As we pulled through the weekend, and into Monday morning, it was a rude awakening to find that my mother had suffered a stroke. I immediately headed to Salt Lake to be with her, my husband called from the ER, David had Type 1 Diabetes. It was such a shock – so overwhelming for the next 18 months. Psychologically draining. And then, it became life as we knew it. I remember family telling me, soon I won’t remember what life was like without diabetes. It felt like forever.

While I still have flashbacks of our former life, they come less often. As I reflect today on World Diabetes day I mourn every child, adult, mother, sister, brother that is affected by diabetes. Their family and friends aren’t excluded from the urgency of the disease. However, I then realize that we have SO much to be grateful for. For life saving insulin, medical devices and modern technology.

It is SO appropriate that World Diabetes Day falls in November – because it is a time to be thankful for all that we do have, and that it is a completely and totally livable disease. If you have a diabetic in your family, give them a hug today and let them know how proud you are of them. They go through hell on a daily basis, but are the most positive, energetic and inspiring people I know. Here’s to another November – cheers to my sugar baby, I love you David – you are the best son a mother could ask for!

Not only has she been wearing this costume non-stop since halloween, she might just have to become the new Twitter mascot…haha just kidding! I love you my beautiful blue bird, thanks for letting me be a part of your Halloween costume fun!

We bought a sparkly long sleeve gymnastics leotard and some turquoise opaque tights (which hadn’t arrived when the photo was taken). From there I searched and pinned up a variety of angel and bird wings. The big issue was weight. In the end I created the bone structure out of tinfoil, and then paper-machéd (I don’t think that is correct grammer) the heck out of the wings. It took about 16 oz. of elmers and a good 75 strips of computer paper (2×11″). That took a day to dry between maché layers but ultimately only about 2.5 lbs in the end.

I ordered bulk turkey feathers online for about $50 and got 125 left wing feathers and 125 right wing feathers. We have about 30 left after the wings and tail were made. For the skirt I bought cobalt 1/8″ craft foam and turquoise felt and created a staggered skirt our of “feather” shapes and a hot gluegun. This was by far the easiest and quickest part of the costume. We made the skirt a little longer than in the photo and added a maribou boa to the waist band for a little extra frill.

The hat was a 1920′s flapper wig made of goose feathers (I think synthetic b/c I had to use poly dye). It got dyed twice (the first time it didn’t take) and this was as close as it got to blue. Sort of a periwinkle but it looks so cute! There are just a few last things to wrap up and then we’ll do pictures of the final costume. This has got to be the first costume I’ve made where it turned out exactly as I envisioned it! I think my luck will be out after this one ;) What are your plans for halloween? Do you even like the holiday? It is one of my favorites!!

Letterpress business cards, printed 2/1 on 600gsm/220# Lettra paper. Designed by Deuce Creative for the client and then printed via letterpress.

This will outfit you for the whole holiday season! Coment to enter (one entry only please)

The Goods:
Peace | Joy | Noel Set of 6 Super Thick Tags, 1.5×3″ (2 of each pattern).
Silver Calligraphy Tiny Tags, 1×2.5″, set of 15.
Victorian Flourished 2×2″ letterpress tags. Set of 10.
Love, Santa Letterpress enclosures. Set of 10.
Winter Snowflake Gift Enclosures/place tags. Set of 10.

You have until Midnight on Friday, Nov. 20th to comment for a set of each! That’s over $40 worth of gift tag goodies :)

UPDATED: CONGRATS LISA, I’ll be in contact to get these to you :)

And because it’s an orangealicious day I thought I’d share some Orangealicious Etsy favs with you. Enjoy!

Elephants, Ava. as a set of 10.

Butterflies, Ava. as a set of 10.

Sharks, Ava. as a set of 10.

and Froggies, Ava. as a set of 10.

To win just comment below what your favorite animal is for a chance at one set of each!
The GOODS:
1 set of each of these tags (10 tags/set) in each pattern (40 total).
2×2″ letterpress tags with 1/4″ rounded corner and 3/16″ punched hole.

Giveaway ends Midnight on Thursday the 13th of August, TIMES UP! winner will be drawn at random and notified via email as well as updated on this post!

CONGRATS SUSAN!

So I’ve been looking for a well made customized carseat cover for each of my kids – never had any luck finding one that didn’t look like a bag – maybe I didn’t look hard enough. Sorry Graco, you just don’t cut it when it comes to designing fabric :(

I did one more search a few weeks back on Etsy to find the new shop YourCarseatCover
and after looking at closeup shots of Heather’s photos I thought I’d give it a try. And I really wanted to be her first buyer! So I ordered some of my new favorite fabric by designer Lizzy House from her new collection Red Letter Day. You can find it here at FreshSqueezedFabrics on Etsy too!

As you can see in the results above, FABULOUS! I was beyond thrilled and will be gushing about Heather and her impeccible sewing skillz forever. I sew a lot so can recognize master craftsmanship when I see it, something I have yet to attain in that arena!

Be sure to check her out because the best part of it all? It was only $45 for a custom cover, headrest, and canopy (not including fabric). Thanks to FreshSqueezed for working with my demanding shipping needs, and to Heather for making this in a record 1 day! The cover came in the mail the day we got home from the hospital!

This is what my tummy feels like all the time now. Catch them in the shop before they hop away!

Sometimes I go about the day without paying much attention to my surroundings. These were discovered after I got the kids in bed last night and finally had a look around at the disaster zone within my home. I thought it was so beautiful how each dinosaur/creature was aligned and balanced on our 8′ railing, observing the usual chaos that encompasses our daily lives. Still and silent predators, they were awaiting my attention. Oh how I love the spontaneous aesthetics of a 4 year old!

Ever wonder what one does when a babysitter is scarce and printing needs to be done? Enter playdough. I’m not a big mess encourager (except for paint) and now I can’t believe I haven’t made playdough before! It is a mindless, hour over hour kid entertainer. No fights ensued today! Lots of printing got done. Totally worth the cleanup involved afterwards. Photos from the press tomorrow and over the next week! 

Recipe: 2C. Water, 2C. salt, 1c. Flour. Add all ingredients into pot on cooktop and stir constantly on low heat until it balls up. Prepare for dead-arm. Keep stirring until its on the drier side. Remove from pot and let cool for a minute of two, add food coloring and knead in. If its still a little sticky, let sit out for about an hour (the kids won’t be happy about this). Keeps 2-3 weeks in ziploc baggies. Or you can let your sculptures air dry. Enjoy!