Fabric Love

Ok, so i did a little fabric shopping...

But in my defense... before you see all the pics....

I am making all my Christmas presents this year...

And I was shopping for 5 different quilts here.

Only a few pieces were for stash building!

All the rest are for specific people, for specific quilts!

Honest!! :)

And yes... I fully admit I am addicted to dots. Circles. Swirls, & Words!

Always have been. Fear I always will be! LOL

Crazy how that's what I am always pulled to!
Really hoping to get all my painting done, so I can go turn all this fabric into quilts!!! :D Hope you are getting to be more creative than I am right now!

I'll catch up soon, I promise! LOL!!

xo Bren

Painting puppies and snowmen

2 snowmen in our backyard after the blizzard. Hee hee... they just make me smile! Too bad they can't stick around longer than a day here in colorado!! :)

Painting... painting ... painting.... we are slowly replacing all the 70's hollow wood doors through out our house, with 6 panel white doors. Yay!!! This nook will be the last to be replaced... as there are 3 doors in this nook. Can't wait! (why not all at once you ask? Just a bit cost prohibitive when we are doing so many other updates to the house! And having 12 doors needing replaced at $60 a pop... yah... do the math. LOL)

Got one wall in the family room done, and all the trim. Now for the other wall with the bookshelves and entertainment center on it!

Got one wall in the living room done. :) Easy peasy wall. LOL Now for the vaulted ceiling wrap around wall, with more book shelves and a big desk on it! The nook with the window, has been painted bright white. Not sure i'm loving it yet. That green wall you see will soon be red. So the entire living area of the house will be all the golden tan with white trim (looks soo sharp!!) and then only that one wall of red. Above, you see the little wooden panels by the wood burning stove? I think those will be red also... for continuity as it is a tri level house and you see everything all at once. I "think" this will all help it flow alot better. I am LOVING the neutral color with the white trim! The kitchen is chock full of color, and is the central part of the house seen from the living room and family room and entry way and dining room.

We have 2 of these 70's wood banisters. :( One right here in the entryway/living room. And one that keeps you from falling out of the kitchen. We are thinking of tearing this one out, and putting in a short wall with a flat top ledge. The one in the kitchen is a little tougher. We really LIKE that you can see thru it down into the family room. (keeping eyes on kids lol) Replacing it with a newer thicker banister would cost hundreds. :( So... prolly gonna be a sanding fool after the new year and try to paint it white. Iffin that doesn't go well... then we may replace it. But for now I have to try and keep the costs down, so i can replace the kitchen cabinets and all those doors! Slooowwwwllyyy upgrading things to pull it into this century! Hard to do when in your head you see it as it should be! And not being able to attain it right away all at once is the frustrating part! LOL

My poor hubby is a little disgruntled coming home to his living room being all squished up - no place to sit and relax! I keep reminding him this is a GOOD THING! And don't the walls look GOOD!? But yep... takes wayyy too long doing it this way!!

I was pulling the tape off yesterday... and my little helper decided to get in on the action and wanted to HELP ! Looked like fun! I can pull it off too Mom!!

She's such a love! But hard to paint with a pup who loves to be right next to you all the time! And yes.... she DID get her tail in some paint! :( Baby gates only work, if you put them up!!!

Hope you have a very blessed day!!! Say a little prayer that I stay motivated on this humongous project, and dont procrastinate the opposing walls for much more than a day!! :P

xo

Bren

Giveaway shout out

Jennie over at Sunflower Quilts is having a great giveaway! Quilters go check it out! :)
http://sunflowerquilts.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-first-blogiversary-and-giveaway.html

We are getting our new roof put on today. It has been put off and put off... apparently the contractors couldn't get building permits in our area, without jumping thru a bazillion hoops? Anyway... the pounding and hammering should start today, so i HAVE to be out of the house all day, or it will drive me up the wall! Me thinks i will do a little quilt shop hopping :D Have been suuuch a good girl... and i am prepared for that to end today! hahaha

