A Walk Down Memory Lane

It has been 2 years, 5 months and 18 days since we packed up a motorhome with the 3 girls, 2 dogs, a huge tub of homemade cookies and an ache in my gut and left Oregon for Minnesota.
You would think that would be enough time to completely unpack, thoroughly decorate, erase any longing for home and acclimate to the frozen tundra.  I've yet to do one of those things.  I still have decorations sitting on my bedroom floor where they have been since the day we got here.  I still have bins and boxes yet to be unpacked.  I can't get used to this cold and my heart is still unsettled.

The other day I was going through a bin in my sewing room and I came across some "original" Lollibags, the Lollibags Lauren and I first made back in 2005-2008.  We had the craziest fabric combos, but it was oh so much fun making them. I've listed 3 of them in my Etsy Shop.  I'm so thankful we jumped into Lollibags, went on girls trips to find vintage fabrics, and just freely created.  Good memories with my daughter.

Here are a few pictures of some of the originals....

We found these vintage fabrics at a thrift shop.  I know it's a crazy combination but I love it!  Lauren made this one.  I'll have to ask her what happened to this bag.

Oh my goodness, look how little the girlies were!  Portia is almost 12 now and Sophie is 6.  Boy I sure do love that bag Portia has on.  I must have sold it at the Sunday Market.

It is so easy to blow a couple hours looking at old photos.  But I must get back to sewing and finishing up a scarf I am making.  Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm wherever you are!  I think our high on Saturday will be in the negative......sigh

Pink Friday Coupon!

Don't forget to use coupon code PINK25 for 25% off at my ETSY shop!
Have a great weekend!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Found and a coupon for my etsy shop!

I just love when I find little things that make me smile.  Here are my latest finds......

I found this BLOG from pinterest.  I watched her Top Knot Tutorial and have been wearing my hair this way.  She is super cute and its funny I think of myself still in my 20's but um, I have a son her age.  She is 23 and has a little boy.  Then I realized that it may not be too long before I am a grandma my child has a child.  Yes I prefer that much better to the *g* word.  No way, no how, am I ready to enter g-hood.

My sister and I have been going to IKEA every few weeks.  We buy a little something for the house each time.  I saw this ORANGE CHAIR and fell in love. Then I sat in this orange chair and fell deeper in love.  The back is slightly reclined so it makes for a cozy reading spot.  I want it very badly.  But my thrifty side is saying wait till it is in the current Ikea Family Discounts.  Hopefully that will be soon.

My second son, Nic, has become obsessed with Sriracha Sauce. He stayed at our house recently with his sisters while hubby and I were out of town .... my oldest daughter became obsessed also.  So I was excited when I found this Sriracha dress at 50% off!  Sold.


I am about to share my most wonderful find!  Ready??  Hail Merry Chocolate Miracle Tart!  The most decadent treat ever.  I realize that I linked you up to the expensive pack of 12.  BUT, they have them in single portions at Whole Foods.  Only $4.99 each.  I know, I know, that is still expensive, but you can make each tart last 4 days, if you can control yourself.  What really makes these a miracle is that they are good for you!!

So, do you like my finds?  I really do.  You know what else?  I love it when I find something on sale!  Here is my Thanksgiving weekend coupon for my ETSY SHOP.  In case you did not know, I changed my shop name from lollipookiesoap to prudynan.

I don't like the name black Friday or cyber Monday... I much prefer PINK.  Use code PINK25 for 25% off this weekend, starting Friday Nov. 29 and ending Monday Dec. 2.
Coupon may not be used on previous purchases or custom orders.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I am so thankful for my followers and customers!

Back to School Bags! Sale at my Etsy shop!

It is that time of year, ok I am posting this a bit late, most of you probably have your back to school shopping done..... For those of you that don't,  I am having a sale at my Etsy shop now through Sunday, August 25.  Use coupon code SCHOOL30 for 30% off your purchase.  That is a huge deal! 

