It's Here....

My Etsy shop is finally up and running and I am beside myself with excitement. I can't even express to you how nervous I was when I first started uploading pictures though. Goodness. I had to laugh at myself when I noticed what date it said the shop was opened...Sept of 2008! Seriously, 2008. It has taken me two years to get the courage up to do this. I have no idea why. Now that I've done it, it's not nearly as scary. So head on over and check me out on Etsy and favorite my shop too (if you'd be so kind). Here are a few of my favorites in the shop right now...

I'm just slowly adding things as I go along but will try to upload a new type of project weekly so keep checking back for all the great new items. And don't worry, the blog isn't going to become just one big advertisement. There will still be plenty of pictures of the girls, regular life and lots of general craftiness.

Rodeo Parade

The weather was actually cool enough today that we decided to get out and head to the Rodeo Parade in town. I was excited because we hadn't gotten to take Kinsley to a parade in a long time because the weather has been so miserably hot. We got there in plenty of time to get a great seat and weren't even too impatient as we waited for it to start.

The nice cold watermelon probably helped pass the time though. One of her favorite summertime treats so it worked out nicely. It was pretty good too.

Can you see it yet? I love this picture so much. She was serious about watching for the start of the parade and was so excited when she heard the sirens. It was only the 3rd parade she's ever been too and the first time she was really big enough to enjoy it a lot. While we waited for the parade we talked about what we were most excited to see. The horses were a big one. Thankfully it was a rodeo parade so there were more horses than she could ever want to see.

Check out her finger making sure I knew there was a horse out there! Too cute. And of course what little kid doesn't want them to throw candy. Well throw candy they did. I have never seen a little kid come away from a parade with so much candy. I swear they don't get this much at Halloween. It helped that we weren't surrounded by a bunch of older kids so she didn't have that competition. We were on a corner with one other mom and her daughter and a bunch of adults so these two little girls made quite a haul.

And became instant friends. They were so sweet together helping each other get candy and holding hands. In this picture they each have their free hand over their ears because of the firetruck sirens. They were LOUD! But not loud enough to make them stop holding hands.

She even managed to snag a teddy bear that one of the organizations were giving out. After she got her bear she sat down on the curb next to her mountain of candy and said "mama I'm done". It was too funny. We still had lots of parade left to see though. The shriners of course are always a big hit (and one of my favorites) and I loved the old tractors.

I'd say it was a great day indeed. And now I'm off to join the girls for nap time--we're exhausted.

Flannel Bib & Burp Cloth Set

I've been working on photographing a few things that I've completed in the past month. I swear it takes me as long to photograph something as it does to actually make it. I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to the pictures. So at the insistence, I mean request, of a friend I took some more pictures today. Here's a sneak peek at one of the bib & burp cloth sets that I've made for the shop. I love this pink flannel and it's backed with a solid black flannel so it is reversible too. I used velcro for the bib closure because I don't know about you but my daughter never sat still and trying to fasten a button or even a snap was nearly impossible.

I have several more sets like this (but in different fabrics) that will hit the shop the end of this week. I can't wait.

Crochet Cinnamon Rolls

By far the most used toy our daughter has is her pint sized kitchen. Santa brought it to her last year and not a day has gone by since that it hasn't been played with. Thank goodness Santa found a great deal on an awesome wooden kitchen on Craigslist. And rumor has it that one of Santa's helpers was up until the wee hours of the night Christmas Eve painting it. It was more than worth the lack of sleep that the pregnant elf endured though. ;)

Since we had such a great wooden kitchen, I knew we wouldn't be happy with just a tub full of plastic food (although we do have some) so off I went exploring the world of handmade play food. There are so many great patterns and tutorials on the web for making play food for your little one. And great Etsy shops to buy it already made. We started out simple with a few felt strawberries and as her culinary skills have expanded so has my crafting.

After a special sweet breakfast one morning my big girl said she wished she had some cinnamon rolls too so what's a crafty mama to do? Find a way to make some of course. I found this great crochet pattern and got started. They whipped up in no time and now she has an entire pan full of sweet goodness. The pattern calls to put icing on the top but I didn't like the way it turned out so these cinnamon rolls are the fresh out of the oven pre-icing variety.

Since I've been sitting in this recliner pretty much 24/7 recovering (which is going quite well) I had lots of time to add a few more for her and I've also been working on some baby afghans for the shop, in non girly colors none the less. Stay tuned for those...

Look Out Etsy...

Here I come! I've been toying with the idea of opening an Etsy shop for a while now. I don't know why I've had such a hard time committing to it. Fear of rejection? Maybe. Lack of time to complete anything worthy of being sold? Probably. Regardless, I have finally decided to take the leap. I've been working on a few different items to list in the shop and of course the majority are baby related right now. I can't help it I'm surrounded by baby. :) I've really had to make myself remember to craft for boys too. I'm just not used to making boy things but its really kind of fun. But surprisingly hard to find boy fabric that I like locally. Here's one of the boy items I've made though just waiting to hit the shop...

Seriously how cute is this burp cloth? It's a premium 6-ply gerber cloth diaper embellished with pirate fabric and a little embroidery. I have to say it was a lot of fun working with something so not girly. I have a few other boy fabrics spotted and some even ready to be sewn and I can't wait.

