Calling all cable subscribers!

A couple weeks ago, Caleb and Ashton taped a performance on The Daily Habit, which is an extreme sports show airing on Fuel TV. IT AIRS TOMORROW!!! WOOO WOOP!

We don't currently have cable, so if you do, please tune in! They play two songs and the host plugs their album!

Details:
Their appearance on the show is scheduled to air on Tuesday, July 1st at 6pm PST/9pm EST on Fuel TV and later again that evening at 9pm PST/12am EST.
The show rebroadcasts the following day (Wed, July 2nd) at 11:30am PST/2:30pm EST and again later at 2:30pm PST/5:30pm EST (however, check local listings in your area is it could vary from location to location). You will therefore have four opportunities to catch their performance on the show in a 48-hour period!

Photography by Makaya Larson

Paisley Lane giveaway!

I was checking out Harmony's cool blog, and saw this post about her friend's handmade jewelry line. If you post a comment on her blog, she will enter you in a contest to win some beautiful pieces. I don't actually know her... but everyone could use some free jewelry, right? Here is the link... http://shane-natalie.blogspot.com/ Good Luck!

Only a Little Nerdy...

So... Some of you may not know that I attended Space Camp the summer between Jr High and High School. It was an amazing week of simulations, cool rides and some astronomy stuff too. Only a little nerdy, but mostly really awesome. Anyway, so this week stay at the Huntsville academy was the only thing I had ever won. In 8th grade, I had to write an essay for the contest as a class assignment (it was that, or a history fair project with a paper and display board- yikes!). I was astonished when I won, because I had written my essay about my ideas for NASA if I was in charge... purely based on personal opinion and a late night episode of Nightline. Imagine my surprise this morning, when I stumble upon this SPACE ARTICLE on Msn.com that basically says that my essay was RIGHT! I am convinced that someone at NASA read my winning essay and put my plans into action (not really, but wouldn't that be rad!?).

Pudding Pie and Presents!

Here is a hodge-podge of a post! Our camera charger is lost somewhere in our house... so we have a dead camera and no good pictures. Fortunately, I have been taking mediocre pictures with my camera phone. haha!

This is a chocolate pudding pie that I made Saturday. The chocolate pie crust is store bought, the whip topping is store bought.... but the pudding is homemade from SCRATCH! Thank goodness for my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook. I was a little nervous about putting 2 egg yolks into a pudding... but it worked and Elise and Caleb both said it was delicious. And of course, I added the chocolate shavings for presentation :)

This is a wipe case that I decorated. Thank you to Pam for the idea! I am giving this to Elise for her baby shower since she is having a little girl. If anybody would like one of these, let me know... I have made 2 so far, but only for girls. I would really like to try to make a cool boy one.

These are burp cloths that I sewed for Elise too. I have had a lot of extra time at work this week to search the internet, and I've seen some burp cloths that are kind of "reversed" with the white soft section in the middle and the printed fabric on the edges. I might try making that soon too.
I still have to finish the backpack surprise I'm making for Dave to use at Kindergarten. Once I get that done, I hope to post some pictures. Hint- it features a really awesome monkey.

Get Smart... Got Credit...

YAY!!!!!!!

Wow. This was very unexpected. My 2nd real credit. I am 2 for 2.

First Iron Man, and then now Get Smart.

The credit almost makes up for getting snubbed on the crew gift.

We heard they were jackets that said "Control" on them... Almost.

Anke Visit

This weekend Anke came to visit us.  We haven't seen her in 7 years!  We had a great time visiting and taking her around LA.  

Here is a photo that I took of LA from our vantage point above the street performers on Hollywood Blvd.

Caleb waiting for his show to start Saturday night downtown

Worst Blogger ever.

I dropped some gifts off at a baby shower today... and now realized that I did not photograph any of them.  Oops.   

Treasure Hunt

I made this shirt using the reverse applique technique and then embroidering a little treasure hunt. I am going to give this shirt to my nephew, Haven, who has not received one of my creations yet. Hopefully this pirate muscle tee will be manly enough for him. haha!

TAG! You're it...

Apparently I've now been tagged......

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Yikes! At cheerleading camp maybe... I think this was the year that we broke the window at University of Kentucky. haha If not that... then holding hands at the movies with my brand new boyfriend CB- aka Caleb :)

2. 5 things on my to do list? Hmm... (1) I can also put clean my house. Anke from Germany is visiting this weekend and that place is not fit for guests just yet! (2) I have about 1 ka-jillion sewing projects to do (birthday purse for Annie- yes i know you might be reading this, but i am working on it- some baby shower gifts for this weekend, a blanket I'm knitting FOR MYSELF yay!), including a need for another trip to the fabric store, before a sewing class tomorrow night. (3) Clean out and organize my makeup bag, I have 3 separate ones right now!!! (4) Get a retailer's license to get wholesale american apparel. (5) Straighten out the mess that is my vacation time with HR.

