August already?

I can't believe it's already August. Summer is just breezing by... Today was a lovely day and Piglet had much fun at her gymnastics class. She did a half swing on the bars with her teacher and was talking about it all day. Taking her to gymnastics makes me all warm inside because it's something I've always wanted to do as a child but never had the opportunity. We stopped at Sephora on the way home because I've lost my favorite tweezers and I can't take my eyebrows anymore. Seems like back to school and fall clothes are already in. Piglet wanted to stop by her favorite store, Pottery Barn Kids [funny to hear a 2 year old say "I go to Pottery Barn."] Then we picked up a little treat for me at See's candies. Big mistake... I let her experience a few bites of my vanilla creme chocolate sample and, let's just say she was not happy when it was all gone. She has a major sweet tooth just like me. After a nice nap [during which I snuck out to pick up some more fabric and other goodies, a perk of having a husband who works from home], we went to the pool only to find out the heaters were down and all classes were canceled. So I set Piglet up with this and she had a good time sitting in there for about an hour.

Weekend update

Gorgeous dahlias from the farmers market. Love their perfectly symmetrical details. I'm not crazy about purple but these blooms really stood out. Might have something to do with the fact that Piglet loves purple....




Fabric shopping. I was getting a little bored making plain clips [I bore easily...] so I was hoping to find some new fabric to incorporate into new designs. What I found instead are these gorgeous fabrics that inspire me to start sewing. These would look so cute on Piglet... Can I do it??



This one's my fave...




Speaking of sewing, I think I'm purchasing these books. I've taken lessons before so I don't think I'm completely clueless but I still need help. A lot of help. Both books have gotten great reviews and look like they have super cute projects that are supposed to be pretty easy. Can't wait!






Havin' some fun with new hair clips. Took me several tries to get the shape right but I like how they turned out. I was going for some punches of colors, can you tell? I'll be putting a few in the shop this week.




But the best news of all is that Piglet is almost back to normal. She's been sick with diarrhea for a week. Poor girl... Of course I got worried and took her to the doctors. And of course, they said to let it run its course, there's nothing they can do. Anyway, today her poop was normal again! Sounds insane to rejoice over poop but I really was thrilled. I was starting to feel sorry for our washing machine... I said to Piglet, "Yay, no more diarrhea!" to which replied, "Bye-bye diarrhea! See you soon!"

I'm drooling over...

Hello Kitty sewing machine


I've been secretly hoping that Piglet will grow to love Hello Kitty. The machine's got some great reviews too. Hmmm... I've been actually waiting to get this one next month but now it looks so blah. Wouldn't it be so fun to teach Piglet how to sew on this in about 4 years? Wait, mama's gotta learn first...


Martha Stewart Kids magazine [Are they back? I miss them... Please be back!]




Speaking of Martha, look at these cake stands from her new line at Macy's.



That woman is taking over the world one store at a time... and that's a "good thing". I love her simple and sophisticated style. I've been wanting a cake stand for a long time.


Children's textiles at IKEA [just opened this week, yay!]

Looks cute but we'll see... when I have the courage to check out the latest craze in Portland.

Also from IKEA, the piles of stuff, aka. my office, is calling this one's name.

Calendar of Arts & Crafts shows

Lots going on this weekend. I love summer. I love Portland. Such love for local artists and crafty mamas.

Hoping to check out these events this weekend....

handmade bazaar



Crafty Mamas Street Fair

rock paper scissors

And just so I have them in one place, more shows to check out this summer.

Portland Etsy Arts & Crafts [8.11]

Crafty Wonderland [8.12]

The Mom Shop [8.18]



Alberta Street Fair [9/15]

Giveaway results!

Piglet has picked 3 winners for the giveaway. That's right, I've added another set to give away to show my appreciation. I'm flattered by all your compliments. I've been slowly checking out your blogs. I will get to all of them. Thank you for visiting my blog/shop. I hope to do this again soon.

Here's how it went down:













Lucky numbers in order are 11, 82, and 3.


The winner of the XO set is.....



TRISTA!


The winner of the lion/bear set is....



DEPUTYSWIFE!


And the winner of the tree/apple set is....



TRIPLE GREY!


Congratulations winners! Thank you all for your support and playing along. This was so much fun!

A very bloggy giveaway

So I am a little late to this wonderful event organized by Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer. But better late than never, right?

