute! I have been playing with my new camera and Photoshop so I will post some pics! I hope you all have a relaxing holiday weekend!

Oh vonderbug!!

2009-05-10T23:44:00.001-04:00

Random thoughts:

The other day Reese was painting and messed up and said, "Oh vonderbug!" She is alwys making up the cutest words. Well, sometimes they are very close to not so nice words but I know she doesn't know the bad word so it is only funny to Scott and me! Nicholas tooted and laughed at himself for the first time today! I couldn't help but laugh with him. Reese's sunday school class sang 2 songs in church today... she made it through one song before running off the stage and into my arms! Yesterday Reese was so excited about her Mother's Day present for me that she ended up giving so many clues that it wasn't hard to figure out what it was. Then she cried because so upset for telling me! We planted my vegetable garden today! We are going to have way too many tomatoes! Who knew there is a such think as pink eggplant? We planted it for Reese. I figured if it is pink she will surely eat it! I worked on the Palliative Care unit of the oncology floor Friday night. Many of my patients were "actively dying". That was tough. Today was the last class of our "Love Dare" sunday school class. In two weeks our class is starting a new book on families. I can't wait! And neither can Nicholas, he only made it 10 minutes in the nursery today. They called us because the poor guy wouldn't start crying. Scott missed the rest of the class. Bummer, it was really good! Nicholas had a push up ice cream today and kept trying to suck on the bottom thinking it was a straw! Happy Mother's Day mom and Pat!

This is fun even if I am only talking to myself!

2009-05-07T19:51:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day. This morning I dropped the kids off at Bizi Kidz to go to the sewing store. My serger is really acting up and won't stay threaded! I got to the sewing store and realized that I had forgotten the electrical cord at home. urgggghhhh! So... I drove 25 minutes home and 25 minutes back (while paying $10/hr for the kids to be watched!). I would have just come back another day but I am really backed up on my sewing and have got to catch up. I thought it would be a quick fix but ended up having to leave it for a technician to fix. Besides that the day was great! We met our new neighbors who are a young couple with one little boy around Nicholas's age! And she is a stay-at-home mom!!! It is 7:55pm and they are already in bed and asleep, ahhhh. (I reread this and thought I should clarify... the kids are asleep, I don't know about the neighbors!) Now the wait for Grey's to start!

Day 2!!

2009-05-07T08:14:00.000-04:00

I couldn't wait to sit down and write today. I am so excited about this new blog! I have a funny story to share. Yesterday morning we were heading out to do errands and Reese went outside before me. When I got to the car I saw that she had written "MOMDAD" in the side of the car with her finger. I suppose some people might have been irritated by this but I was so tickled that my 4 year old wrote that all by herself! I was actually proud of her! Nicholas started doing the hand movements for "The Wheels on the Bus". He had his first trip to the dentist to have his teeth cleaned yesterday. Last night I went over toMaria's to sew with her and Sherry. Wesewed until 1:30AM. I finally got to sleep around 2AM and Nicholas woke up at 5:30AM soI am running on 3.5 hours of sleep today! I can't wait for nap time! Here is a picture of Nicholas crying at the front window when Scott left for work yesterday and Reese in an outfit I just finished for her.

Giving this blogging thing a try

2009-05-05T23:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my cousin, Sara, I am going to give this a try. Above are pictures of why I am Sew Blessed!

Sew Blessed

Jump Over to New Blog

Craft Club- NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!!! .

Old Electrical Insulator Sconce

New *Old Barn Wood* Sign

Finally, I am starting a craft club!

A great gift for the man in your life!!

Burlap Wreath

New Store is open!!!

Valentine’s Day Charms!!!

Valentine’s Day Subway Art

Little Old Door

Copying Restoration Hardware!

Bartering for Christmas

Old Barn Door

This barn door is going to be the top of my new kitchen table! I will let you know how it turns out!

Copy Cat

Christmas Decorating for almost FREE!

Old Barn Wood

Some of my Halloween Embroidery Files

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

From Pallet to Bed!!

More Wooden Blocks!

My Boy and his Patch!

Sweet Treat Ceramics

Wall Mural on Sheet Vinyl

Shout out to my “followers”

My New Site!!

test 2

test page

Shutters and Block Letters

Burlap Egg??

Recycling A Canvas

Burlap Curtains

Clip Board Fun

Wooden Blocks

Picnik Fun

Finished Firehouse Pics

Growth Chart

Peg Board in Craft Room

Tassel Branding

Craft Night with my mom and sister!!

My Valentine

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Button Crazy, GIVEAWAY and tutorial (short version)!!!

A few charms from my giveaway and for myself!

Nester Knock-Off

Giveaway!!!

Recipe for Rachel Ray

Blessed Pancakes

Valentine’s Day Heart with Leftovers

Can You Read This??

In-Progress Projects

I LOVE YOU MOM!

The Ultimate Compliment

Junk Store Find

I LOVE this window!!!

A couple other projects to share!

I can make that!

Embarrassing Moment!

How could I have forgotten?!

Top 10 of 2009

Ready for the pool to open!!!!

Oh vonderbug!!

This is fun even if I am only talking to myself!

Day 2!!

Giving this blogging thing a try

New Old Barn Wood Sign