House of Happy

I got this beautiful box full of goodies from my new friend, Jessie, through this Holiday Garlands and Goodies swap that my other new friend, Candace set up. She matched us up so well! I couldn't believe how lovely each part of her gift was and have been inspired to put that much more effort into holiday packaging.



I made these little ornaments today for my swap partners. They don't know who they are so its okay to show them. I was inspired by an ornament I received last year around this same time from this lovely lady. She has such a fabulous stash of fabric and lovely ways of using them.

This is Fort*Happiness. Sebastian is still learning about the joys of fort building and fort using. I am, however, the momma to teach him about it. I spent many Saturday mornings with my brother 'neath chairs and blankets watching the Muppet Show, Popeye, and whatever else children of the early 80's watched.


I had the opportunity to babysit a 6 month old on Thursday as well as take care of a very confused Sebastian. He wasn't too happy with the arrangement but it was a great insight into the life of many Mommas'. I know that you adapt to your situations but I waved goodbye to that sweet little boy and counted my blessings that I only have one right now. The biggest challenge was coordinating nap times and nap places. I hadn't planned on getting any day time sewing in but once Sebastian went to bed, I was too worn out to do much evening crafting either.

Speaking of craftiness, if you haven't already checked out Silje's new Etsy shop, now is the time. She has been working on some really lovely tote bags that are going fast. Also, my friend, Cara, is opening her Etsy shop on Tuesday, Dec. 4th so don't forget to check out her lovely art pieces. I'll be announcing the Christmas list winners on Saturday afternoon so check back soon. TFL.

Christmas Presents For You!

Pop Culture is prettier in person! The softies and chipboard embellies are so beautiful and the lace card stock papers are my new favorite product.


I want to know what is number one on your personal Christmas wish list this year. I'll be picking four bloggers to send a Pop Culture present to so don't be shy! Winners will be announced on Dec. 1st!

Holiday Decorations

Check out the directions in the text part of this pic in my flickr account.


Purchased from JoAnns for a very reasonable 60% off last weekend.


Holiday Garland and Goodies swap for Jessie. I can't wait to get mine!


There will be much talking and sharing sometime soon. To my great surprise, the man in brown delivered a box full of KI Memories goodies to my front door this afternoon. It was too late in the day to take decent pictures of the Pop Culture yumminess that was inside but there will definitely be a few give aways coming very soon!!!
Thanks for looking.

Heavy on the pictures today.

Thanksgiving Day at our house. Story goes that my mom's mom got her finger caught in the blender while making mashed potatoes one evening. Its still attached but we always tease whenever we get the mixers out. My dad is the official turkey carver of the family. Mom was quick enough to put the apron on him while he was elbow deep in turkey. It was all delicious and lovely.




We took a trip this weekend to see our dear friends in Pasadena to celebrate the birth of their daughter, baby A. She is precious and looks a lot like her brother did when he was born. Sebastian followed J around the apt. and watched his every move. J was nice enough to share his toys and his snacks. I had forgotten how delicate and miniature newborn babes are and just kept looking at her tiny fingers and little button nose while she slept. We had a great time catching up and comparing delivery stories, discussing movies and eating good food together. It was the kind of visit that goes by too quickly and leaves you wanting to do it again very soon.



The need to make quilts has been overwhelming this week. Its that same desperate feeling I got when I was prego with Sebastian and needed to nest. I've been collecting and organizing fabrics for a few specific quilts and another large project involving beautiful curtains that need an equally beautiful lining. These curtains have been the project that is always on my mind but never in the works because it was never completely right in my imagination. I've finally got it figured out and hope to finish most of them by the end of the week. You'll have to visit another blog to see the finished product but all is under wraps for now.
Project #1

Project #2

Project #3

He's a big fan of helping.


So, back to work. The December kit is up for pre-order and I just received our add-ons in the mail today. They are custom made for RVKC and perfectly lovely. Those won't be available until Dec. 1st so check back. Thanks for looking and I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend.

I'm Thankful For...

1. A warm place at night.
2. A hand to hold.
3. People that love me.
4. Time to make pretty things.
5. Renewed Hope.
6. Coffee mugs on the shelf.
7. A healthy body that moves.
8. Pumpkin Pie.
9. Cozy Quilts.
10. Things unseen.

The weekend

The finished quilt.





The story.
Sebastian was dumping out acorns from the plastic mixing bowl that he loves to play with and swung it at just the right angle with just enough force to bust my eyebrow open while I was lying next to him on the floor. I cried out like a two year old and covered my eye with my hand and tried not to pass out. When I pulled it away I saw blood on my hand so I stood up and walked to the bathroom to check out the damage. Sure enough, I had a superficial cut that didn't need stitches but was swelling quickly. (I watch Grey's Anatomy so I diagnosed myself.) It didn't stop me from running upstairs to get my mother. I felt faint again so I sat down while she got me some ice and then brought me some tape to close my cut. The little man has an arm on him!
This is how bad he felt that he couldn't touch Momma's owie.

This is what I'll be wearing indoors for awhile.

Thanks for reading!

Birthday Wishes!

TODAY is ELSIE's birthday! She's probably out celebrating or packing to move but leave her a comment on her blog to tell her how fabulous she is! More to post later today when life slows down.


