This Is What Happens....

.........when your toddler goes through a stage where he refuses to take a nap. He falls asleep each night on the couch at 6:30....and no, his pajamas never match!

Inspirational Journals-Group

Inspirational Journals-Group
Originally uploaded by cberrybaby

Here is a sneak peek of our new Inspirational Journal Line coming soon. It is so hard to capture the beautiful whimsy of these journals in a picture. Between every four pages of white cardstock there are dividers of chipboard, hambly overlays, paint chip samples, envelopes, patterned papers, tags and so much more. They really get your creative juices flowing.

I worked hard to find what I feel to be the right balance between being "ready to go" while also creatively leaving room for those who want to embellish them further with pictures, stamps, artwork etc.- to really put their own stamp on it.

Thursday Thought To Ponder

"Count your life by smiles, not tears. Count your age by friends, not years."

You + Me = Meant To Be

I must begrudgingly admit, I have been nervous about my package coming from my partner from the We The People Swap 4. This Amy Butler Weekender Bag is no simple task and the price to make it adds up-quickly! I loved the one I made and was hoping my partner would be able to make me a bag that matched my style. I know this sounds a little selfish, I usually have more fun with the creating and giving and don't worry so much about what I get in return but did I mention this bag was no simple task?

Well, all worries were quickly thrown out the window once I opened the box, it is so beautiful! I had to take a picture straight away (even without my lipstick) because this bag and I were CLEARLY meant for each other. Look what I was already wearing when the package arrived-from my top to my shoes, it was destined to be!

So TRUE....and hilarious!

Yummy Blackberry Cobbler

There is nothing like warm blackberry cobbler on a winter evening! I made this yummy creation for a chili cook-off at our church. I don't make chili but I am always happy to bring a dessert. The kids were disappointed it wasn't for them so I may make another for tomorrow, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C blackberries
2/3 C sugar
1 1/2 C flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 T (1 stick) plus 2 T unsalted butter
1/2 C heavy whipped cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a shallow baking dish and place blackberries inside. Sprinkle with 1/3 C sugar.

In the bowl of a food processor combine flour baking powder and salt. Add stick (8T) of butter and pulse to create a lumpy mixture. Add whipping cream and pulse until dough forms. Spoon dough over blackberries.

Melt remaining 2 T butter and drizzle over mounds of dough (yum...). Sprinkle with remaining 1/3 C sugar.

Bake about 30 to 40 minutes or until dough and fruit are cooked through and dough is lightly browned.

Business Card or Tea Wallet

I made this fun little business card holder for a Fat Quarter Sewing Challenge on Swap-bot that I am in. My partner likes miniature things, loves color and I thought this would be a fun little accessory that she may actually be able to use!

I used this great tutorial found HERE , with the size modified for a business card (instead of the tea wallet) and added my own little twist of embellishments. I made fun little stamped cards to go in the business cards slots since I figured 4 C Berry Baby business cards might seem like advertising! This project is so simple to make and lots of fun, I think I will make a tea wallet for myself as well and maybe a "Splenda Wallet" for my mom!

Happy Birthday Jonas, we love you!

It has been thirteen wonderful years of craziness and laughter, you have the kindest heart of anyone I know and you are always so full of joy (and energy)! When you were little you wanted to grow up to fly choo-choo trains, I can't wait to see what else you grow up to do!

It is hard to believe that I am now the mother of a teenager! Here Jonas is showing off his ice cream cake creation. Everybody in our family gets this cake special made for their birthday with the toppings of their choice. Jonas chose caramel, gummi bears, and oreos (which is also the crust.........yummy), you can gain 10 pounds just looking at it!

100 Altered Journals on the Wall.......

Well, not quite 100, 60 to be exact! These journals were all made using this great tutorial by Grace Violet and are gifts to the sisters in our Relief Society.

As you can imagine, when making this many of anything you learn a few tips. First off, do NOT use the Glossy Mod Podge. Even if it seems like a fun finish just put it down and walk away. It will stay slightly tacky even when dry and will stick to the other books even weeks later when you think it is safe and you will not be able to pull them apart without ripping the cover and then you'll have to remake those ...sniff......

Also, a magazine is your best friend when decoupaging. Use a page as your work surface for the front cover and then when you go to decoupage the back cover, flip the page so you have a clean, Mod Podge free work surface, then repeat.

The journals you see in the pictures are all straight forward and simple because of the amount but for personal ones, and gift giving....have fun with it! Add embellishments, journaling strips, different papers, ets., the possibilities are limitless. Journaling is such a wonderful way to get in touch with yourself and the influences that are effecting your life, to track goals, improve prayers, and so much more. My friend Kelli keeps a journal for each child to record the funny things they say and stories of how they are, how great is that?

Thursday Thought to Ponder

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight."

I'm Lovin' it Monday-Seams to Me

I picked up this book awhile ago and instantly fell in love. The book is bursting with great patterns that you will want to make, from the "I'll have one of Everything" bag to embroidered dish towels, an apron, skirts and a quilt with circles!

