Sunday Stash

'Rocket Scientist' byKeri Beyer for In The Beginning Fabrics. The small rocket print has the big, black rockets along the selvage edge. I love these prints, I bought them and have no plans for them. I think they are so cute I dont want to cut into them!

Homemade Laundry soap

I made up my first batch of laundry soap this week! Thanks Melissa G. for giving me the recipe, it was super simple. She pointed me to the Well Tell Me forums, which has lots of natural living great info on it!

I bought a box of borax for about $2, a box of washing soda for $2.89 I think, and I got the soap from my SIL. I can make up something like 25 or so gallons of laundry soap, and I use 2 cups per load. (lots of baby stains and work stains on our laundry!) This ends up being pennies per load.

Grate 1 bar of soap into a saucepan with water. You can use any natural soap, Fels Naptha is popular. I used soap from my SIL becasue I know it doesnt irritate our super ultra sensitve excema prone skin. (plus I want to support her shop!)

Heat over low heat until the soap is dissolved in the water.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket with hot water and add soap. Stir to combine, then add 1 cup of washing soda (not baking soda) and 1 cup of borax. Mix well.
The soap can be used right away, and has a lovely silky color to it just like other free and clear laundry soap I have bought in the past.

I think the next time I make this, I will use half the water, and instead use half the amount of soap per load, making a more concentrated laundry soap.

If anybody local is on the fence about handmade cleaners, I would be happy to share some with you :)
Does anybody have any handmade wood cleaner recipes? Something that doesnt leave my wood tables looking so dull?

WIP Wednesday

I just finished up the handmade goodies for my swap package last night. I would post pictures, but I don't know if my swap partner is out there lurking! I just need to pick up a few more goodies to fill up the box, and it will be on it's way this weekend! How is everyone else coming along? Swap packages need to be mailed ONE WEEK from today!!!!

I have been working on colors with Cristian. I got the idea for the color sorting from Brother See, Sister Do and Giddy Goat pointed out this fun color sorting activity. I think I am going to pick up some pom poms next time I am at the store!
I got some lacing cards at Hobby Lobby and Cristian does really well with them! I thought he was going to have a hard time with the tiny holes and laces, but he sat next to me quietly while I was hand sewing! I had out my thread the other day, and I found Cristian sorting all the same type of spools, and telling me what colors they were! He called pink 'green' a few times, but I think he just loves the color green :)

Anybody else have any fun color sorting ideas? Or know somewhere that I can get lacing cards that aren't just flimsy cardboard and will actually stand up to repeated use by a toddler?

Sunday Stash

Some yummy Robert Kaufman fabrics I picked up this weekend. The one on the left is 'Fruit Basket' and is printed in Japan. The one on the right is 'You got the notion'. The woman at the fabric shop said she was going to make curtains for her sewing room with the thread spools fabric. What a cute idea!

You can see more Sunday Stash'ers over on 1/4 of an inch's blog here.

WIP Wednesday

on Thursday day again. oh well.

Chiquitin hasn't been sleeping at night, and lays awake crying for hours for some unknown reason. (sigh). Last night was the second night I have layed awake for around 3 hours trying to soothe him.

At least his is taking a nice nap now. Despite Cristian's effort to try and wake him up..

I have been trying to put together a custom order for a friend of mine. She wants some baby toys for her sons Easter basket. I made up these blocks for Chiquitin, and to try to work out any mistakes. There is a musical button is one block, and the other two make crinkly sounds. These are great for sensory play, with satin, corduroy, cotton and minky fabric as well as plenty of ribbons.

I got these fabrics from Jill, we arranged a personal I Spy fabric swap. She sent me the fun Nancy Wolf fabric on the right as an extra surprise. What a sweetie!

I was exhausted and tired yesterday and did not want to sew anything. I have about 6 wips right now, and that is about 4 too many for my linking.. After I got the swap package, I wanted to use some of the fabrics, so I made a little I Spy soft book! You can see the other pages on my flickr if you want.. This will be great to put in Chiquitin's Easter basket along with the blocks.

I got all my fabrics washed and ironed for my DQS6. The top left fabric is linen, which I plan to embroidering on.

***I have sent out all the partner emails for the Easter Bunny Children's Swap. If you haven't received your partners info, please get in touch with me!***

Easter Bunny Children's Swap

Just a quick post-
*Signups are now closed for this swap*
There is an amzing 46 swappers this round! I have everybody paired up. I will be sending out partner info emails in the next day or two.
IF YOU DO NOT GET AN EMAIL FROM ME, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH! weepereas@yahoo.com
Please remember you have until April 1st to send out your package. Earlier is always nice though! Please email me when you have sent AND received so that I know there were no flakers and everybody was taken care of.
Happy Swappin!

Making Progress?

We started potty training Cristian 3 weeks ago. No more diaper- straight to real underwear. Up until 2 days ago he had used the potty seccesfully 3 times. Yeah.. 3 times in two and half weeks..

Then yesterday, I started to finally 'get' what he signs were before he had to go.. He actually told me 'potty' yesterday two times (with 3 accidents). And today we had no accidents, and he used the potty 4 times!

