Really good mail!

I have received some really great mail lately and thought I would share.

First I was lucky enough to get on of Jenn's little luette houses! It is so cute, I just love it! It is sitting with my little painting from Jenn in a strange little spot, in a corner of my kitchen. But I love it there, I can see it all the time!
If you want to give yourself a treat just order something from Jenn's shop. It is like having your own little Christmas! She is stuck in a little extra notebook as a treat for me. Thanks Jenn!
I was also lucky enough to win a giveaway from Bumblebird. Look at my darling new bunny. We all love her! Thanks so much!

This is one of the aspects of blogging I would never have dreamed of! Getting really great mail. It is so fun!

Thanks so much for the doll love yesterday, I am feeling pretty good about Miss Charlotte as we have been calling her around here. I am going to keep working away on a mother and child next!

Asking for doll advise!

I have been working on a new doll. After the doll party in blogland last week Christine emailed me and said she thought I should try making a new doll sort of like one I showed. Well when someone as talented as Christine gives me advice like this let me tell you, I listen! She has the most amazing talent. Go see her dolls she is having a shop update tomorrow afternoon, you will be astounded I promise! Anyway, I got this new doll in my head and have been working away on her. After making four heads for her I think I have finally got something I like.
Here she is
I do like how her hair turned out.

And here she is with the doll that inspired her. I was trying to eliminate some of that embroidery work but still keep the look. I think I may try one with a dress made of the fabric behind them next. I have been thinking of trying one holding a baby for Mother's day. What do you think sweet blog friends? Should I just stick with my original doll design or do we like her too? She is in the shop.
I finished some more nesting dolls and they looked so cute all lined up I had to take their picture. The green one is a new addition for me.
There is still a black and white one in the shop. I will be starting a new batch in a couple of days. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

This post is fairly interactive today with me asking your advice! But when you are a stay at home mom your blog friends are your best resource! And it is always fun to show someone a finished project! Don't get me wrong though, my kids definitely have opinions! William not so much.

Nim's Island

We took the kids to see Nim's Island this weekend. I would have to say it was a success. The movie is cute, who doesn't like funny animals, and the acting is pretty good too. It got a little long toward the end and I found myself thinking "So help me if the father doesn't come back I am asking for my money back!" Brittany has abandonment issue; don't know why, she has never been abandoned, so she got a bit stressed out but she liked it in the end. It was sort of a modern day Swiss Family Robinson which was fun. And Joshua sat in his own chair for most of the movie! I have to say, the funniest part to me was when the little girl is making dinner which involved some sort of worm and Joshua, in his loudest voice says "Eeeeeeeewwww!" Yeah, that is one of his new words and it was hysterical! So all in all, fun movie, even if you don't have the "Eeeeew!" boy with you!

Welcome to my Laundry Room!

I have discovered a new way to make great changes in my house. Take pictures of the mess, then work on it and post after pictures. A week ago I decided I had just had it with my laundry room. Now laundry rooms are notoriously messy right? And that probably wouldn't bother me except that this room is the room that I also create in. It is my sewing, crafting, creating room. I am not quite confident in my abilities to call it a studio. So I spend a lot of time in there and it was ugly! I am not always the most organized person and this room had just never been given the attention it needed. You can see the stack of cute pictures behind my sewing machines I intended to put up 9 months ago and never had. and the top of the washing machine and ironing board that become my work space. So hubby was kind enough to hang me another shelf, it was already up when I took this before picture, and I went to town.
This is the before picture, awful isn't it? I must have no shame to put this up for you all to see
I have been working a little bit at a time and this weekend I got it just about done.
.
After!
This is really hard room to photograph because it is really long and skinny. But you can see up there on my shelves I now have a bunch of white bins. This is working great because each project I am working on has its own bin and I can take it down and work on it whenever I have a minute, then put it back in and up on the shelf until the next chance. This is great because I used to just set it somewhere in that poor room, making it just a mess. I made big gingham curtain that hangs from a shower rod so I didn't have to make any holes in the wall, to cover up the ugly storage boxes. And I made a new cover for my ironing board too. I couldn't find a cute one to buy anywhere!
I hung my ribbon up on a cord and I think it makes it look cuter too. And I finally framed my cards from Miss Vanessa. I have my own little Fanciful Twist gallery now! There is a little space on my shelf to put some of my favorite creations until they find new homes too. I am hoping to hang a banner or something cute from the shelf to add more color.

I got to hang up my inspiration board in here too!

This little painting finally found a home in here. It makes me happy because I made the squares out of little snippets from Brittany's dresses I made when she was little.

Thanks for suffering through the tour! As I was saying at the beginning of this method of taking before and after pictures seemed to motivate me to get the job done. Now this little room is one of my favorites in the house and I have actually accomplished more in it than usual. It is all mine and I get to do whatever I want in there! So what is your favorite room?

Things that are making me happy!

I was looking around today and saw a bunch of things that make me happy today so I thought I would share.
Would you believe my happy-fest was kicked off this morning by the purchase of these cute bowls at Target for .98 cents each on clearence?!