3. Snacks I enjoy? I really like fruit, especially apples with peanut butter. I also like carrots and ranch dressing... Does Ice Cream count as a snack?

4. If I were a Billionaire what would I do? Well since Harmony is building us all cabins, then I think I'd buy everyone smart cars, who knows where gas will be when I get my billions! I would also probably live on Catalina Island and open an ice cream shop on the boardwalk. Start a Homeless Outreach program.

5. 3 Bad Habits? Being late for work... oops; Making fun of my bosses at work... (seriously why haven't I been fired yet?); Being messy- sorry CB

6. Places I've lived? Kansas City, MO (briefly); Galesburg, IL; Carbondale, IL; Hollywood, CA; North Hollywood, CA

7. 5 jobs I've had? Ice Cream Server at Bresler's in the mall; Paul Harris Designs old lady clothing store sales girl; Waitress at Tres Hombres Mexican Restaurant; Newborn Photographer in Maternity ward at hospital---(simulaneously also a School Photographer); AND Extra's Casting Director at Central Casting.

8. 5 things people don't know about me? When I get nervous, I talk fast and say a lot of personal things (i really should quit this one); I was an exchange student (short term) to Germany in high school; In fact, all in all- my family has hosted 2 japanese exchange students (short term), 1 Portugese exchange student (long term), and 2 German exchange students (short term); I SUPER love the St Louis Cardinals... and have often predicted homeruns, seriously- it even scares me sometimes; I have regularly experienced "sleep paralysis" throughout my life, but only recently realized that it wasn't "all a dream..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

Save a Horse, ride a tricycle...

Another remnant of the cowboy quilt...

Hand dyed red and then my version of a satin stitch around the girls.

Sweet Cousins and Cowboys

These sweet boys are my nephews Jasper and Levi. They are just about 2 months apart, and I bet will be best buds growing up. Levi is wearing a cowboy shirt I dyed and stitched for him. It isn't a great picture of the shirt, but a cute picture of the boys. I made a red cowboy shirt for a friend's baby shower, but didn't get a picture of it before giving it away.

On another note... I have decided to try to sell some of these shirts, maybe on a site like etsy or maybe CB will design me my own site. Today I went during lunch and stocked up on blank canvases (aka onesies and such). I can't wait to get started!

Levi's Quilt

Levi's Quilt is finished. I bought the fabric when we didn't know if he'd be a boy or a girl. There are two different scenes- one fabric is cowboys and the other is cowgirls. As soon as I saw it, I thought it was perfect for Makaya's new baby. I am glad that he turned out to be a boy though, because I think overall, it looks like a boy quilt. The quilt has dark brown dotted chenille as the backing with an organic cotton batting in between. To keep it together, I stitched little brown X's in the corners of the squares.

Here is the complete quilt.

This is a close-up of the name... I tried to make it look like a lasso.
It is handstitched using brown embroidery floss.

Thomas' shirt

Here is Thomas' car shirt that I sewed for him. I dyed all of my nephews shirts blue and then sewed the appliques on the front of them. The dye didn't permeate (not sure if this is the right word...) evenly, so some of the shirts look sort of like tie-dye almost. I am going to ask on craftster to try and find out tips for not ending up with tie-dye results. The purple worked fine...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

At least I hope so... I have been so slacking on posting on this blog. But I have 2 excuses...

1. I was out of town for 10 days visiting my lovely family in Illinois and St Louis.
2. Most of the projects I have completed lately were presents that I didn't want to post until the recipient saw them in person. And now, I have no pictures of them. I am waiting to get some emailed to me, so that I can update this.

I did a lot of work the week before I went home...
These are the projects that I did:

Levi's quilt (3 months old now... not good, but I am getting quicker!)
Cloth napkins for my mom's birthday/mother's day gift (still finishing up the tablecloth)
A purse for my cousin Lisa's birthday (VERY belated, 4 months late!) My first crochet attempt!
Applique shirts for all my niece and nephews- 7 total so far
A bandana dress for Stella
The dress I made for my class where I learned facing, darts and zippers. (not a gift, just never took any pics of it)

I will try to post some pictures of these as soon as I can.