I can't resist. Pictures of the little girl. And one Griffin smoosh.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

How to Be a Lady: Advice to My Two Year Old Daughter

Ladies like getting dressed and do not scream about getting clean.

Ladies never drink, dip things in or otherwise touch the toilet water. Ladies like to live, preferably without incurable diseases. The only type of toilet water you should get near is mommy’s perfume and even then, it’s wise to leave it alone.

Ladies do not throw their food on the floor, because true ladies realize that one day they will be the ones down on their (old) knees, scrubbing food off the floor.

Ladies are obsessed with shoes. Continue your quest to find the perfect shoes to go with each outfit, but remember to put them away, otherwise I’m going to force you to wear tennis shoes with your dresses, an idea that already fills you with distain.

Ladies never use their hair as a napkin, no matter how desperate they get.

Ladies do not lift their skirts over their heads.

Most ladies don’t fight with light sabers. Unfortunately, with three older brothers, this is a skill you are going to have to master. Kick-ass girls can be ladies too. And remember, there is no try. Only do.

You have already mastered the lady-like method of getting what you want. Keep it up. Please and thank you plus big eyes equals big rewards.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Skirt (Ladybug Ruffles)

:)

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Cell phone and iPod case, for us forgetful types.

I'm forever forgetting/losing/leaving behind one or the other of these things. Since I pretty much need them hourly for something, it drives me crazy. Sometimes I will take my phone, but forget the iPod or I will be playing with my iPod and hear the phone ring and it's in the other part of the house. Don't even get me started on trying to leave the house. Part of the problem is that they are both in distreet black cases. Not too easy to spot in my cluttered house.

To solve most of these problems, I made this little case, with Amy Butler fabric left over from the purse I made Melissa for Christmas. It has two velcro pockets on the side. One is to hold my earphones; the other I put on there for some future purpose. I'm sure I'll want it some time. It's surprisingly easily to pull out the phone or iPod.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Why (part of) My Hair Is Pink

You dye your hair pink and there are a lot of misconceptions about why you did it. There are three main categories that these misconceptions fall under. They are:

1. You want to be cool.
2. You want to get attention.
3. You must have misplaced your brain.

In my case, all of these assumptions are a little off. 1. I have never been, nor will I ever be, cool. 2. I like attention, but most of the time I don’t really notice it. I’m too busy either watching my children or thinking very deep thoughts about what I’m about to do. Grocery shopping takes such concentration. For example, the other day I was walking on BYU campus and a group of moms with their kids walked by. They were all looking at me. Not nasty, but just curious. I couldn’t figure out why. Then it dawned on me that I have pink hair. And in answer to number three, I rarely do things I don’t mean to do and I generally think things through until tiny little wear holes appear on the subject.

So, why is my hair pink? You are going to be really bored by my reasons, because there are a lot of them.

First of all, I’ve always been conservative. I’ve never been a trend-setter. I’ve always made cautious decisions. I’ve never cut my hair really short. I’m careful not to wear too much mascara. I don’t wear lipstick because it makes my lips stand out too much. I’ve never knowingly shown any cleavage in public. You get the picture. I’ve seen other people with pink hair and thought it looked so cute. I really wanted to try it, but I knew I never would. This brought out my little rebellious side, which has been dormant forever, but has recently been making itself heard. Not since I refused to participate in family home evening has my rebel side been so dominant. So, thinking that I would never do something like that made me itch to do it, just to prove that I would. Not to other people, but to myself. Because it felt out of character for me.

Which brings us to reason number two. I am 27. Now, I realize this is ridiculously young in the big picture. But, I’m getting to that point when I’m starting to realize that I am not younger than everyone else any more. As a teenager, you assume everyone is older than you are. I haven’t given that up yet. I watch American Idol and realize if I ever woke up with an amazing singing voice in place of my my weedy warble I would be one of the oldest ones there. That makes me feel old. I started realizing that if I wanted to dye my hair pink, I should do it now. Not that I couldn’t do it later, but sheesh, I want to feel young and not boring. Because basically my life consists of scrapbooking and changing diapers.

Which brings us to reason number three. A lot of my life is defined by being a mom. The thing is, while it’s a big part of my life, it’s not my entire identity. Yet, it’s not really apparent when I’m out with my four children that I’m not a stereotypical mother of four. Sure, I might have done things the textbook Mormon way, but I’m so much more than that. The pink hair is an expression of that fun, funky, artistic side of me that doesn’t get to show much, unless you stop to talk to me and I tell you that I designed and sewed my daughter’s skirt, made the jewelry myself, crocheted her top and sewed my own wallet. I’ve grown into a free thinker and you can’t tell by just looking at my life. I take care of my kids, volunteer at school occasionally, work in the Primary, go grocery shopping, but all of those public things don’t define me. I’m open to new ideas, I try my best to be kind to everyone, I try not to judge, find good things in weird, not-church-culture-approved places. I guess I wanted people to know that even though I do all the things I’m supposed to do, it’s because I choose to do them. I don’t want anyone else defining me.

