My apologies

To my readers, though I am sure they are few and far between right now,

I apologize for the delay between posts and the general inactivity on this blog. As you know, I am expecting my third child, and life is getting rather busy as Christmas (AND baby's arrival) quickly approach. I worked really hard on the craft and bake sale in early November and since then I have not touched my sewing machine much at all. I think that will be the case for several weeks/months as we prepare for baby #3 and adjust to life as a family of 5. All of that to say I do not know what this blog will look like, or how much time I will have to post. I may even end up moving most of this information to my family blog so all that I need to update is in one place. I am not certain yet. Thank you for bearing with me, for reading my posts and looking at my crafty projects! I pray that you would have a joyous Christmas season celebrating the birth and life of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

Until later--many blessings to you!
Leah F

November 6 Craft and Bake Sale

New pictures added-November 1, 2010

Next Saturday, November 6, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., there will be a Craft and Bake Sale at Southeastern Seminary's campus. I will be selling nursing covers, diaper clutches, button rings, and more. I will upload pictures of my products as I can, so please check back to see what I have available! I hope that you can come by and shop if you are in the area. This is a great way to support seminary students and families at the beginning of the Christmas season.

Button rings- pinks -$5/each

Button rings-orange/gold - $5/each

Button rings-purple/blue - $5/each

Button rings-fun prints - $5/each

Button rings-green/aqua - $5/each

Button rings-red/white/black - $5/each

Burp clothes - $7/each

Nursing cover in Roundabout - $25



Nursing cover in Watermelon Paisley - $25



Nursing cover in Pink Damask - $25

First gifts for baby

SHOES!

These cute giraffe shoes were the very first gift my little baby received, and I love them! Aren't they sweet?

The above shoes are made by Wee Pereas, a blog friend of mine who graciously sent these to me for some of my fabric. Beth regularly inspires me with her creativity. You should check out her cute creations here.

Surplus fabric for sale

With baby #3 on the way, I am coming to realize that I just don't have enough time to make everything that I want to make, and do everything I want to do. Also, I need to free up some space for baby items! That said, I have gone through my fabric stash and am looking to get rid of several pieces. Pictures are below with a brief description and price. I am not trying to make a lot of money on these; I am simply trying to earn some of what I spent! Feel free to make me an offer that I can't refuse:-)

All of the above are fat quarters--$1/each

Left: Dancefloor in Teal, 17" (just under 1/2 yard), $2;

Right: Hushabye bunnies, 3/4 yard, $4 (I have more of this fabric if someone is interested)

Above: Lime green Patsy Aiken fabric, 2 yards, $12.

Left: Green tonal paisley, 1 yard, $6;

Right: Red w/daisies, 1.25 yard, $7.

Left: Auburn Univ., 2 scraps measuring approx. 12"x36", $3;

Right: Dallas Cowboys, scrap measuring 36" x 36", $4.

Left: Red MonkeyNRound, 1/2 yard, $3 (more avail. if interested);

Right: blue dot, 1 yard, $6.

Left: Multi-color daisies, 1.25 yard, $7;

Right: Hot pink tonal floral, 1 yard, $6.

Most of these fabrics are pre-washed since I use my fabrics for nursing covers and apparel and not quilting. I would be happy to ship the fabric anywhere. Please help me clean out some space for the next baby!

Non-sewing craftiness!

I decided recently to take a break from sewing-related crafts, and work on becoming more 'well-rounded' in my crafting skills. I bought some fun buttons (sources: Etsy, Dick Blick [1 lb. buttons for $2.99!]), and spent a day or two playing with different color combinations. The results are below--I am quite pleased with how they turned out!

I linked to www.jonesdesigncompany.com recently, and it was that website that had a book page canvas tutorial that I copied. One of her 'variations' on the tutorial was using sheet music, and I have a stack of old sheet music that worked perfectly! As a special inside joke to myself, the music I used is from a Nocturne that I played in my senior recital in college. I hope to hang these four canvases in my master bathroom soon.

Recent cupcakes

Butter Cake Cupcakes with Sticky Fudge Frosting

The aftermath of Sticky Fudge Frosting

Caramel Covered Teacakes

Red, White and Blue Cupcakes

Check out this giveaway--and the fantastic project ideas!

I came across this site in my Google reader when the author posted a project on one of my favorite crafty sites, Little Birdie Secrets. At Jones Design Company she is doing a week of her favorite projects, and I cannot wait to try some of them (the book page canvas is adorable!). But for even more fun, Emily is also giving away some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G items from her shop, including headbands, notecards, and more. You can participate in the giveaway here. I hope you will visit this site, be inspired, and enter to win this wonderful giveaway (let me know if you do:-)

Recent nursing covers

I have not completely fallen off the grid--I did recently make these two nursing covers. In case anyone is interested, I can make at least one more of each of these :-)

Baby girl items

A friend asked me to put together some girly items for her niece, and I had a lot of fun working on them. I made three burp clothes, two bibs, and diaper clutch. Thankfully, my friend liked all of them, and I hope that they are enjoyed and well-loved (i.e., used a lot!).