Yeah! I just wanted to share my excitement! Even is he starts having frequent accidents again, at least I got some sort of relief for one day!

Oh, this picture has nothing to do with potty training. It just feels old to post without a picture. This is little Chiquitin giving Cristian a big plancha. (kina like a belly-flop onto another person)

WIP Wednesday

Sign ups for the Easter Bunny Children's Swap are still open! Details here!


I have been working on trying to get my shop together, and trying to improve my packaging and such.

I ordered a scale last night so I can put together the majority of my package at home. It will also mean I can print shipping labels from home, and tracking info will be sent to the recipient with out having to pay the extra 75 cents from the post office.

I ordered these stamp from a shop on Etsy. Terbear Collectibles has some amazing quality stamps, and did a great job of making some stamps for my shop. She even added in that too cute birdy stamp :)



I ordered these business cards from Vista Print. Super easy, and more discounts keep coming after you order. I googled a coupon code and got almost half off my order.
Sorry the picture is so crappy and fuzzy, it isn't easy to get a picture of something with small print!


I have some new crayon booklets I will be adding to the shop this week, and I have picked up some new fabrics to make new styles from. You can check those out on my flickr if you want...


The Easter Bunny Children's Swap is doing amazingly well! There is 36 participants signed up right now! I have a few international participants, so if anybody would want to be paired up with somebody outside of the states, just let me know!


Also, LFinnDesigns is putting together a FQ swap if anybody is interested or missed the Sew Mama Sew FQ swap. Check out the details here.

Doll Quilt Swap

I am participating in my very first doll quilt swap! This will be the first quilt I do too! Glad I will have my Aunt Susan to help me along the way and answer all my questions! Here is a few of my fav's I have spotted on flickr..

1.Alphabet quilt, 2. For the birds, 3. black and white, 4. Insomnia but productive, 5. DQS5 Detail, 6. Soda Shop, 7. Drunk Love Two Tone, 8. Pillow cover, 9. Swappy goodness From Sarah, 10. Orange and Grey Stroller Quilt, 11. Autumn in the Park, 12. Fav. Things December Mini, 13. Monkey Charm Squares, 14. Green quilt, 15. Stacked Coins Baby Quilt

created using fd's flickrtoys.

A Few things that drew me to these quilts, or things that I would love to receive:

Love the unexpected color combination of orange and gray. or even yellow and grey.Love how different shades of green look together.Love anything that is fun, cute kiddy and whimsical. And not just because I have two children.Would love to get something to hang in my children's room. Rockets, trucks, cars, robots..

I like bright, bold, modern fabric. My favorite designers are Alexander Henry and Michael Miller. I LOVE Moda as well. I love polka dots. I like modern and fun quilt styles. Love cute zakka type Japanese prints.

I am not really into pinks, or anything really girly. Or anything drab dark, or civil war reprints. Or batiks. I do not like Amy Butler prints. I do not like shabby chic florals, or anything country. If you don't know what to do, you could always ask my Aunt Susan, a swap mama for this swap to drop you some hints! :O)

A little bit about me..

First time I picked up a needle was in elementary school. My grandmother received a bag of fabric and quilt scraps from her church. I hand stitch little pieces of knit to make my barbies some tube tops :O).

I dug into the quilt squares in 7Th grade and tried to make my first quilt. I ran out of pieces, didn't know what to do with binding, and got discouraged. I wonder what happened to that top..hmm.

Started thrifting and upcycling clothes and fabric in 9Th grade. This is when my love and passion for sewing really grew. I started to make patchwork clothes, and started to sell the patchwork clothing at various music festivals. I didn't have a vendors license, so I gave 25% of my earnings to my 'friend' in exchange. Towards the end of the summer (and end of the music festivals for the year) I had all my clothing and handmade items stored with my friend. She moved, I lost contact and she ended up swapping all my goods:( I had no written inventory, no way to prove anything. So it ended up being a hard lesson learned.

I started sewing again once I got pregnant with my second son. I don't know what it was about being in my 3rd trimester in the middle of a hot summer, but I got the crafty bug again. Since then I have opened up my Etsy shop, selling handmade children's items. My two son's are my constant inspiration for my shop. Currently I like to embroider and sew, would love to get experience quilting, want to make some softies, and I am sure something else will come along that will strike my fancy :O)

My First Award!

Sign ups are still open for the Easter Bunny Children's Swap! Details here!

I received my very first blog award! This award was given to me by Adrienne over at Crafty mom of 1. She was my swap partner for the Handmade swap over at Bird and Little Bird, and gave me (or rather, my son) a lovely Ruby doll. Remember her sweetness?

Ok, Here are the Rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link this post to the person from whom you received your award.
The Lemonade Award is passed to bloggers for showing great Attitude and/or Gratitude.

The bloggers that I would like to pass the award to is:

1. My lovely friend over at Brother see, Sisters Do. Besides being a faithful blogger that I actualyl know in person, I still fing her blog very inspiring. She is always doing crafty things with her kiddos, and somehow surives the long winters here in stride. Oh, did I mention she has twin toddlers? I get a bit crazy with just having one toddler ...

