Handmade Monday: camera case

My excuse for being late is this ... I am moving in five days, not just from one home to another, but from the bottom of my state to the top. Since I have yet to pack up my current house, or sign a lease on a new one, my life is a bit disorganized. I hope you'll forgive me.

On a craftier note, here is the case I made to go with the spiffy new camera I bought my mom for her birthday. I only had a few hours to construct it, so it's kinda sloppy, but it works. :)

Camera Case:

Since I failed to center the word smile, I had to throw an "s" on the end. Oh well, at least it was handmade. Right?

Handmade Monday: owl apron

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a decent weekend. Here in Oregon we had our first real dose of warm spring sunshine, so I spent it hitting garage sales, weeding, barbecuing, and getting a sunburn. :P

Today's project is actually one from quite a few months ago because my current one is taking for-ev-er and my workspace is too messy to start anything new. 

An owl apron:

This was a gift for my aunt's birthday last September, and is actually one of my first (if not the first) embroidery pieces. It was done on one of those horrible stiff aprons from the craft store because I was a naive little crafter in the beginning. I hadn't even considering learning to sew yet, and I didn't realize you can stitch on almost anything you can poke a needle through. Live and learn. :)

Sunshine is predicted for the at least the next five days, but I'll probably be hiding indoors nursing my tomato red neck. Perhaps I'll get organized and get some stuff made. What fun things do you have planned this week?  

King For A Day

Today is my super awesome husband's birthday, and the tot and I are going to do our best to make him feel like a king! Normally he works between 40-80 hours a week, and still manages to come home with a smile on his face and prepare dinner. After dinner he bathes his little one to ensure he gives her some quality time, and stays awake long enough to watch movies, play games, and snuggle with me. Getting him to take five minutes for himself is nearly impossible, yet somehow I managed to convince him to take today off (from everything!) so we're going to take advantage of it.

Happy Birthday Bryan!! 

You're amazing and we love you!!

P.S. Special thanks to the birthday boy for walking me through Photoshop over the phone yesterday so I could put a crown on his unsuspecting head. ;)

Getting Back On Track & Short-term Goals

Jeezy creezy! The last two weeks have been crazy. I feel like we were in constant motion. Everything that has been simmering came to a boil all at once, and we did our best not to let anything burn (except maybe ourselves). We endured ants, exterminators, emergency vet visits, heart wrenching goodbyes, and multiple days in the car. Simultaneously we enjoyed birthday surprises (with lots of birthday cake), precious quality time with loved ones, a family bike ride through the trees, the Oregon Zoo, dinner with dear friends, and the thrilling glimpse of opportunity. It was chaotic, but definitely time well spent.

Now, after sleeping for the majority of the last three days, I feel ready to return to the land of the living and my wee little blog. I have a few ideas brewing, but for now I'll return to our regularly scheduled program (aka the 30 days) with short-term goals.

This is Day 8:

• Get the songs from Tangled out of my head. Seriously.
• Tell friends and family about this blog because so far I've been too chicken.
• Lose weight. (I have a lot to get rid of, so this is both a short and long-term goal.)
• Make the tot an Easter basket.
• Work on list of crafts!!
• Put together boxes for thredup.com.
• Work on the backyard.
• Help the hubs find a job, find a place to live, and move to Portland.
• Get my hands on more spice tea from Republic of Tea.

A Photo of My Best Friend

This is Day 5:

When I put this prompt on the list I had intended on using it as an excuse to gush about my husband. I mean, who isn't married to their best friend? I know I am (love you, honey). However, this portion of the list just happened to fall on March 23rd, so I'm going a different direction. While the hubs is still my number one, I'm going to quickly brag about another amazing gent in my life - my brother.

When I was about four I asked for a baby brother and actually got one. For years I considered him "my baby". When he started to walk he became my crash test dummy, my biggest annoyance, and my favorite playmate. As we've grown he's been my bodyguard, the keeper of my secrets, and my greatest friend. Since we've entered into adulthood he's walked me down the aisle, lugged a million moving boxes, and accepted the role of godfather to his little niece. He's always held a very special, very large, portion of my heart and no one who knows him would ever question it. He's just that awesome. 

My brother, Colt.

I chose to showcase him today because it was exactly 27 years ago that we met for the first time. Happy Birthday, Bub! 


If you'd like to know more, please visit the blog of this extraordinary wife (whom I stole this photo from).