Another thing I truly value in this book are the tips and techniques in the begininng. As a new wave self-taught seamstress there are terms and tricks that I am not familiar with and this book covers them all with illustrations. I often flip to these pages when I want to try a new stitch or get a quick tip on my bias tape binding!

Still not sure, check out the Seams to Me Flick Pool to see all the beautiful things people are making!

Thursday Thought to Ponder

Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible.

The Weekender Bag, In a Weekend

This weekend I decided to bite the bullet and make the Amy Butler Weekender Bag for the We The People Swap 4.

This pattern called for all three of my sewing nemesis': piping, bias cuts and heavy stabilizer oh, and who could forget the 30" heavy duty zipper, making it four. After countless hours I have about 20 pinprick scabs and achy hands but I ended up with a beautiful bag that I am going to stare at for a few day before I mail it off to my partner!

I used fabrics from Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room, which is my all time favorite home decor line, and I love the bold print and contrasting colors. This pattern is exhausting and calls for a lot of patience but it is very well done and the end result is a high quality bag!

Valentine Treats -Marshmellow Lollipops

Chase and I whipped up these marshmallow lollipops for his Primary Class. They are so easy yet so cute!

Materials:

Large Marshmellows
Candy Melts
Sprinkles
Lollipop sticks
Lollipop bags
Gift Tags
Bakers twine or ribbon

Place your marshmallows on the sticks, melt candy melts as per manufacturers instructions, dip marshmallows in candymelt, add sprinkles. Place on wax lined baking sheet, place in refrigerator long enough for chocolate to harden, place in bags, tie with string add tags and you are done!

Thursday thought to Ponder

I know, it's not Thursday but better late then never!

"Give me songs to sing and emerald dreams to dream and I will give you love unfolding"

-Jim Morrison

Mermaid Ruffle Dress

Today I just finished up this custom order dress for one of my customers on Etsy. Every time I make one of these dresses I fall in love with it and dream about having a little girl so I can dress her up! It's hard to tell on this mannequin, since it is smaller then the dress size, but it is such a "poofy" and fun dress. It takes a lot of gathering but the end result is well worth it (at least I think so). And here is my little picture ham who can not let me take photos without getting some of him!

What a GOOF!

Personal Updates

Okay, I have been neglecting my family and friends who check in here for personal updates. Here is status on da boys!

JONAS

This is where you will find Jonas every week day. He is now doing Independent Study program from home in order for me to monitor his work, help him get organized and bring his grades up. Being a mother of a child with ADHD who is a smart GATE student now getting D's and F's is challenging. The school system just seems to want to ignore the problem but I just can't.

CHASE

Meet Chase's "cool shirt". It dictates what he takes to school for lunch (it can only be cool stuff that isn't messy) although it doesn't have powers to fix his morning bed head.

COOPER

Climbed (or should I say crashed) out of his crib the other day so now he is in a "big boy" bed. When he first saw it, he just stood there smiling. Strangely (but thankfully) he hasn't figured out that he can crawl in and out of it yet.

CHRISTOPHER & BABY RAY

Christopher is with us again for the 4th time since right before Christmas but hopefully it will be more long term this time so he can go home to more stability. Baby Ray is also still here and we hope he will get to go home with his mom soon which is definitely the best thing for him! Having 5 boys right now (3 of them under 2) is quite challenging to say the least. My sanity is quickly starting to chip away!!

Domestic Goddess Apron

Domestic Goddess Apron
Originally uploaded by cberrybaby

When I first saw Amy Butler's Domestic Goddess pattern, I thought it looked like the Emmeline Apron but not as cute.

So the other day I was at a quilt shop and they had a sample on display and I fell in love! I added an extra contrasting fabric and the trim to liven it up and I am so happy with the way it turned out!

I made a long version because, well, how often do you find a long apron and this feels more like a dress when you put it on, I love the construction! There is a lot of pleating and no bias cuts (which I was thankful for) I wish I had taken a close up of the pleating details, it is truly beautiful.

There were a few huh??? moments for me with this pattern, especially the last step but I survived and will have to make another one just like it since this went out to my Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice swap partner today!

I'm Lovin' It Monday

There are so many things I could put on this list right now but I will try to keep it to one project!

First word.....ZUTTER. Next words..... Bind it All 2.0. More words.........fabulous. fun. addicting.

I can't seem to get enough, my creative springboard is on overload! Just imagine all the possibilities, sizes, materials...the sky is the limit. Besides fun journals and scrapbooks they are great for school projects, calendars, picture frames, gated albums, oh my! See what I mean?

Here is what I have started with:

Next are some of my favorite materials I used for this project. I was having a hard time with the consistency of my Mod Podge lately and the bubbling and drying time. So last week Donna told me about Golden Gel Mediums which also can be used to adhere fabric and paper to your crafts. Because it is a gel it hasn't bubbled for me (yet) and it dries VERY fast. It is a much smoother finish and a little goes a long way. I will never go back!

Another love of mine are Hambly Studio Overlays which I added in as some of the pages in my book. I just can't get enough of them!