Jumping Ship!

Blogger has been kind of buggy lately and I've decided to jump ship. Follow my latest shanigans at http://twopeasinapoddesigns.wordpress.com.

I'll be up and running over there soon...

In the mean time, don't forget to check out what's new coming out of the studio on my portfolio page. Four more orders shipped out today...slowly but surely, getting to them all. Sick kids and other mayhem so thanks for your patience!

My portfolio

Trying to catch up!!

I'm still trying to catch up on all the orders!! Life happens...and we've had a lot going on here lately. If I'm home...I'm sewing. Thank you to my sweet niece, who is also a twins Mom, who, for a few extra bucks, agreed to come clean my house for me so it doesn't fall apart while I try to get all these done. If you are waiting on a bag from me...my goal is to have it in your hands before October 10th. Thanks for your patience. Here's a few I got done in the last few days. Some custom CUSTOM orders and one is a birthday gift my girls gave to one of their friends. I sewed her name on the strap - :>) Have a great week all!

Hope, Faith, Courage, Strength

Hope, Faith, Courage, Strength. That's what it says on the pink bracelet on my wrist. It was given to me by a woman at church who is battling breast cancer currently. Cancer just stinks. Especially when it happens to someone far too young.

For the second week in a row, we will be attending a funeral. A friend and coworkers wife, 42, mother of a beautiful 7 year old girl, passed away from breast cancer on Sunday. She was first diagnosed while pregnant with her daughter and postponed treatment until after she was born. She battled for 7 years. So tonight, I made a contribution to the Susan G. Komen foundation in her memory. Such a small thing to do in the hopes that something so big will come from it - a cure.

So here's my challenge to each of you for today - do you know someone who has been touched by breast cancer? Visit the Susan G. Komen website TODAY and make a contribution in memory or in celebration of someone you care for. Leave a comment here that you
are a supporter, share a special story if you'd like, to inspire and encourage others. We'll read through them and I'll let the "two peas" choose a few - we'll send you a pink key fob. To hold your keys, the key to your heart, to hold in your hand, to grab onto tightly, to think pink in honor of someone special in your life. For me today, it's in memory of Kristine, in celebration of Kaitlyn.

And so, life goes on. We pause, we pray, we hope, we have faith, we ask for courage and strength.

One thing that I love to do is to create. It calms me, satisfies me, fills me. It's a constant in my life.

Yesterday I made this backpack, my St. Mary backpack. Named for where I used to live in Montana. I lived in the St. Mary district of Glacier National Park.
This bag was a custom design from one of my parties, designed by Jill.

And for this Sunday, I have another party. The hostess gifts until February are aprons - this one is reversible. I'm still hammering out the final designs I will be using when I introduce these to the Spring line in March.

Make today a great day - a day full of color, a good joke, and good friends.

Ahh...did somebody forget to mention a little something in our weather forecast?!

Seriously...is it just me or did the weathermen totally miss this one? I mean, hurricane force winds for over 6 hours - shouldn't they have seen that coming our way? If you live anywhere in Ohio, no doubt today you are cleaning up all the debris from Hurricane Ike that blew through here on Sunday. Just shocked that at least 6 people were killed and yet all throughout this wind storm that lasted from noon to 9pm, they never broke in during TV programming and said, hey - there's a big storm brewing outside, stay inside. We fared pretty well at our place. We lost power only for 6 hours. Which is a bummer because we are on a well so when the power goes out, so does our water, use of the restrooms, etc. Not good. Lucky we have power on now - a whole lot of people are still waiting. A lot of people have significant damage to their house. My husband helped friends of ours put a tarp up who lost their roof. My sister lost half her roof too down in the Dayton area.

So Rosie, the barn cat, clearly, not at all bothered by the 75 mph gusts as you can see. Laying here in the sunroom even as one of the doors was ripped off and blew across the yard, the porch furniture being lifted and flipped off the deck. Slept right on through it all.

My tidbit to share today...if your kids are home again tomorrow as many of the schools have already closed again for a second day, here's something to do. My twins made clay today, molded them into all kinds of things and made clay beads. We baked them and then when they were cool, they painted them. Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 C. Flour
1 C. Water
1/2 C. Salt
I mix this on the stove for just a minute and then knead it until it's all mixed and smooth. Bake at 300' for about 20-30 minutes. We used cookie cutters to cut the dough into different shapes.

So, if the kids are home again, make the most of it and be thankful we all still have homes standing. Ike left a lot of folks on the coast homeless - we'll remember them in our prayers.

Verna Mae, the original pursemaker...

So, it 's been a crazy week. My husbands grandmother passed away. She was 94 years young and had been sick for awhile. She was fiercely independent and lived alone until just a few months ago. After the funeral, we were at her house, looking at photos and crafts she had made. She was a prolific sewer. One of the photos showed Verna standing next to a bed covered in purses she had made. Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's, Verna made purses, took orders and sold them. It cracked me up because heck...it looked like me surrounded by all those purses!

She made quilts by the boat load. She would use old clothing and the like and make quilts with them. She knitted. Made beaded everything. Embroidered. Made clothing. The house was full of her hand made crafts. It was actually quite fun to look at all the stuff she had made - a lifetimes worth of taking care of her family and providing for them with her own two hands.

