Blog Swap with Kaysi from Keepin it Simple!

Hello everyone! I am super excited to be here with you today!! Missy is so creative and talented! She just amazes me with everything that she has done!

Let me introduce myself, I'm Kaysi

from Keeping It Simple.

Here are a few things about me:

I am the mother of three boys, ages 5, 3 and 1

I have been married to an amazing man for 6 years

I love chocolate!!

I love color, green is my favorite but brown and blue are up there

I like to keep things simple, not overdo them

When I get a spare moment, I love to craft or look at crafts

I enjoy singing and dancing

Each day of the week, I have something different.

Motivate me Monday, that's where I have link party and you get to show me all the cute things that you have done.

Tutorial Tuesday, I give a tutorial of a craft that I have done

Whatever Wednesday, this is my day that I put anything up.

Scrapbook Thursday, this is the day that I post a scrapbook idea or give a scrapbook tip

Fridays are the days that I do Blog swaps with other bloggers.

Here are a few things that you can see at my blog:

Reversible Skirt

Decoration

A Dry Erase Board

Cookie Sheet Calendar

Scrapbook ideas

Spiderman Room

You should stop on by and see what else I have!!

Thanks Missy for doing this swap with me, it's been fun!

A new addiction

See this pile, this is how I was storing my fabric. It was fine for a while, that is until the addiction really began. I am absolutely addicted to fabric! It used to be scrapbook paper, and now I am 100% addicted to sewing and fabric! Quit shops are my new favorite destination! So I had an idea, and since I have a brilliant husband, he was able to take the idea right out of my head and build it! We used an old bookcase that was out in the garage, so it was also free! 

So while he was busy building I was cutting foam core board and making my own mini bolts of fabric.

I took a piece of 20 x 30 foam core board, and cut it down to 10 x 7.5 You can get 8 from one sheet.

Next I wrapped the fabric around the bolts, the great thing about them being foam board is that you can use stick pins to secure the loose ends.

Now the shelf is done, and on the wall, ready to organize my delicious selections of fabric! 

Here it is up in my craft room! It is beyond perfect! 

Now it's time to sew, I am making some great bags and purses, more to come on that! 

Thank you Randy Pausch

"If you’re going to have childhood dreams you should have great parents who let you pursue them and express your creativity"

— Randy Pausch

I read a great book a few years ago, The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. That book has really stuck with me, especially when it comes to my kids. 

Zach came home from daycare yesterday with this great plan to paint rocks and then sell them. Just plain old rocks from the driveway. So he got all set up with his paints, and painted rocks for 3 hours. He put them under the fan to make sure they dried, and made a sign to put up at his table so people knew to stop.

He asked me if he could have a sale, and I said of  course you can. So I now needed to make sure his little dream wasn't crushed, so I made some calls and posted his rock sale on my Facebook page. 

""Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes." pg 133, The Last Lecture"
— Randy Pausch

Now I have to tell you that I have great friends, in fact I have some of the best friends anyone could ask for, and I knew they would come by, and of course they did, because that is what you do for each other, support each other and their dreams, as well as your children's dreams. So the fact that my friends all came over and spent $2 for a rock, did not surprise me at all. What did surprise me were all the people that stopped that we didn't even know. The only thing his little sign said was "stop". No "Rock Sale", no special fund raiser, just Stop. And there he stood waiving to all the cars as they drove by, and perfect strangers gave my son $2 for a rock that he painted, just because. 

Now I hate to admit this, but I normally don't stop when I see a lemonade stand. But that will never happen again. I will ALWAYS stop when I see kids on the side of the road no matter what they are selling. I will even keep cash n my car, just for those occasions, as I am not a person who normally has cash on me. 

So thank you Randy Pausch for the amazing things that I learned from reading your book and watching your lecture, you were an amazing man, and this world truly needs more people like you. And Thank you to everyone who stopped and gave my little Zach money for a hand painted rock. 

"Follow your passions, believe in karma, and you won't have to chase your dreams, they will come to you."
— Randy Pausch

"Time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think." 

— Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture)

Have you seen Quilt Taffy?

So the gals over at So you think you can decorate are having a giveaway for the contestants. 

It is form a little Etsy store called Quilt Taffy.

Gorgeous Fabrics! 

Besides the Gorgeous Fabrics, they also provide excellent customer service! 

This is the kit I bought. I am going to make some type of blanket or quilt out of it, not sure which yet! 

She can make a custom order for you in under 5 minutes, how do I know? I asked, and it was done! That fast! No kidding!!! It was shipped out and I bet I will have it this week! 

So now go check out the 3 fabulous ladies left in the running at SYTYCD! Be sure to vote for your favorite! And then go check out some really fun fabrics over at Quilt Taffy! Have a great day! 

How to stay busy after surgery

To start you need a good work space. I decided Wednesday night after work that I needed a table I could use while being confined to the recliner for a few days after surgery. I am not good at taking it easy, and I like to keep busy. Now I have the space and can keep busy while staying off my leg like I am supposed to! 

Lots of room for all my supplies, and my hubby put wheels on the bottom so I can easily push it away and pull it in once I am all settled into my chair. 

I had bough a couple of patterns and fabric before I hurt my leg, so I was all set with projects to work on. Here are a couple that I finished.

Tote bags with two outside pockets, I think I will be making more of these to sell. All the fabric used was once again from Hannah Johnson's Fabric shop! She has the best around!!

Now this next project was 80 steps, it took 2 days, but I am done! 

Messenger bag with a laptop sleeve. Lots of pockets and zippers, this will be great once I go back to work. It even has a spot for my blackberry! 

This bag, I will not be selling, this is the one and only! It was a lot of work! But I love it!! 

Thanks for looking, Happy Sewing! 

Spring Door Decor

I finally got around to update pictures of how I decorated my door shelf for spring! I change the decor out every season, it is one of my favorite pieces in my house. I actually did this about a month ago and am just getting around to posting it! Better late than never, right! 

Here is a wreath I made, along with Mr. Green Jeans perched in the center! 

This decor may stick around all summer too, I can always add some fresh flowers to brighten it up!

Under the knife-again

So did you know that 20% of all knee surgery's don't work? I dind't know that either, and unfortunatly I am in that 20%. Saturday I went to Micheal's, I was picking up some terra cotta pots for my latest fun project and as I stood up with pots in habd I began to loose my balance a bit and as I kept from falling I must have twisted my knee just enough, the next thing I heard was a "pop" and then came the pain.

Thinking I could "walk it off" I went to the front of the store to get a cart so I could still get my pots, pain still there. Drove to Home depot, needed paint, pain still there. So I spent the rest of my weekend getting reaquainted with my recliner, bottle of advil, & my trusty friend, the Ice pack. 

My knee is the still the size of a grapefruit and I am on Dr's orders to stay off of it until Thursday when he can go back in and fix it...again! Lets hope this one works this time.  I guess now I can get caught up on my reading!