I am very happy about Joshua's new ability to say his two new words.
"Peeease!"
and:
"Cank ooou!"
If the kid had any idea that he is so cute saying these two little words the world could be his oyster. Seriously I would probably give him just about anything to get him to say these. I guess it is actually three words isn't it? Now if we could just eliminate "No" and "Mine
My kids played dress up the other day, or as it is known around here, fashion show. Believe it or not it was Matthew's idea. He wanted to pretend they were getting married. Course Mom had to play around to make it look a little oldfashioned.
Of course we had to have some powerrangers too.
And a little fashion modeling.
Can you tell my kids have been doing this along time? When we go to grandma's house we do fashion show and she narrates. "Here we have Miss Brittany wearing a lovely ensemble..." It is great fun. It makes me so happy when my kids play nicely together!
I love this wisteria at my neighbors house. I have been wanting to take a photo for awhile. If you could look close enough you can see lots of bumblebees. They must really like wisteria, there were a ton of them.
Have a great weekend, I am going to go eat this. I think it will taste even better in my new bowl!

Another New Nesting Doll
I finished this one last night.
It is in the shop!

Pretty Things!

Wow! That doll party yesterday was really fun! I love looking at people's different dolls.
There are some new things in the shop today. I really am in love with the whole nesting doll thing, I just can't seem to stop making them. Part of the appeal is I can stitch away at them while I watch T.V. with hubby at night. So anyway, I found more of my favorite pink toile and had to try making some nesting dolls out of it. I painted their faces this time. These little girls have my favorite three fabrics! Toile, gingham and polka dots. I am working on one more I will put in tomorrow out of the black and white toile. I am afraid I will have to change the name of this blog to Toileland soon, I just love the stuff!
I was in a really fun swap, a spring journal swap. You were supposed to take a simple composition notebook and then alter it into a fun book. I made two because I wasn't sure of what I was doing and I wanted to make sure one turned out okay. I used some of the vintage fabric that was in the great stash Tif sent me and then decorated them with my felt flowers. I won't ruin the surprise for my partner Tammy and tell you which one I sent her, but I did put the one I didn't swap in the shop because I was quite pleased with how they turned out.
And speaking of new pretty things, look at what I won from Karla! She has a drawing every month from people who leave her comments and since I love to visit her I was hoping I would win eventually and I finally did! Isn't it the cutest sign? Thanks Karla!

Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!

Lori is having a blogland doll party today and if there is anything I love it is dolls! I have always loved dolls.
This is a picture of my very first doll, and Effanbee Baby Huggums on the right. I got her around age two and I loved her so much I tried to eat her! See her sad little hands? That is because I kept putting them in my mouth. Poor baby, but I just can't get rid of her! A few years ago my mom gave me the new, replacement Baby Huggums for my birthday. I love her too, but I don't try to eat her!
My mom gave me one of my very favorite dolls, her Madame Alexander Alice in Wonderland doll from when she was a girl.
She remade her clothes for me, the originals were loved to death.
My mom has always fostered my love of good dolls. She obviously knew I wasn't going to outgrow my love of dolls early on. She made this porcelain doll in her christening dress when I was twelve.
She even made her underclothes and had a dear friend crochet little booties so her feet wouldn't clink togetherI have a couple of fun reproduction dolls, these are my Shirley Temple as Heidi and my Kewpie doll. Think Mom gave me those too!
My mom isn't the only one to feed this habit. My hubby figured out early on this was a great Christmas present for me too. These are some of the dolls he has given me.
Of course there are the dolls I have made myself. All of these except the Christmas one are in my shop. I sure have had fun making these. It has been great to have an excuse to play with dolls all the time. Not that Brittany and I really need one! My newest one, the little nesting dolls with painted faces I just finished today. They are in the shop too. I am working on them in my favorite toile too
And the obsession continues! This is doll corner in my daughter's room. They look so cute because we were just playing with them together last week!

Thanks for visiting with me and my dolls! I am going over to Lori's to visit some more!

Marley and Me...and Mickey and Me

Okay, I am not a dog lover. A dog tolerator maybe. I don't dislike them, I just don't necessarily need them in my life. Now, maybe this will change for me later in life when my children don't need me to nurture them as much and I will still need to nurture someone. But for now I live in happy, dog-free house. It hasn't always been this way. I grew up with a dog, Mickey. Named by my sister and I at ages 5 and 1 (okay, maybe Mom helped) because he was so little and he was black, like Mickey Mouse. This is a picture of my sister and I in the tub with Mickey in attendance. Sorry the picture is cropped weird, I didn't want my sister to kill me for exposing us both on the net! He loved to be there and lick the drips of tub water we put on the side for him. I have thought of lots of childhood memories that involved Mickey as I have thought about it today.
I still remember the day my mom called me while I was working at the lumber store my dad managed to tell me that Mickey had died. I had to go in the bathroom and bawl. I was in college and if you do the math you can see he was a part of our family for a long time. Now wait, I said I wasn't a dog lover right? Well that is what the book I just finished will do to you. Marley and Me by John Grogan
Circe recommended it a little while ago and she is very rarely wrong about books I have found, never wrong actually. So even though this didn't really seem like my kind of book I trusted her and tried it. This explains why I was up until after midnight reading the end last night. It was really good. It was good because it is not just a group of stories about a rotten dog. It is the story of this family, and the author, who happen to have made this nutty dog part of their family. It was very funny, although very honest about the grossness a huge ole dog can create. And I warn you to have kleenex around when you get close to the end, I mean lets face it we know the dog is not going to live to be 50 right? But when it is all over you may find yourself like I am today thinking of dogs you have known and maybe haven't thoght of in awhile. Or worse yet, almost wishing for one to come live at your house...just kidding!

