Garden Ideas

Look at these pictures from Hen & Hammock – a UK gardening site I just found tonight. What cute swings! I love the phrase on the edge – so cute and fun. Plus, be sure to check out the ideas at the UK gardening magazine called Country Homes & Interiors – great ideas, all!

Who Knew? Holly Aiken!

Cute, cute stuff. Mostly I love her logo with the sewing needle in it. I love the laptop cases and bags! You can check out her stuff here.

String of Purls & Knitting Projects: Finger Puppets & Stockings

So we were running errands on Saturday and my sweet hubby suggested we stop by the knitting store since he knew I was hankering for a project (yes, hankering) but I didn’t know what. I needed something more advanced than scarves but I’m not ready for tiny-needle socks. Thank goodness for local yarn stores! The owner at Omaha’s String of Purls is so kind, she pointed me in the right direct — pun intended — and I picked up this book on knitting finger puppets! You can buy it here on Amazon for less than $14 (I paid $19 in the store but supporting my local yarn store is so worth it). This way, I can get used to size 1 needles – double pointed, no less – but only have to work with a few stitches instead of a whole sock. I began the Baby Monkey last night and it turned into a mouse since I was using gray yarn…a very bumpy mouse…I practiced french knots all over the body! Now that I have the techniques down, I’m going to give it another try!

Before we checked out, I saw another book lying on a table and remembered that I wanted to knit our Christmas stockings someday. I couldn’t resist this book, either. I haven’t started this one, yet – have to get the right size circular needles. Looking forward to it as well as another trip to the yarn shop (I just never seem to get there enough!).

The knit doughnuts are from Fawn & Forest. The knit elephant, leopard and zebra are from Polka Dot Patch. So cute and inspiring – great giveaways or wrapping accoutrements for Christmas!

Amy Butler Designs & Ohdeedoh

Ummm…delicious fabric and patterns! I’d never visited Amy Butler’s site before but there is a ton of great images there for inspiration and a severe case of gotta-have-it-itis. Be sure to check out her site here (pictures are from her site) as well as the site Amy mentions called ohdeedoh (great design there!). Fun stuff and great design; being a midwestern girl myself, I especially enjoyed the Midwest Modern preview and collection.

Let the Christmas Decor Begin!

Well, my anti-consumerism streak lasted about 10 minutes, that is, until I received this email from L.L. Bean. I’m still not whipping out the debit card just yet but this greenery does have me drooling. I know there’s nothing like the real thing but I’m thinkin’ it’s a good thing that I have some pretty faux greenery with white lights packed away that might quell the craving just a bit. I guess we’ll be putting up Christmas decor early this year… Plus, I’m thinking it might be the year for gingerbread creations. This igloo is adorable! All pics are from L.L. Bean so be sure to check out their site here.

Online Giveaway T-Shirt Winner!

…and the winner is KAREN who said, “Love the shirt! So cute! Count me in.” and then upon hearing she won, said, “Wow, I never win anything!” Can’t really say that anymore, Karen! You chances were good – we had ONLY 5 comments but there were a ton of lurkers (over 150) who didn’t comment. I must have all size Small lurkers. Anyway, congrats to Karen and watch for a new item soon!

Lotta Jansdotter Fall Collection

I love Lotta’s stuff…this fall isn’t as great as some in the past except I do adore this pattern on the charcoal gray bag. Lovely! Check it out here.

Online Giveaway: Deseret Book’s “Give” T-Shirt!

My t-shirts came and I love ’em. I bought one extra to use as an online giveaway which is great because now they are SOLD OUT in this color! Up for grabs is one “give” t-shirt in charcoal heather gray in an XL size (a trim size XL). I’m going to leave this one open until next Sunday at midnight to try and get more comments/entries than last time but if I don’t, your chances are good to win. This tee is adorable with jeans. Just leave a comment on this post before midnight on Sunday, November 2nd and you’re entered to win. Shipping is on me!

Great Sales at Brocade Home

Love this site. Watch carefully and every cool thing on their sale section gets to eventually be another half off (at least that was the last great sale I saw!) – makes the extra shipping for furniture worth it. I’m not too frilly of a person but I just love, love, love these gray and silver duvet covers. Check out the website here and the design blog here.

Quilting Blog – The Jolly Jabber

PhotobucketGreat blog. Great sales. Great vintage style fabric collections. What’s not to love? I enjoy buying the fabric, apparently, even more than quilting. Just build the stash, right? The quilt doesn’t magically appear?!?

Serena & Lily – New Blog!

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I wanted to write my “how-to” page for the Photoshop silhouettes I made and displayed earlier in the blog but this came into my in-box and thought I’d share for today instead. Look for the photoshop silhouette tutorial tomorrow. Mostly, Bennie is throwing crayons and playdough from his high chair and he needs some actual human interaction (I’ve already put in 6 hours of work today, good thing he slept in ’til 10:30 am!).

15% Off Coupon Code for Kiss My Face!

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Love their products. All of them. The discount just makes it even better! Happy shopping!

Shopping Cart Sleeping

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Guess we were keeping Ben from his nap! My sister, LeAnne, has started calling him the Benjinator and we think it fits…except when he’s sleeping, of course (then they’re perfect little angels, huh!!). I was just lucky to have the camera with me!

Tree of Life Artwork

I have been intrigued lately with trees and, more specifically, artwork symbolically reminiscent of the Tree of Life. I found this at www.tenthousandvillages.com and have thoroughly enjoyed looking at their website. They seem to have reasonable prices, too. Reminds me of a good friend who purchased her living room furniture because the pillow fabric had a subtle tree of life pattern in the weave. What a nice reminder of scripture stories and imagery to have around your home.