Painting has come to a screeching halt. Sadly. I have just lost all physical motivation to tearing my house apart each day. :( Mentally... i still want to finish. Am excited to have it done! But i am not a fan of moving all furniture to one side of the room... painting ONE wall.. waiting for it to dry, painting second coat and waiting for it to dry, and then moving furniture back. Next day start on opposite wall. yah. no fun. LOL I am the kinda girl that likes to paint like a maniac all day and then be DONE. You know... EMPTY rooms. Where you can knock out like 3 rooms in a day - including trim!? This one wall thing is killin my painting mojo!! :( Maybe i will be motivated this weekend after a little fabric shopping, and sams club shopping?? hmm... could beee :)

Ok, so much for that resolution to not be a bad blogger! :(
Please bare with me... it has been on "crisis" after another here the last few weeks. NOT enjoyable. But being a mom certainly throws you some serious curve balls when you least expect it!
It seems they have been coming fast and furious. We have put on our armor, and are fighting the battle, and God has our backside. I'm pooped. And in the middle of all this... one of the things that will not make sense to you, unless i explain it all (which i'm not lol) we are painting. Completely painting my son's room, dressers, bookshelf, all of it. I am painting the entire house, minus the kitchen. So far I have gotten my nemesis of a hallway finished (5 doors with trim, and 10 stairs and a banister - oh yes.. have avoided this one for a lonnng time!) the entry way with the front door and closet door and trim, done. Sadly that dumb hallway and entryway took me 3 DAYS of constant work! OY! Moving onto the more "normal rooms" now. Family room and living room. Paint stuff everywhere - oh - and a PUPPY who wants to be where we are with all that wet paint!!
Oh my gosh i was sooo sore after the first full day of painting, i could barely move! (pathetic i know) and that next day I caught the flu. My daughter has it full force, and so do i. And then we got 18" of snow. Add in wet frozen hyper puppy. LOL All of us in our jammies... painting... coughing..... covered in paint... kids on fall break.. and we're all shut-ins! What a joy. LOL
But... through all that is going on it has been very cathartic. And it feels soo good to have clean crisp walls, something accomplished through hard work. A clean slate so to speak. Just as our Father gives us a clean slate for our souls we are pushing the same mentality through the house with fall cleaning and painting. (We've lived here almost 6 years so it's past time!!) I love the freeing mentality of getting rid of stuff, and cleansing... less cluttered (i have 2 girls that are packrats - need i say more??) I am proud of the big black trash bags that are going out the door. I am proud that my kids have taken on this cleansing mentality with such a great attitude. I look forward to being done. I look forward to all of the initial reasons for it being done. I look forward to relaxing on the couch and looking around and being thrilled with the results! But mostly right now... i look forward to a good night's sleep not covered in paint! LOL!
I may not blog for a while... we'll see how long it takes to finish the living room and family room, and this flu crud!
xo
Bren

It's snowing... again

Well it's snowing. Again.

Our 4th snow of the year, already!

Sheesh.

Our trees are JUST starting to turn. And now, I think they are freaked out. LOL Trying to turn faster. Green leaves dropping before they had a chance to do their beautiful color dance. :(

My all time favorite time of the year. And we've officially skipped it this year!

:( boohooo!!

No dry crunchy leaves to walk through. No smell of dry leaves in the air. No gorgeous red and gold fire dances as you drive or walk down the street. Just a few. Just enough to really get a feel for what we'll be missing! LOL

Sniff.

Well, since the beautiful snow is falling, all soft and peaceful, I am keeping my jammies on all day. I have lit candles. (punkin spice - i can pretend it's fall)

I have a stew in the oven. And I just cut out a prim little applique quilt to sit and work on, while I turn on a movie or 3. The perfect kind of day for curling up and nesting. Also my favorite! (but usually reserved for WINTER. LOL)

I just wonder what this bodes for our winter? Apparently it's going to be a long one! So I best get my creative mojo in gear! ;)

I hope you are having a gorgeous fall day where you live! And if you have any of that dry crunchy leaf smell in the air by you... can ya send me some??