That's what I love about sewing. It's one of those skills that women pass down through generations to one another - and we make things to show our love, affection and to take care of others. Sewing to me is so personal. Something handcrafted - it feels like a warm blanket on you on a cold winters night with a cup of hot cocoa in your hands and the fire crackling in the fireplace...super comforting and peaceful.

I asked if I could have these old spools of thread from his grandmothers things. I'm going to put them into two mason jars and tag them with my girls names on them and put them on the shelf in my studio. I started to give my girls sewing lessons on Fridays and as they grow up, they'll remember that this jar of thread from their great grandmothers house sat on the shelf in my sewing room with their name on it. I'll give it to them when they get married.

I also asked for some of her old table cloths that nobody else wanted. I'm going to cut them up and make aprons out of them to give to the girls in the family as a keepsake - Mamaw was a wonderful cook and wore an apron when in the kitchen. I thought that would be a cool thing to put in the kitchen to remember her by - don't we all have a recipe from our family we make that everyone loves? Passing it down through the family - creating and making traditions, I love all of those things.

What kinds of traditions or family memories do you have? Post a comment and commenter #15 will "win" a little square pin cushion I've made. :>)

Happy Birthday Momma!

I'd like to say I have an excuse for forgetting my Mom's birthday except it happens every year. First, my brother on August 28th and then my Mom on the 30th. I forget every year. I was actually talking to my Mom on the phone for like 45 minutes on the 30th and discussing dates for something when I said, "Is today your birthday Mom?". "Yyyyess" Doh! What a bad daughter!

Earlier this week, after my Mom's birthday, I found one of those cards that have sound...when you open it says something like, "I like presents. I like you. You make me feel all gooey, gooey, goo!". Very funny - I thought. I planned on making my Mom a gift before they head up east next week for their fall trip. BUT...I got sick. Bummer. 101' temperature for 2 days - I'm not a good patient. I was very cranky. Especially since I'm breastfeeding my 4 month old and I can't really take a lot of meds. I finally called my doc and said, HELP! He said to take some advil and that kicked my aches and fever almost instantly. Still got a head full of goop but feeling much better.

As I was slowly recouping this morning, I went down to my studio to knock out a gift for my Mom since they were up here today at my girls school for "grandparents day". I met her and my Dad at the school this afternoon and gave her this bag with a matching accessory bag. I also made a little flower pin and put a super cute new button I got recently (see one of my older posts - I've been doing a LOT of shopping lately) on the bag. My Mom is big on quilts so I made this all patchwork like a quilt. She loved it. Whew...good thing!

I also worked on a new item for the Spring collection. I already have at least 4 new bags that will be coming out in March. In addition, I'll be doing aprons, mother and daughter in different designs, ready for release at the end of February - just in time to order for gift giving on Mother's Day. Until then, if you host a Two Peas trunk show, you'll receive an apron for your hostess gift. I HEART APRONS - they rock. I love how they are kind of vintage but with a modern twist - and it just feels so "june cleaver" like to wear one. I wear one all the time when I'm at home. You girlfriends of mine know that - drop by unexpected and chances are, I'll be at the front door to greet you in my crazy, freebie, Martha Stewart apron.

So, here's a preview of the apron that the hostess for the party on Sunday will be receiving. I think I'm going to add a flounce along the bottom next time. Too much? The more girly the better I think - we'll try it out next go round and see.

Eliza Jane made me some chocolate chip cookies today - Ken told her I was craving some while I was sick. (she's a neighbor to the park where he works). So, thank you.

Labor Day - I'm exhausted!

Can we squeeze in just one more thing before summer ends? Wow! I'm pooped. We started at the ice cream social for our historical society. The Taylor family kids entertained all at the old school house with their civil war dress and fantastic music. They were amazingly talented.

We went to our festival in town two days in a row. The girls had fun riding the rides. I enjoyed my frescante from Harvest Moon, the local coffeehouse - nice and cold. Much needed this weekend - it was HOT! The parade was really, really long and I think every politician in Franklin and Fairfield county walked the route. I bribed the girls to go home...I said, "you can either ride another ride and drop $6 for a single ride (for both girls) OR I'll take you to the store right now and you can take that $6 and get a new petshop and let us all go home". They made a beeline for the car - it was great. We found a pool that was clearanced for $9 and brought that home too. They were perfectly happy - and I was very happy to be able to sit in my own home without being bumped about by sweaty people and smelling greasy fair food. We had yummy beef stroganoff that I made with extra mushrooms, just like they like it!

Now - on to the rush that the month of September will be for me. It's only the 1st and already, I can NOT wait for it to be October! My favorite FAVORITE holiday is in October...Halloween! We always have a halloween party and I decorate with Halloween villages and spider webs and fun and creepy things all over. Love it!! And my favorite? Trick or treating in our historical downtown district. It is just the coolest hometown experience. Everybody decorates outside, dresses up, makes a big production out of trick or treat. I'm saving up for the octopus carnival ride to add to my haunted village - it's at Michaels. You gotta check out all their village pieces! Very fun! I fall asleep dreaming of all the fun we'll have in October - that will get me through the hectic drudgery of September.