I don't know about you, but I like to be different.  I don't like to buy the same school bag everyone else got at Target too.  Check out my gypsy section in my shop.  Here are a couple of my new bags and I have a few more I am working on...

Brown corduroy with vintage fabric flowers.

 

 

 

Brown corduroy with vintage fabric flowers.

               Canvas with a vintage tie and mustard ruffles.  Straps are vintage upholstery.

 Canvas with vintage yellow ruffles.  This bag is on ebay right now, and not etsy.  Starting bid is at 30% off price so no further discounts would apply, email me if you want the link.

A pink velvet heart is on the side of this bag, it is so cute. Interior is Heather Bailey cotton in bright green.

Other than that, are you all ready for school??  I am really excited because this year I will be homeschooling all 3 of my girls.  I have a senior, a 6th grader, and a 1st grader.  Looking forward to this adventure!  And I have a gut feeling I have a few more adventures ahead of me....

If this isn't the cutest idea ever............

I met Becki from whippy cake at The Creative Connection a couple years ago, we traded products, my girls have super cute whippy cake hair accessories and she has a vintage ruffled Lollibag.   I saw the cutest picture of her on my news feed for my Facebook page and went to check out her blog.

I read the  jewelry board tutorial and it is such a great idea!  If my life ever slows down I may have to do this.  Maybe all my girls can help me build it for a homeschool lesson this winter.

Have a great Sunday!

a birthday party

HELLO......... Sophie's 6th birthday is coming up and she is really excited! She has been talking about it since her last birthday.  At first she wanted a fishing themed party because she loves it when her daddy takes her fishing. She is obsessed.  Unfortunately, all the fish in our lake died this spring with the late freezes, so there has not been one day of fishing this year.  I think she has forgotten about her fishing party.

Now she wants a Barbie party.  Ugh, how many of those have I given my 3 girls?  Too many to count. In my mind I have the talents of Martha Stewart and I can see exactly how my house will be decorated.  This is how I envision my daughters birthday parties.....

                                                                     image from pinterest


All nice  and cute with a table set up and an array of coordinating goodies, snacks, and décor......

                                                                     image from pinterest


With a cake like this all pink and perfect and yummy and of course I whipped it up fresh............

                                                                  image from pinterest

But in reality, when I plan parties, I surf etsy and I find all kinds of cute paper straws, cupcake holders, banners, napkins, place cards, goodie bags, etc.... and I add it all up and then decide to scrap the whole thing because the décor is costing as much as the gifts I have bought for her......and my party looks a bit like this.

Why is my daughter, who is turning 16,  giving me that look?  She has no party décor.  I rarely even have matching candles.  And there is my typical chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. At least it is from scratch with organic ingredients, right?

Oh sweet Portia, with her 4th birthday cake (she is 11 now), at least I tried with the decorating gel (before our healthy eating) and some pink sprinkles.  I even had a '4' candle.  There was no décor.

This was my best attempt yet.  It's terrible, I know.  But at least it was 2 tier and had ballerina decorations on it with some cupcakes and it was on my vintage cake stand, which I stupidly sold at a vintage sale.... This was for Sophie's 2nd birthday.

So I am really in need of some advice and help and actually any and everything you can tell me about having a cute little girls birthday party, without spending a lot of money.

I am going to attempt to make a scrap fabric garland and I do have some red and white paper straws.  But I don't want to throw the typical commercial Barbie party, HOWEVER, I would consider a VINTAGE Barbie party.  We do love vintage Barbie stuff.

So please, please send your advice, links, etsy shops, pinterest ideas, etc....I'd appreciate it so much and so would Sophie!

Sale at my Etsy shop!

Hello!
I'm still here and sewing like crazy.  I have been blessed with a wholesale order from the University of Oregon Bookstore!  I'm really excited and have been non-stop sewing to fulfill the order.  There will be Lollibags in 3 sizes with team colors (green & yellow) and fashion colors, also 3 different designs. 
I am anxious to get back to creating single, unique Lollibags!

