monkeys for my monkey . . .

I made a sock monkey quilt for a friend's babe a couple years ago and have had the leftover scraps sitting around ever since. So I finally cut them all up and made a little rag blanket for Justin with them. Now all my kids have a small rag blanket from me ~ perfect for keeping them warm on the way home when we go out for the evening, and for snuggling on the couch. And I have one less bag of scraps sitting around :)

gathered pouch . . .

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed in the craft room lately and needed a quick project to get inspired again. The gathered clutch tutorial from Noodlehead has been popular in blogland so I gave it a whirl ~ it didn't turn out perfect, but it was so nice to finish a project and I LOVE the gathered front, it's already inspired me for my next little project . . .And some beautiful fabrics showed up in my mailbox, Spring dresses for the girls are on the agenda . . . but not until I finish off a couple big projects that I've been procrastinating on . . .

Cheerios First Foods Giveaway!

And the winner is lucky #13! Congrats Melanie!

Every child is different, especially when it comes to first foods and being picky eaters. You'd think that by the fourth child I wouldn't have to go internet searching first foods all over again, but that's exactly what I did. And with my little guy's food allergies, the wealth of information out there was very much appreciated! Babycenter.ca and Cheerios has a new First Foods section full of tips and recommendations to help out with our new eaters. And I'd like to share a couple tips that worked for me:

• Keep trying! Just because they don't like those veggies today, doesn't mean they won't change their mind next week!
• Alternate between bites of applesauce and the food they don't like. They might be willing to eat both if it means the next bite is something they do like!

So want to hear about the great giveaway they've sponsored? You have a chance to win a Cheerios Prize Pack valued at $50! It includes a Cheerios On-the-go Tot Container, Cheerios playbook, Box of Cheerios, Bowl and utensil set and a $30 Cash Card!

All you have to do is check out the new Cheerios Food Section and comment on something you saw there ~ is there something you liked or didn't like about it? Did you find a helpful tip? Will you bookmark their site for future reference? Giveaway will be open to February 14.

Disclosure - I am participating in the Cheerios First Foods program by Mom Central on behalf of General Mills. I received a gift card as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

my go-to birthday gift . . .

Another birthday invitation came home last week and another little apron was made. When I find kids cookbooks for a good price, I try to stock up and had one left in the house. My daughters and I counted up nine little aprons and six other handmade gifts that were given out this past year, and coming up in May there might be some doubles. So I'm on the lookout for more quick gifts, especially for little girls . . .

quilt contest . . .

Did you know the Quilting Gallery has weekly themed quilt contests with fun prizes? You just need to submit your quilt photo and description to enter. This week's theme was "favorite quilt of 2010" and so I submitted my Mod Circles quilt. If you'd like to check out this week's poll and all the gorgeous submissions, just click on the picture above. And if you'd like to keep up to date on their upcoming weekly themes, just subscribe on their website.

And if you enter a quilt in one of their weekly challenges, let me know!

something exciting . . .

Not too long ago, I received an interesting email from Mom Central offering cash for a blog post. Well that got me interested and I kept reading . . . to apply, I had to submit in 100 words or less an idea for a post that would help make the lives of busy moms and their families better. So I submitted my idea and forgot about it.

Until yesterday. My idea was one of ten that was selected, and I'm getting $250 to publish my idea in a blog post! So I'm spending some time this week writing and re-writing and getting a couple girlfriends to help me out with proofreading. I'm a little nervous to post the article since it gets a little personal, but that was the intention of this to begin with, right? To reveal and share something in the hopes of reaching, and maybe even helping other Moms.

Has anyone else entered something like this before? Have you been paid for a blog post? I've reviewed sewing patterns in exchange for a copy of a pattern before, but hadn't heard of anything like this. And why don't you enter too? The new round of submissions starts on Feb 25 and they run four times a year, so start thinking of ideas! And for their US site, go here.

Splitting this blog into two . . .

This blog started as a way to keep family updated with pics of the kiddos. Over the years it's turned into quite the mix of crafting and other personal interests, in addition to the family stuff. So, I've decided to split this blog into two separate ones.

This blog will remain for crafting and other interests. And if you'd like to keep up to date with our little family, you can find the new blog here:
http://ourbusylittlebunchathome.blogspot.com

my crafting year in review . . .

My first quilt of the year was this one for Craft Hope to raise money for Haiti. I listed my price (which I hummed and hawed over and then finally punched in the 3 digits) and gave a happy squeal of relief when it sold the next day.

My 'mandatory' quilt project of the year was this trio of matching quilts ~ one for our little guy, one for my nephew, and one for my niece. I still am so in love with the All Star line ~ it just screams BOY to me.

