Welcome! 5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog Party!

Hello fellow bloggers, and welcome all newcomers stopping in from the Ultimate Blog Party!

This is my first go 'round and it is so inspiring to see all the amazing blogs out there - I wish there were enough hours in the day to stop by each and every on of them.

My bio to the left pretty much says it all, lol, so at the risk of sounding redundant here goes:

hi there! I'm Leslie, SAHM to 2 kiddos, a 9 year old girl and a nearly 15 year old son. Yikes, that makes me sound old... We're a military family and my husband, often referred to here as The Sarge, is a MSgt with over 14 years in service ...ewww, old again....

I love to make things - any thing!  

But mostly I love love love to sew.

and design.

and embroider.

and fit.

I also love to play with paper, digital scrap, bake, bead, decorate, go junking, swap, trade, organize, whew!

and I think I may have mentioned, I really like to make things. :o)

So feel free to snoop around, here are a few of my favorite posts:

Princess Seam Progress aka Full-Blown Tantrum

My Ugly Relationship With My Serger

Inspired by Alice

The first two, because they are "me". Foot stomping, pouting, shouting and all.

The last one because, well, I love beautiful things. And Alices Um Dress is definitely a BeeYootiful thing. I really really really want to make this!

And I shall, but should it be for me, or Kadence? Ah well, first I need to get things a bit settled around here. Like:

I am preparing for a show on April 12th, and hope to open my own etsy shop around the same time. I currently carry my childrens line Cherry Bubbins in a brick and mortar store but am excited about this new venture! Wish me luck!

Thanks for popping in and leave me a comment so I can return the favor and check out YOUR amazing blog!

Happy Celebrating!

Card Swap, Paper Pretties in my Mail Box!

Oh, look what I've got! A mail box full of paper pretties!

They are all very sweet, but these are some of my favorites:

No surprise here, since I have some of the punches, folders and stamps used in them. :o)

I love me a good card swap. Or any swap, really!

It's like Christmas,

the anticipation of the arrival,

the surprise when you open the package,

the "YES!" when you know you've hit the jackpot.

The let down of it being over, and left wanting more.

:o)

Happy Easter!

Wishing you & yours a joyful Easter!

Tie-Dyed and Paper Mache Easter Eggs

This year we put a little spin on our traditional Easter egg dying method, and tie dyed them.

Literally

using silk ties

I got the idea from the girls over at Best Bites - they looked so amazing I had to try it!

I found my ties at the thrift store for 2 bucks a piece. Anthony did the honors of picking them out, I think he made some great choices!

Didn't they turn out lovely?

I was also inspired by Kim and Kris from The DIY Dish to make some of their faux paper mache eggs as well.

I love these because they don't scream EASTER! ya know?

They'd just look pretty for spring nestled in, well, a nest!

Of course we made some more of the panoramic sugar eggs as well, and Kadence had a friend over to join in the fun. I decided to try making one from a regular ol' plastic Easter egg, and it worked! Well kind of, I didn't attempt to hollow it out so it's not a "panoramic" egg, but it's still super cute.

You can find the tutorial for making panoramic sugar eggs below!

We had so much fun trying new egg techniques this year I think each one will become a tradition from here on out!

What ever method you use, I hope your eggs came out lovely, and you have a Blissful Easter!

Panoramic Sugar Easter Egg Tutorial

Start a new Easter tradition by making some panoramic sugar eggs this weekend! They look complicated, but really are easy and inexpensive! My friend Kathy taught me how to make these, and graciously lets me barrow her egg molds too. :o)

Ingredients for the sugar eggs:
5 Cups Sugar
1 Egg White
optional, Food Coloring

Other supplies:
Egg molds
knife and spoon
small decorations for inside
royal icing to decorate outside/inside

Directions:
1) Mix the sugar, egg white and food coloring well. It will have the consistency of damp sand.

2) Pack the sugar mixture into each half of the egg mold, and place flat side down onto a cookie sheet, carefully lift the mold away. (just like making sand castles when you were a kid)

3) Using a knife cut away the tip of the narrow end of both eggs. Try to remove the same amount from each half. (this will become your "peep" hole)

4) Allow eggs to dry for a couple hours, times vary depending on the size of your egg. The outside should be firm and dry, but the inside of the egg should still be soft.