Hope everyone has a safe, fun holiday and if you are staying home, like me, I have a sale at my Etsy shop.  Enter code JULY20 for 20% off your order through Friday.

Zoe says.... HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Green and Spring, cannot wait

I'm having a bit of a hard time looking out my window at the SNOW mixed with rain and the SNOW storms on the way next week.  This is the part of Minnesota I hate and dread, those are strong words, but I have strong feelings.  I need tropical, I need spring, I need green.

This blog post kinda made my morning :)  I love the greens.  It's inspiring. I love the jade dishes....

 You know what else made me smile?  The styling of the new spring Boden catalog.  It is so retro cute!

Here is one of my new Lollitotes.  It is made from vintage Waverly fabric.  I love how retro it is and the colors are so pretty and springy.

What are you most looking forward to planting this spring?  I still have not figured out when I can start planting here in Minnesota, I usually think I can start way to soon, then we get another freeze.  I'm just hoping my clematis vine comes back and grows big and beautiful!

What are the temps where you are?  Still in the 30's here.

I'm back with new idea's and a sale!

I've missed writing.  I feel a bit out of the loop.  I think December through February are my "hiatus from sewing" months :).  I always need that break to gather my thoughts and come up with new idea's.  We usually go on vacation to see my  husbands family during February anyway. 

We arrived home from vacation on Sunday and it was a brutal slap, this cold weather.  This morning it was -4 as I was driving to coffee with my sister.  I was coming from 81 degrees, tropical loveliness.  Oh well.  I saw the cutest tote while on vacation and it's so simple.  I thought why have I not done that?  I'm going to make a line of Lollitotes at an affordable price.  Who doesn't need affordable???

I noticed when I went grocery shopping on Monday, the food prices have taken a serious hike!  I really cannot believe the price jump.  In light of that I am having a sale at my ETSY SHOP use code SALE35 for 35% off.

On Tuesday I turned 41.  Sophie says to me crying... I don't want you to be 41!!!  Well Sophie, I don't really either but what can you do?  However, I am grateful for another year and for my health and my family and what else is there?  Sophie is scared I am going to turn into a grandma.  I dont' know if she thinks I will automatically age 35 years and get short gray hair and be all wrinkly?  But I am trying to assure her that I am not a grandma yet and don't plan on becoming one anytime soon.

My girls love to bring out their alternate personalities... Lauren's other self is called Juanita and Portia is Juanita 2.  Hmmmm I wonder where they get it from?

Ya, I am going to leave that picture small :)  But I love that I have a ton of goofy pictures with my girls, we have so much fun together!

 

 

Next up is spring!  I'm so excited!!

Vintage Finds

 A couple weeks ago I had some time to kill and I went into an antique store.......  I'm sure many of you can start a conversation the same way :)  So I found lots of things to buy.  I ended up getting only what I couldn't leave behind.

First, is a vintage airline luggage rack with 4 wheels on the bottom.  I saw it and knew it would be perfect to hold fabric in my sewing studio (if it ever gets finished)...  So while I am waiting for my sewing space to be done, I'm using it in my family room.  I also could use it in my laundry room. 

I knew I couldn't get it home by myself, but my son has a truck so I texted him *secretly*, not wanting my husband to get wind just yet.  Well wouldn't you know it, my son was out to lunch with my husband when he got my text!!  He totally threw me under the bus!

What I have all my yarn in, is an industrial basket.  I just love it, looks like a big pasta strainer for commercial use!
I am not sure how I am going to arrange things on it yet.  I would like to put all my vintage books on it.  I need to decide.  I just haven't had time lately.

I also found two vintage orange chairs.  The original tag says they are custom made by a company in Minneapolis.  The upholstery is in such good shape I am not going to recover them.  Besides, I love orange!

The other chair is in my bedroom.  They are so comfy.  I sit in this one and put my cup of tea on the green table and crochet.

I have a sale going on in my etsy shop www.lollipookiesoap.etsy.com it is going to end on Tuesday, January 29!  Coupon code is COLD20 for 20% off! 
Have a great weekend!  It is so cold here, I am not thinking right.  How about you, what's the weather where you live?