Then there were some quilts that were made just because I had the time and wanted to play with the fabric :) But after finishing them, I really didn't have a home for them, so they went in a little Etsy shop that I started up this past Fall.

And I made a few more things for the Etsy shop with all my leftover scraps from projects, like soother straps, bibs, aprons . . .

and doll quilts! I LOVE these little things! I'm hoping to keep adding some of these excess projects to the shop this next year, in the hopes of paying for some more fabric to play with. But, I must confess that I often get side-tracked to sew for my kids and their friends when a birthday invite comes home. So I'm not being as aggressive with filling up the shop as I could be, but I want to keep sewing fun too. Oh, and some of my favorite projects this year are dresses for my girls. I LOVE dressing my girls up for church and they LOVE picking out fabric almost as much as I do. And the gracious Samantha at the Handmade Dress lets me review the most adorable and simple patterns and then rewards me with free copies when they're printed :) And I have an order of some beautiful new Riley Blake prints on their way to me so I can make a bunch of Spring dresses for the girls and some nieces soon!

And another favorite from this year that I get to see every day . . . is the curtains and rug for my daughter's room ~ and it was a great way to use up a tonne of pretty scraps. And there was also some swapping this year, a set of 3 little dresses and purses in exchange for fabric! And I'm open to this kind of offer again . . .

And a baby quilt for another little niece rounded out my crafting for the year . . .

One more thing I haven't mentioned is that a couple quilts ago, my sewing machine broke down *again* and since it's just a basic machine that I've had since I was 18, I decided an upgrade was in order. And I was planning to go by myself that day to buy one, but somehow my hubby came with me and well, if you know my hubby, he's kinda easy to talk into bigger and better or did he talk me into it? . . . and somehow I ended up getting my dream machine. It's a longarm, it's digital, it has an automatic thread cutter, it winds my bobbin for me, and it even threads my needle. It has so many stitches that I don't even think I've tried out half of them yet, and I'm trying! Yes, I'm in love with my new machine, and I'm planning to spend lots of time with her in the new year . . . and this is also a sneak peak of my latest quilt ~ it's for my talented sister the photographer to thank her for our family pictures we had done this past Fall.

my new favorite baby girl quilt . . .

My husband comes from a family of 4 boys and 1 girl. So when we were married, I gained a new sister-in-law, Sue. And since I've been with my hubby for 14 years now (married for 10), Sue and I have had a lot of time to get to know each other over the years. And when she was married last year, we flew with the whole family to the other end of the country to take part in her special day. And when their daughter was born this past Fall, we were SO excited for her and couldn't wait to meet our new little niece. So then when they made plans to fly out for Christmas holidays, we made plans to travel 12 hours to meet them at my in-laws. And then we finally got to meet sweet little Lily and more importantly, see Sue as a Mom for the first time (and she makes a great one!).

This is the quilt I made to welcome Lily's arrival, and it was given during our Christmas gift-opening. The quilt top is made from Riley Blake's Just Dreamy line mixed with some coordinating solids. The backing is Robert Kaufman's Flower Child ~ and it's a beautiful soft minky. I hope that Lily enjoys snuggling with this quilt as much as I enjoyed making it.

I made a similar one with a flannel backing that's listed in the shop.

Giveaway Winners!

So I'm wrapping up my giveaways so I can head to the post office later today. Then I can finish up my Christmas gifts and preparation for my upcoming 2 weeks of having my wonderful kids off of school, and my hubby off of work for a week! Can you tell I'm excited?!

So for the Tina Givens fabric . . .

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 615
Result: 517
and the winner is . . . SisterlyLove who said... Pretty!!! -Genevieve

And for the Bib & Paci Leash set . . .

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 247
Result: 123

and the winner is . . .ottomania who said... I love your bibs .... grandson Noah would look so cute in one of those :-)

Thanks to everyone for entering and I'll be emailing the winners shortly!

And here's some new sets that I got up in the shop today:

thoughtful handmade teacher gifts ~ for cheaters . . .

{If you're looking for the Sew Mama Sew giveaways, see below this post ~ there's two of them!}

These were just so simple, I'm not sure that they even need an explanation. I found a cute teacher quote, picked out a label at vistaprint, pulled off the old labels, and trimmed and stuck on the new ones. Cute and easy, just the way I like it :)

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway #2

* COMMENTS CLOSED *
It's the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day and I have two prizes up for grabs! This is the second giveaway ~ four fat quarters from Tina Givens Treetop Fancy line.
Please leave a comment to be entered and make sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win (leave in the following format ~ ourbusylittlebunch(at)hotmail(dot)com to avoid spam).

For an extra entry, follow my blog and let me know in a separate comment!