:D

bright blessings, Bren :)

I have been a bad blogger!

Things have just been so busy it seems. Ms. Lexi keeps me busy allll day!

I have managed to sneak down to my craft room here and there when the little spaz is sleeping though!

I finished a couple blocks for our online quilting bee.

And learned how to do wonky stars. Well... I quickly became addicted and saw the possibilities of this design! LOL

So started another quilt. LOL It's "That thing I do" afterall! :D

These were pinks and oranges. Then i started on blues and greens. I don't have all those blocks together yet. Minimal sewing time and all that...
I think it will be a sweet, fresh colorful dose of sunshine when it's done!
I did get the top done on this one.... well.. mostly done. LOL
I still need to add a white border and a red outer border, and then gonna sammich it up and get started on the quilting. This too is a Christmas present. I still have 3 more others to get started and finished before Christmas! Yikes!!

But I love the funky, bold, in your face statement that this makes! Fun fun!!

And thiiis little spaz... oh boy is she growing FAST!!

We just had our vet visit on tuesday. She is now 23 pounds, and no chub on her! Major growth spurt happened last week - i swear she went to bed a chubby little puppy and woke up a teenager! LOL! It was weird how fast she seemed to grow!

We'll be signing her up for puppy kindegarten here real soon. Ms. Spaz needs to learn some manners and socialization! I have been working with her every day, and she is finally getting the hang of things! Yay!! But we're still not acheiving a "no pull" on our walks. (yah.. more like "i'd rather choke myself to death cuz i gotta get over there, riiight noowww mama!!" ) Snot gonna be pretty when she weighs 70 pounds and is still pulling stunts like that!! LOLOL Soooo... off to obedience school we go!
Just look at that ragamuffin face!

And her and Daddy have devoloped a wonderfully special relationship! :)

When not tied up with her under my legs, we had been going to track meets - and those are finally over! (Praise God! lol) And now we are into wrestling! Bay's first match is today!
Ya know.. i just gotta say, I am sooo proud of who he is becoming!! And I love that he's going after all the things he wants to do!! It's awesome to watch them grow mentally, emotionally, as well as physically... and discover that their new "improved" bodies can do things they couldn't do before! LOL
Bay is coming into his own. He LOVES sports. He's become an incredible team player, and loves team sports - but also loves individual sports where he feels HE shines! It's neat to see the confidence shooting skyward, and a sense of "i CAN do that!" always showing!
Now, of course, is also when the teenage boy's ego gets seriously over inflated! LOL!
And as a Mom... always a Mom LOL...
it's hard to watch a kid that is all muscle, skin and bone try to LOSE weight that he doesn't have to try to make it into a different weight category! I'm thinkin.. where's it going to come from?? He has NOTHING extra on him! And then the Mom worry sets in. LOL I keep chanting that it's only for a month and a half.. and it's great to see him develope a sense of self discipline!! But yah... still a mom. LOL
He's excited for today's match... and a wee bit nervous! As he should be!! :D
Him and his best friend have been practicing everyday after practice. It's such a testosterone filled sport! LOL!!! Perfect for two boys coming of age and needing to prove how incredibly strong they are - warriors dontchyaknow!
Cracks me up.

Ok, i've rambled long enough. I will try to be better at blogging this next week!
Hope you have a wonderful creative weekend!
And may God bless you in abundance!!
xo Bren

One BIIIIGGG Weiner!!!

Do you know what this is??

ONE BIIIG WEINER! -Mobile that is!

Granted... not the most flattering shot. LOL But I couldn't pass it up - too fun! :)

The weinermobile was down at our local grocery store today. We sang the Oscar Meyer song and got whistles too!! hee hee

ps... the first shot is INSIDE the weiner mobile

NO WAY!

ALREADY????!!!!

we NEVER have snow before halloween!

holy cow... what does this bode for our winter?

needless to say... babysitting the puppy this morning was tons of muddy fun. she LIKES THE MUD. shoot me now!