Say Hello to my Little Friends

* Spiderman * Superman * Robin * Batman *

Mission Accomplished. 

Although much more tedious than I initially anticipated these were pretty fun to create. 

I can't wait for the boys to get to play with them tomorrow. 

Definitely need smaller brushes. 

Far from perfect but I think I can call them a success.

I'm kicking around the idea of picking up some more and making the boys a set of our family... 

We'll see how cool or not cool they think these are first. 

Craft Catharsis

I've managed to start crafting again... And it's nice. For real. I find it incredibly therapeutic to just shut off my brain and focus in on something I like to do. 

I made this cute little pot the other day... Well I didn't make it technically, I painted it. It turned out really well and I can't wait to get some seeds growin in there! 

And this is my afternoon project today. I've been searching for those little wooden peg dolls and while at Ben Franklin this morning I found them! To say that I'm excited is an understatement! 

Here's to picking myself up and some craft catharsis! 

Tiny Dragons

Jacob and I have talked about possibly starting to do children's books and educational toys and stuff like that. I know a decent amount about children's learning and he's a great artist. Chances are we won't do it but we've talked about it. If someday we do, we want to name it "Tiny Dragons" because we think it sounds cool. We're dorks.

So today while Liam is napping I felt restless. I wanted to do something but didn't really want to do anything. So I decided to play and make some "business cards" for our not real business.

HAHAHAHA. I am not an artist. But this was too funny to not share. It looks like my children drew those dragons... But they didn't. It was me :)

I think we'll leave the artwork to the hubby. 

Hopefully everyone at least gets a good laugh out of it! 

New bag in the works...

Work in progress. I think I've perfected making pockets this time around! Super excited to get this bag finished up so I can use it!!

Best bag yet!

Definitely the best bag I've made yet. It's pretty plain but really cute. Honestly, photos don't really do it justice. I've stopped following tutorials online pretty much entirely and just kind of browse for tips and techniques now. It's really cool to watch something I saw in my head 'come to life.' The worst part is the lack of fabric stores on the island and the insane prices I find inside the few that are near here. I can find lots online but I'm just not comfortable enough yet with types of fabric to trust not being able to actually touch it.
Everything else in life pretty much sucks. I'm still feeling super sick. Honestly I just don't really feel up to blogging about anything important so I guess were going to just be stuck with craft blogs for awhile... I must admit sewing is now bordering on being an obsession but there's a therapeutic value to it that I am so incredibly thankful for...

Body aches, sneezes, and coughs OH MY!

Well Jack and I are both sick. Jacob was getting sick late last week but was better by Sunday. But it's fair to assume that we were infected by Jacob. We haven't really gone anywhere and Jack's tutors have been healthy recently so we're blaming Jacob :)
Yesterday was definitely the worst day so far. I woke up this morning and felt better and Jack looked significantly better as well. As the day has worn on I'm feel really achy and icky again. The boys are taking a super long nap right now so hopefully that means Jack's little body is working on kickin' this bug!
I knew going into today that laying around feeling sick just wasn't going to be an option. So instead of slowing down to let the sickness take hold I've been busy, busy, busy all day. Inevitably this evening I'm sure I will crash- but hopefully not until after I get to the grocery store! This mother's cupboards are incredibly bare!
So during nap today I decided to try to 'free hand' a little wallet. It turned out pretty well! The stitching is a little wonky in places but you can only see it on the inside so who cares! I definitely need to find a better way of sewing on zippers though, this was the first zipper I've ever "installed" so it was a learning experience. I'm pretty excited though! I found this fabric at the fabric store a few weeks ago and just had to have it. I bought it without having any idea what I'd use it for but this turned out to be a pretty good use (I still have ton left for another project eventually).
I'm getting really excited about all this sewing stuff. I'm starting to get pretty good at it! Jacob and I were talking the other day about what I'm going to do when both boys go to school. I really doubt I'm going to be able to just sit around at home all day. Maybe I'll become a seamstress?? It's a completely practical job that I could probably find work wherever we end up... Hmm... I guess time will tell! For now I'm trying to find some classes somewhere on the island so I can actually learn techniques and tips. I'm just not one of those people who can learn from youTube videos.
Anyways, as you can tell by the rambling my brain is a bit mushy today. So I'm just going to finish with a couple pics of the new wallet!!

if I had to pick a style of fabric to represent me, this would be it. I don't know what you would classify this type of design as but I LOVE IT!

you can see my crooked stitching on the one side, definitely because it was a complete PAIN to sew the zipper in the way I did, the other side is straight :) But it's got a big pocket on the one side and card holders on the other. 

Furniture, Furniture, Furniture

So on Thursday (pre-tsunami chaos) I decided to take it upon myself to rearrange our bedroom. Last weekend I rearranged the living room and it's wonderful! Now that I'm sewing a bunch I really don't have enough room for all my fabric and stuff so rearranging the bedroom to fit my "crafting needs" seemed like a great idea.
Our bed is MASSIVE. It's only a queen size bed but before we moved from DC a neighbor was selling a bedroom set for relatively cheap so we bought it. We were moving in a month so we never set it up until we got here. Had I known the massive size of this thing (it was all disassembled when we bought it) I wouldn't have bought this darn thing. It's just gigantic and it takes up half our bedroom. Because of that it's really hard to move furniture in our room. We have our bed, a computer desk, 4 full bookcases and other little tables. Way too much stuff.
I moved the bed and the tables around and created quite the mess. I actually ended up with less space! Plus I ended up with random end tables just stuck in the middle of the room because there was nowhere for them to go. Ugh! The hubby was pretty annoyed that I had taken this massive task upon myself. So we've been living in chaos for several days now.
Yesterday I began the arduous task of trying to rectify the situation. I spent all day trying to find places to stick stuff. Finally this morning I did it! I've successfully fit all the pieces together! My sewing stuff is neatly organized along the walls and the sewing machine as found a home! I'm ecstatic. But unfortunately I'm also exhausted. So much for getting some sewing done today!
Here's a couple pics of the new setup :)

Meal Plans!

Ok so here it is! This is Week #1 of my meal planning. There's still a lot of tweaking to do as we begin to adhere to the Orthodox Fasts but we'll get there. That little owl up in the corner I drew all by myself! I'm pretty proud of her... she's goofy and fat, just the way an owl should be! I have a huge obsession with owls- especially silly fat ones :) The bible verse up in the right corner was a later addition. I had the extra space up there and wasn't sure what to do. When I stumbled upon that verse I thought it would be perfect! I absolutely believe that food and nutrition play a role in a person's life far beyond just their weight. God gave us food to eat, fruits, grains, veggies, all that good stuff. So often I find myself consuming very little of what God gave me- rather I eat a lot of processed "man-made" foods. Not good! It was amazing how much better everyone felt eating a more "natural" diet. You'll notice a lot of smoothies on the menu- they are SO easy and you can make so many different kinds! It's been a great way to sneak lots of good nutrients into the kiddos.

I'm also making pre-made grocery lists. This one isn't filled out yet (obviously) but I'm going to *hopefully* get to it in the next few days. It'll be so nice to have everything laid out!! Grocery shopping is my absolute LEAST favorite kind of shopping, so this should make it a little bit more bearable. 

So that's my most recent "organization" project. Still a work in progress, but we're getting there :)