I had planned to officially open the shop at the end of last week but knew I wouldn't be up to making any runs to the post office to ship stuff this week so I pushed it back. I'm only 2 days post surgery but I think I'm going to be okay for shipping runs next week so I'm shooting for mid to late next week for the official opening (maybe Thursday?). That will give me time to put the finishing touches on a few projects while I'm still laid up and do some photographing to get things listed in the early part of the week. I'm really excited to take this step but a bit nervous too. I guess if nothing sells I'll be set whenever I need a baby shower gift right?

How are you?

August 9, 2010 002, originally uploaded by RusticOkie.

How is everyone out there in blog land? It feels as though I've been gone for ages and I've missed you all terribly. I finally have the computer and internet both working at the same time and I'm hoping it will stay this way for a while. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Don't you just love her new "tattoo" shirt. She went shopping with the Nana and her cousins and this is what she came home with. She was so excited.

We've been insanely busy it seems too. We've done a lot of playing, some visiting family and helping grandma and grandpa pack for their big move. :(

We finally got to do some swimming too. It was a little scary at first to try the arm floaties on her own but after a while she was all smiles and splashes.

The little one was in the water for about 5 minutes before she couldn't keep her eyes open any more and had to nap in the shade.

We all had a great time though. It's getting to the point where its too hot to even be in the pool so we've been spending a lot of time indoors. The upside is that I've gotten a lot of crafting done and can't wait to share it with you all. I'm going in for my gallbladder surgery tomorrow so this week I'll be doing a whole lot of nothing. It will be the perfect time to show you some things and talk about what's coming next. Until later...

The Two Fastest Months

Of my entire life. I know all mom's say this and I know I've said it before but I can't believe how quickly time is going by. Every day is just speeding by and I feel like I am struggling to get in enough quality time with both girls. Anyone else feel this way? Luckily I'm blessed to be able to work from home and that makes it a ton easier. And me a lot happier too.

She's such a happy baby all the time and yes we realize how lucky we are. Trust me, we paid our dues the first time around. It definitely makes waking up at the crack of dawn a lot easier when its to see a smiling baby instead of a crying one. It amazes me how much she wants to move and see and go already. She loves to stick her tongue out and thinks it's great when you do it back to her. She has incredible head control, probably from watching her big sister run around the house all day. She is beyond in love with her big sister and smiles every time she hears her voice or sees her. They are certainly going to be best friends (at least for a little while). And she loves to "talk". She will just smile and talk all day and it just absolutely melts my heart. I love her so much. I mean how could anyone not love this...

And check out that alfalfa hair she's got going on. Of course that's the only hair she has though. Someone please tell me I'm not the only one with bald headed little girls. Please. I thought Kinsley would never get any hair, but she's definitely made up for it now.

This is why I love crafting though...I pulled Kaitlyn's dress out of the closet and thought she HAD to have a headband to go with it for some reason. Seriously, I have never been into the headband/hairbow for babies craze until now. Kinsley didn't even get her first bows until a few months ago. Now I'm borderline obsessed. Really. Thankfully I have a pretty good stash on hand and figured I could find some colors that might match.

I couldn't believe I found colors that matched so well. This is when I don't feel so guilty for having a huge stash sitting around not being used. Sometimes it comes in handy. And of course since the baby got a new headband the big girl decided she HAD to have one too.

Of course after all of that she only kept it in her hair for about 4 minutes. Thankfully they are pretty quick to make. And no I didn't make either of their dresses, I wish I could take credit for them though. Kaitlyn's dress was a gift from hubby's cousin and his fiancee. Mom gets the credit for Kinsley's tie dye dress. It was actually a size 4/5 girls t-shirt that she saw and thought would make a good dress. Of course that's not surprising since mom's still a hippie at heart and can't pass up anything tie dyed. But I think it works great.

Although mom just informed me that she bought it with the intention of it being a nightgown and not an actual dress. Oops. I still think it's a great dress for my beautiful little hippie. And it makes me really want to tie dye every single piece of white fabric in my house. When the weather cools enough to actually be outside I am on it! Definitely not going to try to do it inside with a 2 year old. Disaster city I fear.

Library Bag and Crayon Roll

Wow original title huh? Oh well I think I used up all my creativity yesterday. Hubby spent the weekend helping his sister move which meant my neice was around to play with the girls and I got to do a TON of crafting. It was a blast. I managed to finally make the library bag I've been promising Kinsley for weeks. I've never met a little girl that likes books as much as she does (well except maybe me when I was little) so naturally the library is a favorite hot spot for us. The problem was that the library books kept getting mixed up with the mountains of our own books we have sitting around. I wanted to make her a bag to transport her library books and to keep them in at home so we wouldn't lose them. When I saw this fabric at Walmart one day I knew it would be perfect. Isn't it great?

I put a little pocket on the outside to store the library card in that way its available to the hubby or my mom if they decide to take her to the library sometime when I'm not there. And how cute is the crayon fabric? I used it for the strap and the lining of the bag too.



And since I'm so creative and original I saw the crayon fabric and thought...CRAYON ROLL! ;) Okay so it wasn't creative or original but I thought it was funny anyway and I've been wanting to make one for a while since they are all over the internet these days. Oh and please forgive the used up mismatched crayons, I just grabbed them out of the crayon basket for the photo.

I'm actually really proud of it and not because it was so hard to make or anything but because its cute and when the kiddo got it out to play this afternoon she said "Mama thank you for making me this to play". Awww. Gotta love it.

I'm actually really proud of this and not because it was so hard to make or anything but because when the big girl got it out to play this afternoon she said "Mama thank you for making this for me to play". Aww, gotta love that. I also made some more play food for her kitchen and have more in the works. I love a productive weekend.