2. Montessori Spanish. This is a wonderful blog full of lots of great things to do with your children and fun new exciting ways to teach them. Even if you aren't rasing your children Montessori, you will be sure to find some neat stuff over there.

3. Jo over at Smilemonsters. She particpated in the Children's Valentine swap, and her she is always doing something creative over at her blog.

Pink Petunias is having a giveaway for a Japanese softie book! How generous! Go check it out! (But dont win, becasue I want it :) )

WIP Wednesday

Easter Bunny Children's Swap sign ups are still open! Click here for details! There are a total of 24 partners already!



Trying to get organized. I tried going through and reorganizing by color, but I realized I don't look for fabric by color, but if it is a boyish print, or a girly one! I bought these canvas bins to try to help organize little things, it used to be all stored in a empty diaper box... Eventually I will make cooler tags to go into the slots. Trying to restock my shop. I had an amazing 8 sales from Friday- Monday. My busiest yet! I didn't expect the sale to go over so well last weekend. I received a couple of custom orders for crayon booklets as well. I think I may need to make more than what I have cut out here.. The finished one on top is a custom order from Hong Kong! It will be my first international and custom order!

And in case you were getting sick of craft only posts, here is my little Chiquitin. Not so little any more. :)

A new week..

'Easter Bunny Children's Swap Sign ups are open! Check here for details!

I have lots of plans of things to make this week, it will be great to see how much I actually get done :) I should at the very least have my new diaper bag completed.

For all the mothers out there who are rushing around and feeling like they are always at a breaking point I want you to read this post from MommyCoddle. Just great.

This is what I sent for my children's book swap. I just love Maurice Sendak. I received a nice stack of books from

Driving Girl. This swap was hosted by Reading to Know. The book on the top right is a collection of fun, very simple crafts you can do with children. Most of them require no more than recyclables from around the house, like a wipes container, or toilet paper tube. This will be fun to go through on days when my craft basket has been worn out by my toddler.

The Fabric Shopper has a very lovely giveaway for some gorgeous Japanese prints! Check it out here.

Easter Bunny Children's Swap

*Signups are now closed*
(To add this blog button to your blog: download/save the picture to your computer. Go to'page elements' then 'add a gadget' and click on picture. Upload the picture, then insert the link to this blog post where it says' link'. If that didnt work, please contact me!)

Another Swap is finally here!



Sign ups start today,March 1st. Sign ups will close March 15Th. You will receive your partner's info by the 18Th.

Send out is April 1st, to allow plenty of time for your package to arrive before Easter.



This will be a fun Easter themed Children's Swap. You are welcome to send everything related to Easter, or anything springy and fun for the child or mom. You do not have to stick to specifically Easter related items to send.



Requirements:

For this swap you will be sending:

1 Easter/Spring children's book or craft item, and three items. Please send at least one item for the child and one for the Mother.

Any extras you send will just make your partners happier :)


Some ideas of what to send: A Easter story book, A Easter coloring book with crayons/colored pencils/ markers, Easter foam shapes, An Easter do it yourself craft kit, stuffed animal/softie, Easter or spring themed rubber stamps for children, cute hair barrettes if you have a little girl, stickers, toys, soap or bath items for the mom, crafty items for the mom, anything you would love to receive yourself!


Remember, Etsy is a great place to look for cute handmade items to include in your package. Be creative and put together a swap package you know your partners will LOVE. Once you receive your partner's questionnaire, it should be easy for you to choose things you know the mom and child will enjoy!


**If you have more than one child, please specify if you would like to do ONE swap box for all the children together and send ONE to someone else. OR if you would like separate swap boxes for each child, in which case you will be sending more than one also!!!**

**You do not have to be a momma to participate- grandmas are welcome to participate with their grand kids as well!!! :) Just specify that in your filled out form!!**


First time swappers are welcome, and you do not have to have a blog to participate. However I REALLY want to stress how important it is to follow through on this swap- there will be kids waiting to open their swap boxes, so please do not participate if you are going to flake on this!!! Feel free to contact me with any question you have about putting your swap package together.

If you would like to participate, leave me a comment on this post and please email me at weepereas (at) yahoo (dot) com with your answers to the following questionnaire:

Name:
Email Address:
Mailing Address:
Child(ren)'s name:
Child's age:
Child's clothing size:
Likes/dislikes for you:
Likes/dislikes for your child(ren):
Would you like to receive candy in this swap?:
(I ask this because Easter tends to be a candy oriented holiday as it is..)
Any other info that would be helpful to your partner?
(type of crafting you do, styles you like, something your child is really into right now..)

If you do NOT email me your questionnaire, I will not include you in the swap! I will email you back when I receive your filled out form and confirm that I have your name down for the swap, so if you don't receive an email confirmation from me, email me again!! I may have missed the email.

*First time swappers are more than welcome to join this swap. Children of all ages love receiving mail, and it can be a lot of fun to have them help you pick out items to send. If this will be your first swap, please let me know if your sign up email, and I can offer you some suggestions or tips for putting together a great package.*