20 years

Today I have been married for 20 years.  I do not have a lot of photo's from our "wedding"  because we went to the courthouse one day and got married.  In this old photo (1994), we had been married for 14 months.  The boys are 3 and 3 months. This was my first trip to Hawaii to see his family.  You never think you'll reach the day when you look at old photos and say..."Wow, look how young we look!"  and "Boy we sure were skinny!". 




All the changes!  Now our family vacations are only with the girls because our boys are out on their own!  It is truly bittersweet.

What is love?  The one thing I've learned over 20 years is that love is a choice, not a feeling.  An even better description is a conversation from my favorite old movie, the original Yours, Mine and Ours  with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda (1968).  One of the teenage daughters was upset that her boyfriend Larry kept pressuring her to "go farther".  She is asking her father for advice.  This is what Frank Beardsley says to her as he is helping his pregnant wife get to the hospital to give birth:

~I've got a message for Larry, you tell him this is what it's all about, this is the real happening.  You want to know what love really is?  Take a look around you, take a good look at your mother, it's giving life that counts.  Until your ready for it all the rest of life is just a big fraud.  All the crazy haircuts in the world won't keep it turning.
Life isn't the loving, it's the dishes and the orthodontist and the shoe repairman and ground round instead of roast beef and I'll tell you something else, it isn't going to bed with a man that proves your in love with him, it's getting up in the morning and facing the drab, miserable, wonderful, everyday world with him that counts.~

Well I couldn't agree with Mr. Beardsley more!

God is faithful, even when I'm not.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us RUN with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2

That, may be my favorite verse of all time.  It is always good  to remember all God has brought you through.  Oh I so easily forget!  You know, I still drive around Minnesota and think, wait..... I'm in Minnesota??  I had forgotten all the miracles that God did to get us here.  So I read them again, here.  I'm so glad I did, because I have been really wondering why we live in this frozen tundra.  I've been saying... this weather is not fit for humans!  We must be insane to live here!  I really, really do not like winter.

But, I'm so very thankful.  I have many things to praise God for.  This Minnesota life is not perfect but we are blessed to have it.  I want to keep my eyes FIXED ON JESUS.  I pray God will help me throw off all that hinders and not be entangled in sin.  Thank you Lord for all you have done for me!!

Facebook

Well I guess blogger is having upload photos issues.  So I cannot  post what I wanted to today.    Can't wait to show you my vintage airline luggage rack and vintage orange chairs I found!

Head over to my facebook page and please like it!  I post special coupon for my etsy shop there!

Have a great day!

Happy New Year!

Another year gone.  There are things to remember, things I'd like to forget, things I am happy I did.  I do not like new years resolutions, but rather,  *decisions*.    In 2013 I've decided to be adventurous.  Being adventurous started for me back in 2006, (or maybe 2002 when we moved to Oregon)......  One day I decided I should take my kids (4 of them at the time) on a road trip.  We lived in Oregon and I wanted to drive to San Fransisco. Just me and the kids.

Hubby didn't like the idea but I was set.  We did.  We just took off one day and drove to California!  The kids were 15, 12, 10 and 4.  We listened to 80's hair bands all the way down.  We stopped at roadside wonders, ice cream shops..... the kids still remember the science museum in San Fran... I didn't have a digital camera back then or I'd show you my pictures.  It was a blast and I was hooked.


When Lauren was 12, her and I took a mom/daughter trip to Idaho. The next summer Lauren and I drove to Idaho again to sell Lollibags at a barn show. We got chocolate shakes at every meal.

This is the morning we left for our first Idaho adventure.

 

I promised Portia we would go on our own adventure this summer as soon as school is out.  I have a state in mind......  I am very excited!  I love adventures, our greatest adventure was moving to Oregon.  It was a blast, something I'll never, ever regret.

 

So here's to the New Year!  2013~The year of Adventure!