A few of us are going to try a little book club. We are going to read Peace like a river in the next three weeks if you would like to join we would love to have you! Tif has more info.

Flowers!
Things are blooming around here! I love Spring, it is my favorite season. What is not to love. Mild, sunny temperatures. Nice and warm but not to hot. And things are growing! Flowers and trees and grass getting green! I just love it! As far as I can tell this is one of the great assets California has to offer. Nice long Spring. I have been in such a Springy mood I decided to attempt a painting of flowers for a swap I am in.

These flowers do not occur in nature, only in my imagination and on my canvas. They are sort of a compination of poppies and tulips I think. It took me a really long time but I am finally quite happy with them.

I thought I would show you a few of the flowers I have seen on our way to school.

Isn't this pretty. I have no idea what it is, but it looks like it is made of paper.
These I recognize as at least realtive of English daisies.
I don't know what these are either, but they are on a pink bush and have great little pink blossoms.
I hope your weekend is full of sunshine and flowers too!

I love being a busy bee!
I am going to post about bees more often! Yesterday was a great productive day! I wish I could figure out the recipe for those really productive days, I sure love when they happen. I decided to give a couple of my girls a little make-over since everyone seemed to like the toile so much. I had a bit of a panic when I went to the store to get more toile and discovered that the pink toile is discontinued. Why would they do that?! I don't get it, but happily etsy came through again and I was able to get more on its way to me. I did a bit of work on these girls faces and hats and clothes. I like them a lot more now. Hope everyone else does too. They are in the shop now.
I made this inspiration board to put in my laundry/sewing/craft room. I am hoping to get it cleaned out ant fixed up a bit in the next week so I can enjoy working in there more. Of course I started with the fun thing first, making this board. But I am getting a really great postcard collection and it is really fun to have this to put them and the little atc and dotees I have gotten in swaps on. Hopefully I will have before and after pictures for you next week. Last of all, just so you won't think it was the perfect day and I am the perfect mother, there is this:
Yes, another gigantic bonk on Joshua's head. He ran into the door jamb while chasing his brother. It was HUGE last night. I don't know what to do with this kid. This is his second bonk like this in a week. I am thinking of a helmet? Well, at least he is still smiling!

Being a Busy Bee!
Don't you just wish you could move a million miles an hour like this little guy does? I snapped his picture the other day while I was out taking pictures of the gingham girls in the apple tree for the banner. Since bees seem to be becoming almost an endangered species I thought I would capture him while I could.
I could really use unending energy like Mr. Bee has. I have such a long list of things I want to accomplish. And then of course there is playing with kids, which I really like to do too. Maybe I just need more hours in the day.
That is why I have taken to staying up late working on my projects. Not exactly a new idea, I think that is how most of us moms accomplish our little extra projects. I have to say I love staying up late, with all of my lovely family peacefully sleeping, watching a movie of my choice and doing a little project just for the fun of it. Morning on the other hand is not so much fun! This is the shirt I finished last night. I know I am treading awfully close to becoming Holly Homemaker, but it was really fun and this way I can make it fit just like I want. Of course I am not showing you the one that turned out making me look like I am on Little House on the Prairie! Of course, it is raining today so I can't even wear it!

Oh, and thanks for all the great movie suggestions. I watched Holiday with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn last night. It was great!

Spring Break!
So here is what we did with that ten day long Spring break I complained about so much. Not a whole lot! There was a whole lot of this:
We went to the park every morning I think. The weather was great and this going to the park thing seemed to work pretty well. For some reason Brittany and Matthew play really great together at the park and fight less. They loved these Styrofoam planes I found at the dollar store.
Joshua liked dragging trains and cars through the sand.No amount of cajoling would get him to look up at the camera.
Of course there were some art projects, courtesy of the dollar store again. They really like the bottle of modge podge!
I even managed to finish the dolls I listed last week at the park and get this little wedding couple finished for the swap I was in while we all enjoyed the sunshine.
And here everyone is ready for church the day before the happy day when school started again! That is Joshua's first tie. Obviously it didn't last too long, but it was cute while it lasted! It really was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be, but I think we were all happy when yesterday came and the big kids went back to school. I think that is a sign we have really good teachers this year!