Reason number four: I’ve always cared so much what other people thought of me. This means that when I played at a friend’s house, I was too scared to ask for a glass of water. It means that I find myself apologizing for the slightest mess in my house. It means that I would say yes because I was too scared to say no. It means that I had no confidence and less self esteem. I’m done with all of that. I guess in a way, it was to prove to myself that I really don’t mind what people may think of me. If they choose to judge me by my hair, I’m ok with that; not that I’ve heard one negative thing so far, but someone has probably thought something. I’ve grown a thick skin and I’m proud of it.

Plus, it’s just cute and David thinks it’s hot.

And there you have it. Are you bored yet? I wasn’t kidding when I said it would take a long time to explain. Now that I’ve explained it, the coolness factor just went waaaaaayyyy down.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Yudu Goodness

There were a few people who commented that they didn't know what a Yudu was. It's the coolest thing ever. It's new from Provo Craft and it's a personal screen printing machine.

I have one because they are doing an infomercial and needed sample projects. So I got to borrow one. I also used one on the Nth Degree, which was soooo fun. Basically, you print out or doodle/draw on a transparency, then you make a screen from that and you can screen print just about anything (paper, plastic, fabric, but sadly, not glass).

More info here:
http://www.provocraft.com/products/index.products.php?cl=yudu

I'm sure I will be posting more of my projects as I get them done. I've made a ton of things and not everything will be going to Provo Craft.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Citrus Halter Dress

It's gray and nasty today, so I thought maybe making a cheerful summer dress would help a little. Yep. So did the cutie who was all smiles about her new dress. Another one where I made up the pattern. It's a bit tight under the sleeves, but that should be pretty easy to fix by taking out the back a tiny bit. Also, pardon the threads everywhere. Guess I need to back and clip them. I'm hoping my serger will be back from the doctors before too long and I can reinforce the ruffle seam. It will also cut off those pesky threads. I also love how she's multitasking. Texting Daddy and eating pizza. She does not like to stand still for these things. I was trying to distract her.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Skirt for Aubrey: Knife Pleat Goodness

I've been learning lately how to do my own patterns. This is soooo fun. Quite an adventure, but with Project Runway and a duct-tape dress form complete with baby Buddha belly, I'm armed with all the knowledge and tools I need to make my own clothes. $4 worth of fabric and a little time later and I had this:

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Two Photos: Robot Socks and Luv

It's crazy sock day today at Xander's school. I had no idea what we were going to do. We don't own any crazy socks. There are only four types of socks that exist in our house, each category has precisely one style of sock. One for Aubrey, one for all the boys to share, my socks and David's socks. Soooo, I cast my eyes about and saw the Yudu I'm currently borrowing. I threw some socks on there and a few swips and some green paint later, insta robot socks.

And this one is just cute.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

The power of positive thinking.

A few days ago, I was working on my computer while my kids watched Super Why on PBS. The main character, incidentally and cleverly named Wyatt, was helping a little pig who couldn’t build train tracks. A certain phrase that a certain three-year-old uses emphatically on occasion caught my attention.

They go on to help a prince win his father’s kingdom by helping him first find and then fly a magic carpet by the power of positive thinking. I love shows that teach something, but I think they missed the mark with Griffin. The little pig learns a lesson about positive thinking from the magic carpet prince and is able to build his train tracks at the end, but Griffin conveniently ignores this positive change of heart.

So, what is this phrase that shows up in our lives from time to time? “I’ll never be able to do this. Never. Never. Never.” Way to ignore the message of the piece and instead pick up a frustrating, although passionate catch-phrase.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Bubble Girl!

So, I stayed up late (cough, cough 1:30 am) last night figuring out how to sew a bubble skirt. I took the top of another dress, then sewed the band and the bubble skirt to it. I used only stuff I had on hand. That never happens. The fabric is all from my grandma Jensen.

The black you see at the bottom is a pair of leggings left over from another outfit. I love the way it came out (sorry about the dirtiness, she won't take it off, which of course, delights me).

I was thinking of having this be her Easter dress, so I'd like to dress it up a little. What do you think I should do? I thought about crocheting some small flowers to go around the collar. Or I could do a small bow there. Or I could do a fabric flower at the waist. Any suggestions? Leave me a comment!

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.