My favorite way to cook veggies

I was cooking dinner a couple of nights ago, and thought I would share with you my favorite way to cook veggies right now. I intended to take a picture, but my camera was not within reach while I was cooking ;-)

Ingredients:
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 small onion
olive oil
seasoned salt (Lowry's or McCormick)

Chop the zuchhini, squash and onion into small, bite sized pieces ( I normally slice and then quarter the pieces--it helps them cook better). Toss the veggies into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with seasoned salt, and then dump the veggies onto a cookie sheet or baking pan. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes (or until the vegetables are cooked through), stirring at least once or twice during the process. The vegetables come out with a delicious roasted flavor that will just melt in your mouth.

I am not a huge fan of squash and zucchini, but when prepared this way, I LOVE them. I think that a great alternative would also be to put the vegetables into an aluminum foil 'pouch' and cook them on the grill. Hope you enjoy!

Fabric I have on hand

Below are pictures or swatches of fabric that I currently have on hand. Two of the pictures are of nursing covers I have made--NOTE: I have already sold these two, they are just pictures to show you the fabric :-)

So my project list goes something like this:
*nursing cover from several of these fabrics (pink print, green print, white/blue/brown print, brown/brights print)

*apron from the blue floral print

*And many many more!

Please check back to see what I have finished. If I think people are reading this, maybe I will be more inspired to finish my sewing projects! Blessings!

My latest creation

My apologies to everyone--I have not been sewing or crafting as much in the past few weeks, so I don't have anything to share. But I am creating something....



That is right, baby #3 is on the way! Little one is due around New Years, and we couldn't be more excited. I hope to return to crafting/sewing very soon, so be sure to check back.

Strawberry Pretzel Delight (aka my hubby's favorite summer treat)

Some food items just scream summer. Watermelon. Popsicles. Hot dogs. Strawberries....and therefore, strawberry pretzel delight. My husband loves this dessert that his mother used to make in the summers. Graciously, she shared her recipe with me, and we break it out when the weather gets warm. It is a big hit at parties, and so I thought you might enjoy the recipe as well!

Strawberry Pretzel Delight

Crust:
2 cups crushed pretzels
3 T sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

Mix ingredients together, and press into the bottom of a lightly greased 9 x 13 glass pan. Cook at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. regular Cool Whip-thawed
1 cup sugar

Combine ingredients in mixer and beat until well mixed and smooth. It is helpful to beat cream cheese and sugar together before adding in Cool Whip. Spread filling over cool crust all the way to edges, making sure to 'seal' the edges so the topping doesn't drip down to the crust (if topping 'runs' to the crust, the crust will turn soggy instead of crunchy). Refrigerate for 30 min-1 hour before adding topping.

Topping:
6 oz. box strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
2 10 oz. packages frozen strawberries *

Combine jello and water and stir until jello is dissolved. Add frozen strawberries and pour over filling. Refrigerate overnight to set topping. Enjoy!

* If using fresh strawberries, use 2-3 cups of sliced strawberries. It is even better to slice and freeze fresh strawberries before adding them, as the frozen berries help cool the strawberry jello mix.

Baby set--Feeling Groovy

Playmat for Leslie (and baby Judah)

This playmat is similar to one I made last year for my good friend L.A. out of Wonderland fabric. Leslie contacted me about making one for her soon-to-be born little boy, and we had a lot of fun discussing color schemes and themes. As you can see, we went with lime green/aqua blue/orange/brown with boyish prints (animals/giraffes/guitars). It was a fun process to plan out, and I love the way it turned out. I had problems the first time I made this playmat, but this time I hand-tied the quilt and added a few buttons--and it turned out really cute. Enjoy!!

A success story!

Today was the 2010 Walk for Life to support Pregnancy Support Services of Wake Forest. Let me tell about the immense success of today:

*the forecasted rain held off, but the overcast skies kept the day crisp and cool instead of hot and sweaty
*walkers turned out even though there was a threat of rain, with 500-600 in attendance
*over 20 people were in the "Platinum Club", which means they each raised over $1000.00
*the total amount raised for the walk was ...........
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keep reading....
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$110,000 !!!!!



That is twice as much as walkers raised last year! To God be all the glory for this wonderful, jaw-dropping amount of money. This will help PSSWF to meet their annual budget, and will help them achieve their goal of buying an RV for a mobile ultrasound unit. Thank you to all of my friends and family for joining my team, praying for this event, and giving to this amazing cause. I am so blessed by your generosity, and pray that this will encourage even more people to be involved with Pregnancy Support Services in the future.

My remaining button rings!

The button rings have been a hit, and I have sold almost all that I made. That is wonderful, since all of the proceeds go to my Walk for Life fund. By the way, fundraising ends on Friday--don't you want to donate? Check out my remaining rings below (I plan to make more soon)

Sneak Peek for Leslie

Say what?--Ribbon label fail

I bought a spool of ribbon at Joanns a few weeks ago. I picked it up to use it for something, and started to read the label. In case you don't know, ribbon is sold by the yard or by the spool. NOT "Sold buy spool". :-) Perhaps I should submit the picture to http://www.failblog.org/ .

Button rings

Here is my latest crafty project. If you remember, I found a button ring that I love last Christmas. I decided to make a few myself and I really like how they turned out. A few pictures are below. I am selling these rings for the bargain price of $5.00/each, with all proceeds to go to my Walk for Life, so please let me know if one catches your eye!