To celebrate the beginning of my journey in blogville and the opening of my etsy shop, I will be giving away 2 sets of wool felt hair clips adorned with beautiful fabric covered buttons. Each hair clip is made with 100% Holland wool felt and measures approximately 1.75 inches long. Perfect for those special little ones in your life or yourself.

XO set:

Animals set:

For more info on the hair clips, see my shop. To enter this contest, just leave me a comment. You do not have to be a blogger but I do need to be able to reach you in case you are a winner! No need to worry about shipping, I will ship anywhere in the world.

I will draw 2 names at 8 pm PST on Friday, July 27. Good luck and thanks for visiting my blog. Oh, and be sure to check out the other giveaways on Rocks in my Dryer. Go there now!

Laundry basket

I love the creative mind of children. Amazing how kids can turn the most mundane, ordinary things into an exciting new toy.

Case in point: the laundry basket

How to enlist your kid to clean your house...sorta

My dilemma for the past 2 years:

Piglet hates loud noises and I always have trouble finding the right time to vacuum. Usually she starts to scream when I turn it on no matter how I try to distract her. I end up doing it when she's sleeping but I'm always afraid it'll wake her up. Besides, who wants to be vacuuming during nap time when there are so many other fun things to do?

Husband's ingenious solution to my problem:

Make kiddie-sized cleaning tools and let her "help." Why didn't he think of this sooner?

Berry picking day

One of the best things about living here is that, come summer, freshly picked berries are just a 10 minute drive away.

From our little excursion this morning:

Helloooooo...blueberries

So that's how they grow...

Filling up fast

Lonely raspberry...

I will eat you!

Raspberry face

Piglet consumed about oh, I don't know, a pound of berries today... to the point I kinda got worried about overdosing on antioxidants. Is there such a thing?

Someone something anyone

Watermelon
Originally uploaded by sweetfuzzies

Today was just another ordinary summer day... until this evening, when Piglet started using the words someone, something, and anyone all at the same time. I don't recall her saying these words before.

A few conversations she had with me/herself:

Mama: "Piglet, where are you going?" [she was heading upstairs]
Piglet: "I'll be right back. I have to get something!

While pushing her shopping cart around, "someone needs to push the shopping cart!"

Talking to herself: "knock, knock, is anyone in the house?"

I just thought this was a pretty random and funny thing.

She cracks me up daily which is a huge blessing. Last night we were driving back from a new Korean restaurant in town [yummy enough for these ex-LA residents!] when she accidentally bonked me on the head with her toy bucket which she loves. She immediately looked down and declared, "it's okay, my bucket is okay!"

Fabric covered button hair clips

Fabric covered button hair clip love
Originally uploaded by sweetfuzzies

I've been cutting and stitching my wool felt nonstop. I love buttons and I've been making hair clips with little buttons on them but I started experimenting with fabric covered buttons this week. Oh my.... the possibilities are endless with fabric. I need more fabric for sure. A few more finished ones here. I think I'll be making a lot more of these as they're quite addictive to make.

Anyway, Piglet is wearing a pink stripe fabric covered button in her hair. Not the greatest photo but I am working on that. One of my goals is to improve my photography skills. Only if I can make her stay still for one second, this will be much easier. So far my trick is to lure her with a snack while I snap away.

A new beginning

Well, it took a while to get the ball rolling but I am here finally. I have failed my first two attempts at blogging... you know what they say, third time is a charm. Hopefully that will be the case for me.

I've created this blog mainly because I want to hold on to the memories that are created daily with my little one... let's call her Piglet. She absolutely adores Piglet, I'm not sure why... I just know he can be found within a few feet of my daughter at any given moment. She recently turned 2 and life couldn't be any better for her. Mommy and daddy are not complaining either.

I'm also hoping this blog will be a motivational force behind my hobby- crafting. I consider myself a beginner as I have no formal training in design but I've been doing it for fun for a while. Mostly paper stuff but more recently I've gotten into making felt hair clips. I recently opened a shop at Etsy and it's fun how so many ideas pop in your head when you have a little shop to fill up. It's almost like having a baby. Eventually I want to get into sewing and all that good stuff, but for now, I'm happy with working with felt.

Speaking of felt, I recently discovered this 100% wool felt from Holland. I can't wait to see what comes out of this beauty!