A little visitor!

We have a little guest! A robin has built a nest outside our family room! I noticed her over the weekend when I was doing dishes. The nest is built on the top of the vent of the wall heater and we have a clear view of her from the kitchen. The kids have been very interested in her also and we regularly peer out of the window to see what she is up to. I went out a couple days ago to see if she has any eggs, and was excited to see one bright blue egg in her nest. In my research on robins the smallest clutch of eggs is usually 2, but who knows. I also haven't seen a male anywhere in the area, which is also strange since the male usually stays close by to protect his mate. I hope nothing has happened to him.

So hopefully we'll see a little hatchling in less than 2 weeks, which will delight the kids. I'm pretty excited too! And we are fine with the spot she has chosen...much better than the pair last year who decided to build a nest on the light fixture just outside our front door. Not that we use that door much, but the mail lady didn't like the birds and stopped delivering mail. We were more than a little irritated since no one from USPS bothered to let us know that there was an issue. We had even put out a box for the mail off the porch so the birds would have some privacy, but apparently that wasn't good enough. Ah well.

Take a peek at a couple of pictures from 2 days ago. I'm going to try to take pics every few days, but I don't want to disturb her too much. She does seem to appreciate the birdbath we put nearby. If she is a single bird mom, at least she won't have to go too far for water.

I'm hoping to do a little crafting later today...I've been cleaning quite a bit in anticipation of some pals of hubby's to come by for the Red Wings game tonight. Go Wings! :)

On a crafty roll!

Tonight I give myself a pat on the back. I was given a sewing machine in 2000 by my best friend and used it now and then. I guess it was because I was a little afraid of this strange piece of machinery because in my high-and-mighty high school years I was offended by the thought that I should take Home Ec. I was a liberal feminist darnit and I wasn't going to fall into stereotypes of what girls should learn! (Ah, the good old days). Which is funny because I always loved working with my hands, and actually did want to learn how to sew. I would watch my mother make our Halloween costumes and would be fascinated by strips of green sequins or the rustle of satin fabric or the tiny script on the tissue paper of dress patterns. But I had an obsession with "old fashioned" notions of sewing and wanted to sew by hand. I studied vintage encyclopedias that did stereotype what girls should be learning and pored over the instructions for embroidering hankies and the like. I was such a confused child and my mother must have just shook her head knowing how stubborn I was when I was sure I was right (something I still struggle with as an adult, I admit it!).

So as I grew I had to learn how to sew a button, and if a hem came out of my pants I resorted to stapling it in a pinch until I could get it to the tailor. And here's an ironic thing. I worked in a tuxedo shop for years in high school and college and I can hem a pair of tuxedo pants on the hemming machine like nobody;s business. I still can eyeball a guy into his suit size pretty accurately, I'm proud to say!

Now that I'm a mom and have a little girl I'm trying to find my inner sewer. So I broke out the old sewing machine and decided to try making a skirt for her. Being four, she is obsessed with skirts and would wear them every day if mean old Mommy would let her. Alas, Michigan weather sides with me during the winter so she is doomed to wear pants for the past several months. Now that it's getting warmer I'm not only agreeing to the skirts, but now adding to the collection. :) I found a great pattern courtesy of Dana. Check out her blog, it's good reading. I picked up a half yard of cotton fabric at Joanns and went to work. I'm happy with how it turned out...took me a little longer than it will for someone who is familiar with their machine, but once I got in the groove, I was able to finish it in a couple of hours. (The sewing was easy, but getting an even cut was driving me nuts!) Needless to say, it was super cute, my daughter loves it and I figured out some things about my sewing machine. There were some scraps left over so I even made a quick skirt for her Bitty Baby! It was fun, and I'm already planning on making a second skirt for her, but not tonight. Now it's ridiculously late and I really need to sleep.

Goodnight! :)

Birthday card!

Hi everyone! Just a quick post...I meant to post a picture of this card before but in the transition from my old blog to new I didn't have a chance. I made this card for my hubby following a tutorial by Kristina Werner (starofmay on YouTube). It takes a little time setting up the rays and cutting them out, but nothing longer than the other paper piecing projects popping up all over YouTube lately. The paper collection is by Basic Grey and has a decidedly masculine feel. The cardstock is Kraft by Stampin Up (I'm still going through my stash and haven't picked up the new Crumb Cake color). My hubby wouldn't be thrilled with flowers or bling, so the only embellishment I used was button (also by Basic Grey) with a bit of embroidery floss used to tie a knot. I then spelled out the sentiment using black letter stickers and added some black stitching lines around the card. Very simple, but I loved how it turned out.

I did work on some more Easter decorations last night but havent finished yet. Hopefully I'll finish it tonight and be able to post some pics. For now, it's off to work on another grey, drizzly April morning. :)

Easter crafts

I am such a scatterbrained mommy! Here it is, 5 days before Easter and I haven't put up any decorations or done any crafts. But today I was doing a bit of surfing and checking out some great blogs full of family crafts. My Google Reader is full of new blog posts to check out. :)

One of the blogs I happened upon was Moments of Mommyhood which had a post for Footprint Ducklings. Super simple, but sure to bring out the giggles. So after I got home from work and we had dinner I grabbed 2 sheets of paper, some yellow craft paint, a foam brush and lots of paper towels. I started with my son and the promised giggles and squeals were plentiful as I brushed the paint on the bottom of his foot. A quick press on the paper and VOILA! Next came my daughter, who suddenly became shy and didn't want to get her foot painted. Well eventually we got the deed done and even the cat came to check out the activity on the kitchen floor. Naturally she got right in the way and is still sporting a yellow-tipped ear. lol

Then came the fun part, creating the scene for these little ducklings. See the pics below. In the first my daughter is working very hard on the spread wings that her duckling got, and in the second, my sons final picture. All in all a quick and easy craft that the kids are very proud of!

Tomorrow, a few more decorations hopefully!

Welcome!

First post of a new blog...exciting and intimidating at the same time. For those who were directed here via my old blog at Wordpress, nice to see you again! For those checking me out for the first time, a big warm welcome to you! If you are interested in checking out any of my previous blog posts from my Wordpress blog, you can do so by clicking here. Ok, so the big question: Why am I changing blogs? Well, I'm not overly techy, and figuring out html code and widgets and blinkies, and etc, etc...yikes! So I think as I go along learning all about that stuff this will be a comfortable place to do it. Forgive me in advance for the mistakes I'll make as I go along. Next question: What's the point of this blog? Well, I'm a crafter and hope to share some of my projects. I'm hoping to reach out to other crafters and find some kindred spirits along the way. I have a whole world outside of crafting too, so I'm sure some of that will sneak in here now and then. Beyond that, who knows? I'm always open to suggestions! So again, welcome to this blog. I hope that you'll find enjoyable things here, maybe even a little inspiration for your own projects. And I hope to get to know you & other bloggers too! Let me know if there is someone I should check out - it's a big blogosphere out there!