5) Scoop damp sugar out of egg halves, leaving a "hollow" shell. Do not leave the sides too thin.

6) Using a spoon or your fingers carefully remove edge from trimmed end to make "peep" hole opening.

7) Leave egg halves upside down until inside is completely dry

8) use a dab of icing to secure bottom half of egg to board or plate covered in foil or parchment paper to keep egg from moving with constructing and decorating.

9) Use royal icing to decorate and secure items inside bottom egg half.

10) Run a bead of icing along shell edge and place top half of egg directly on top, lining up edges.

11) Use icing to cover seams and decorate around "peep" hole.

13) Add flowers and other decorations, using icing to secure them to the eggs.

14) Stand back and admire your work while realizing you are now one step closer to Martha

Some tips:
When you scoop out the middles of your eggs return the sugar mixture to your bowl to make more eggs!

When trimming out the peep hole of the semi-dried egg halves be careful, it will be dry and brittle and can leave a ragged hole if not done gently.

Icing hides a multitude of sins. If your egg cracks you can repair it with icing or if your peep hole is ragged cover it with icing or flowers.

Can't find any molds? I used a traditional plastic easter egg to make this little cutie. :o)

Send me pics if you make any - I'd love to post them and link to your blog!

A Beautiful New Addition to my Studio!

Thrift stores are funny.

People either Love them, or they Hate them.

I managed to drag my friend Tiffany into the Thrift store on base, and she is a hater.

She's not anti-junk, she just doesn't relish the thrill of digging, searching and discovery.

So we wandered around,

And there it was.

Black, old, and even under the dust you can see the shiny gold details.

Gasp! It's amazing.

but...

She saw this bad ass machine first.

here comes the silent prayer... (you know exactly what I'm talking about)

Please don't get it. Please don't get it. 

Oh please let her walk away so I won't live the rest of my life knowing that my machine is in her home and Damn why did I stop to check for Tupperware anyways I should have been here first and now she's found this beautiful machine that would look perfect in my studio and look at that price she's going to buy it and I want it it's my precious! Arrggghhh!

So with all the restraint I could muster, I simply said

if you don't buy it I will.

So she didn't

And I did!

YAY me!

 I know, it's not in spectacular shape. It's dirty and scratched and missing pieces.

I can look past all that and see the gracefulness of it's curves, the intricate gold detailing, and the artistry of it's design.

I had to have it. It was calling my name.

The hand-wheel actually turns, and just look at the painted owl!

...besides it was only $18.

Do you think I paid too much for it?

I don't know a thing about it - year, model, Nada!

Guess I'll need to get some research done - anyone have any ideas?

Sneek Peek into Easter Crafting!

Have some fun with the kiddos making crafty Easter eggs and decorations for this weekend!

I've been snooping around the blogosphere and have come back inspired,

ready for Easter weekend and Spring in general.

Here's' a little peek at what we're up to around here...

...Maybe a funky twist on dying eggs...

...Or making more traditional Easter goodness...

Check back tomorrow for our Ta Da moment,

And a tutorial  too!

So I ask, what the heck is this stuff?

I'm starting to feel guilty for not getting out and working on my flower beds. Winters snow has melted and my yard is exposed, nekkid, pathetic.

However, Mother Nature has taken pity on me and given me a brief extension...

Yesterday we woke up to several inches of snow.

I'm still enjoying it, since it's been so long since we've lived anywhere that got snow.

REAL snow.

And the hollow in our back yard looks so dreamy in it's winter coat.

Snow in April is normal enough around here, right?

well...

Last night we got some more snow.

With thunder and lightening.

Don't think I've seen that before.

Then, it sounded like it was hailing - hard.

Hmmmm....

But when I checked it wasn't really hailing...

Now - I've seen this on a very small scale a couple times since moving here

but never like this.

These little snow balls were pretty big - like a large marble!

And it fell fast and hard.

It ended up being almost 2 inches.

So I ask, 

what the heck is this stuff?

Hail?

Snow?

Is this normal for Utah?