~Rachel

Stamp Winners

Congratulations to...

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Cheryl said...
Congrats on your 100th sale!!! I'm probably going to make a bunch of minibooks and a lot of gift card holders using stamps.

Jill Deiling said...
congratulations on selling your 100th item! yay!

I like giving handmade gifts to my closest friends and family the best. It always means the most to those people too because I feel like it shows them how much you care about them! Making something definitely takes more time than just picking something up at the store. :)

Candice P.J. said...
Yay for # 100!!!

My family gives each other wish lists, so everyone gets what they want - but this year in honor of all things handmade, I will be attaching handmade felt ornaments on everyone's presents! (Like they do at the Hello Kitty Store!) Hopefully this will become a tradition that will last for years and years!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for the Christmas thoughts. It sounds like a lot of you already know what you're doing for everyone. I need addresses of the above three girls so feel free to send them to me @ redvelvetkitclub@gmail.com and mark it as Contest Winner.

I have a story to share with you all about my weekend but I have to wait for better light to take a pic to go along with it. I'm using up my evening time to finish the binding on the latest quilt so I can get it in the mail tomorrow. I'll post pics of that, too, but I needed to announce the winners tonight. We had an early Thanksgiving celebration at church tonight and it was lovely to spend some time visiting with everyone.

OK, more tomorrow!

Etsy Celebration!

So, today I sold my 100th item in my Etsy store and felt the urge to celebrate in a small but meaningful way over here. The Etsy community is kind of an affirmation on my lifestyle right now. It has made it possible to showcase handmade items and show the value of putting something together that started in your mind. I love it.

I found this site today from SouleMama's blog and had to share.
Buy Handmade is all about buying or making handmade goods for the holidays! I am so happy that this is even possible. I actually sent my dad this link because he is pretty sure handmade gifts are okay to give until you're about eight. You can guess who won't be getting something handmade this year!

Except for the few purchases we made on iTunes and Amazon.com for family members, my gift list is handmade. Thanks to a motivated husband, we've almost purchased all of our gifts ahead of schedule. This not only saves the panic of last minute shopping but allows us to make wise purchases in order to keep expenses in check. The rest of our gifts are in my mind and just waiting for a few spare hours to be put together. And really, these are the gifts I will take great satisfaction in making because they are for people I love.



So, leave a comment and tell me whats on your Christmas Giving list. I've got three BamPop stamps ready for a home. I'll pick a winner on Saturday night and announce it sometime Sunday. Happy 100th Etsy Purchase Day!

New Zoe and Noel pretties.

I cut out the tree shape free-hand but then practiced cutting up the tree middles on scratch paper. I punched holes in the pages to simulate ornaments and used the fabric presents paper at the base of the pages to hold them steady. A softie charm at the top and my centerpiece is complete.

Nikki Peterson and I did a photo swap so I paired this B&W self-portrait photo with the brightness of Zoe. I love the negative space created with a white background. I want to do a ton more with this line. Its so fresh.
Here's the latest update on the RVKC December Kit! Its going to be so merry and bright! Go check out the clearance sale starting Nov. 15th in the A.M.!!

Comments

Thank you for all of the encouragement from my last post. Hearing the stories of other moms and aunts and friends eased my mind on a day when I didn't have the clarity to brush it off myself. Things are looking brighter today.

I've put a few new things up in the shop today. These love bird ornaments are available individually or in pairs.


I've also included a few of the Fall scarves I showed last week. There is a tutorial on our Red Velvet blog for you to make your own but if you just can't seem to make time, I've made them available for purchase. Its finally getting chilly here! Brett raked the first batch of leaves this weekend and Sebastian walked through every one of them.


I finished a LO and project using the new Love, Elsie lines this weekend. You can see them tomorrow after they've been showcased on Elsie's blog. Also, don't forget about the clearance sale we're having on the Red Velvet Kit Club blog on the 15th! Happy Monday!

Confession

My memory recall is getting so bad. When I post on this blog, I usually load pictures and then write but I can never remember which pictures I've picked in the right order. So, I publish the pics, then I go back and edit and add words. Sometimes this takes up to six edits! I always catch typos too late. I saw something on tv that explained why I have problems forming words or finishing complete sentences. Sleep deprivation. Yes. Its supposed to be excusable when you've got a newborn but my problem is not being woken several times a night but rather choosing to stay up later than is healthy in order to have time to myself and get work done.
Its going to happen again tonight. And tomorrow night. No matter how tired I am in the morning or how much I plan to change my ways, I always catch a second wind around 9:30 and convince myself its worth getting another blog post in or this other project completed. Then there are Flickr pics to find and other blogs to read and I'm crawling into bed @ midnight. Its taking its toll. I cried twice today. Mostly out of exhaustion.
So, here's a toast to all the ladies in blog land who burn the candle at both ends to do what they love and make it all work. I grant you all a moments rest.

I watched Grey's Anatomy tonight. Its getting better for me.
I took Sebastian in for his 15 month wellness check and the nurse acted worried that he wasn't talking yet.
I got called a 'HO' while driving out of the gym parking lot for getting in a high schoolers way.
My mom came home from the Dr.'s on medication that made her say funny things that she can't remember. I'm not telling.
I have boxes and boxes of scrapbook supplies that need to be dealt with.
I made an effort to be thankful.