Giveaway open to international entries, and will close on Friday, December 17th.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway #1

*COMMENTS CLOSED*
It's the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day and I have two prizes up for grabs! The first is a bib and paci leash set, in your choice of boy or girl print. These little sets will be showing up in my Etsy shop soon! Please leave a comment to be entered and make sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win (leave in the following format ~ ourbusylittlebunch(at)hotmail(dot)com to avoid spam).

For an extra entry, "like" my facebook page, or ♥ my etsy shop and let me know in a separate comment(s)!

Giveaway open to international entries, and will close on Friday, December 17th.

crib bedding set . . .

I was asked to make a crib bedding set, and although I've made lots of quilts, it was my first time making a crib skirt or bumper pads. I used a box pleat style pattern for the skirt, and made the bumper pads in four separate pieces. The fabrics are from Wee Woodland by Moda ~ the quilt used flannels and the other pieces used cottons ~ I LOVE that more designers are releasing their prints in flannels and cottons! And some words of advice: use the advanced google search to find a current discount code before ordering your fabric! I got an extra 20% off at the Fat Quarter Shop just by doing that. The back of the quilt is a beautiful chocolate minky I found half price at my local fabric store ~ I couldn't stop petting it, it's so soft! Well I hope that she enjoys this set, it was a little hard to part with ~ but now I have leftover scraps and a little extra that I ordered to play with :)

new pajamas . . .

My youngest daughter is awful when it comes to getting dressed. She has the most selection by far of my three girls, but sticks to her favorites over and over again. And I can maybe get her into pants once a month, otherwise it's always skirts. The whole concept that the third girl should be the cheapest in clothes? Well that doesn't apply when she refuses to wear 90% of the hand-me downs. She mostly wears the handful of skirts and tops that have been bought just for her. We were having another melt-down over what to wear last week, when I offered to make her something. She was VERY excited by this, and helped pick out the fabrics in the sewing room. I used the Go-To Dress pattern which was super easy, but since I was short on elastic, I finished it off a little differently. We decided it makes a great pajama ~ and my little girl then proceeded to wear it for the next 4 days straight, day and night :)

I'm linking this up with the Pajama Party! on Badlands Quilts.

Ebeanstock.com review . . .

Ebeanstock.com recently sent us a set of Double Dutch skipping ropes from Hot Ropes to review. We've tried them out with the girls, and really like the quality and length of the ropes. Our girls are 7 and 6 and can skip by themselves, but don't have the ability to "double dutch" using both ropes together yet. But they are getting better at skipping with one of the ropes while others control it. The set also came with a Double Dutch instruction book, filled with tips and tricks and some fun rhymes for skipping. This is a toy that the girls will get lots of fun out of next Summer!Ebeanstalk is a toy website that does their best to provide you with the best toys out there. They like to stay informed about the best learning toys and toys by age by having people like me and you tell them about their favorites! What are the perfect baby gifts? Does your child have one toy he/she just won't put down? Head on over to ebeanstalk and tell them what they are!

a REALLY good mail day . . .

So, I follow a lot of blogs ~ blogs of family and friends, sewing/quilting blogs, and some Mommy blogs. And a lot of these bloggers offer very generous giveaways, some out of the goodness of their heart and some sponsored ones. Well, I won a VERY good one recently, probably one of my biggest wins to date, and this was the package that the UPS man delivered yesterday . . .It's Tina Givens new book, 4 yards of fabric, 2 sewing patterns, and two boxes of stationery. THANK-YOU Tina & Lark Crafts and Pink Chalk Studio!

And I'll admit, I have three more giveaway wins on their way to me right now, each one also sure to make a great mail day. I've had some more time with my blog reader and entering giveaways this past month because of a week of tonsilitis and then another week of a virus that knocked me on my butt and gave me vertigo. The vertigo is getting better now, and my energy is thankfully coming back. And I'm sure this will help inspire me back into the sewing room :)

Above All Fabric wishlist . . .

Above All Fabric is doing a giveaway for posting your fabric wishlist from her shop. I thought this was a good opportunity to think about what I want to accomplish in my personal sewing for 2011 . . . I really want to work with some knits and make my girls some of these dresses.

I'm also hoping to get some twin size quilts for my girls finished (the tops have been done FOREVER), but they specifically want SOFT backings ~ this would do nicely.
And I'd like to make a sock monkey rag blanket for Justin ~ perfect for keeping him cozy in the carseat when we go out in the cold.And I'm hoping to get a start on Justin's twin size bedding because I LOVE this fabric line.And I'm still searching for the perfect fabric for a king-size quilt for my bed, but I think my hopes are a little high. This stack would make a nice start though . . .