hot summer days...

summer feet - gotta love em'

i know many munchkins went back to school this past week...Austin starts a little later here - aug. 24th is his first day. so we have one more week of 'official' summer break. it's so hard to believe...kindergarten - full day, every day, whether you feel like it or not, scheduled breaks, homework, packed lunches...and oh yeah - uniforms. how does this happen...so fast? i know he is more than ready for this daily activity, entertainment, socializing and learning but it just feels like the beginning of the end...succumbing to school schedules, organized breaks, vacationing only when everyone else in the world is able to, the end of spontaneous mid-week trips and late nights....oh so hard....but a neccessary evil. he is ready - and somedays i'm more than ready!

we have been trying to soak up our last pool days but have had some rain the last couple days. we managed to hit the beach on thursday - one of doug's days off - an early morning ocean swim and then i did a hot 4-miler in the heat. i'm learning it takes about 2 days to recover from the hot runs. i'm going to have to start going by 7am or forget it - urgh...

hanging poolside......

i'm almost finished with my last run of cards...tomorrow i should have 2-3 more samples to upload and show you - then i'm shipping them off to their new homes. i have had a lot of fun making them and remembered what a nice quick project they each are - it is like getting quick satisfaction in just 20-30 minutes or less (or more)!

i was also able to finish some pajama pants for austin and another few alterations that were piling up. i'm still sketching the quilt for the boys and can't wait to dice into the rocketship fabric i have. i've been reading up alot about quilting and researching other modern quilters and their designs - i'm feeling very inspired and ready to get a quilt top or two started.

hot days in the water!

more project pics tomorrow!

Projects, projects

i have, for the first time, made a list (unfortunately it's only in my head!) I can never bring myself to write my lists on paper with the sole exception of the grocery store...then I *usually* have such an inept sense of detail that once i've actually written it out i remember it and don't refer to it once in the store....occassionally this system fails me. but, i had to come up with a mental list of project to-do's, yep had to prioritize them into importance or else i would have been doing the one's i fancied most first....so i thought this was a great way of tricking myself into get the 'must-do' stuff done first so that i could do the 'really-fun' stuff later - and in reality i enjoy it all!

this is probably one of my favorites ever, but it took a long time to cut all the pieces - there is a tutorial on the website above! this paper is retired SU! by the way!

I played around quite a bit with this one - it was fun and easy to make, so i switched up the designer (patterned) paper and ribbon a bit on each one. Also, a great way to get rid of some of the million flower embellishments i have hanging around!

I have been making a lot of cards lately for an order I recently got, here are some of the one's i've made...i'll be the first to admit the more difficult ones I snagged the ideas from here, a fabulous site for fresh ideas! Of course, they have my own style and spin put into them!

the inside pulls out for the sentiment and i thought it'd make a lovely bookmark as well!

I spend way too much time hand cutting each image and designing the card itself, but i can't resist the outcome - hopefully they each go to people that appreciate the hand-made card!!

here is a really bad picture *but i was in a hurry to do the post* of the re-usable quart size ziploc bag i designed. Hopefully you can see the very cool pirate print that i'm hoping makes it too cool for austin to resist taking in his lunch this year! It has a fold down flap with velcro securing it and a waterproof liner. This one is great for chips or larger snacks...i'm going to make a *sandwich* size for sandwiches and maybe a couple snack sizes for apples, grapes, etc. I figure that at $2.00 + / box of plastic sandwich bags I should be saving about $80 a year by using these : ) I finally talked doug into 'testing' it with his lunch yesterday....the chips were gone, and he *did* bring it back home to me, but i wonder if he ate lunch by himself in a dark closet so no-one could see what his nerdy wife sent his lunch in....hee hee! it's all part of saving the earth and recession-proofing our lives!

Last, but not least, are these precious babies....they are on the top of my priority list, although I enjoy sewing them as much as anything else. So, I had to get to a certain step in the diapers in order to work on other project. If you haven't checked them out yet, you must do so at OBB diapers - click on hyena cart to check the in-stock diapers, all hand-sewn by yours truly....

**Then of course lots of pool time in this really warm weather - today the pool water was 96-98 degrees - so warm! **

Tyler wearing the finished cloth diaper - i tried to get him to stand up but he wasn't cooperating! aren't they adorable?

Austin practicing moves on his new boogie board!

That is it for now...I'm excited to start on a new quilt design hopefully the end of this week or beginning of next...i'm feeling more motivated to quilt than i have for a long time - better soak it up!

Sara