New Gypsy Totes!

I have new lollibag's coming out called Gypsy Totes.  I know these aren't too crazy but I'm going to stretch myself and make some crazy gypsy bags!  I have great vintage fabrics and trims  I want to use and will be on the hunt for more...

Off to the sewing room!  Have a wonderful weekend!!

Just some new Lolli's....

With the weather getting colder, I have been spending more time inside sewing.  Here are a few of my new Lollibag's.

My hubby is out of town again, so I am thinking I should be painting something!!  I would love to put a few big chevron stripes on one wall in Sophie's room.  Her room is bright bubble gum pink, and I already have the white paint.....We shall see!

1/2 bath redo

When my husband goes out of town for work, I usually redo something in the house, it's just easier that way.  I have my own methods.  Recently hubby (lucky guy) got to go to Australia, so I tackled the 1/2 bath.  And when I say tackle, that is exactly what I mean.  I have to take a running leap to tackle these 12ft. ceilings.  It is beyond me why a person would need 12ft ceilings, I don't know what the builders of this house were thinking and we really didn't put much though into them being a problem..... until I ordered window coverings, we started paying to heat and cool that extra space, and I decided I wanted to paint!

My dad  brought over his 10ft ladder for me to use.  That sucker is heavy, I have never used so many muscles in my body.  I had to constantly lift and turn the ladder to reach the different walls, oh and I'm afraid of heights, oh and there is no room for a paint tray up there so up and down up and down I went.  The bathroom is small so the ladder never fully extended and that was another issue but oh well.  I got a good workout!

So here is the before picture, above...  My plan  was to stencil a  really cool design over a dark color.  I chose frosted plum for the base.

I really liked it at first.....

And then I got the whole room done and it was sooooo purple I was a bit worried.

But I knew the stencil would break it up a bit.  I went to the store and got a cream color called wax figure or something.  I put up my stencil and started.... and right away I knew this was not going to work.  I mean, OH MY LANDS, this was not going to work.  It was near impossible to balance myself atop  a 10ft ladder while not getting excess stencil paint where it should not be, while the blue tape held it's stickiness, and not to mention the corners, this stencil did not want to go easy into the corners, and after the first two stencil area's and strings of not so nice words I was done.

I thought oh great!  I cannot leave these walls all purple!  So not to overdo the stripe theme, but what choice did I have???  I decided to put big stripes up and then I decided well lets do all different sizes of stripes then I won't have to be so "precise".  Cuz  let me tell you it was a good 20 degrees hotter at the top of that room and sweat was dripping off me and it's dark up there and I'm balancing and trying to get a straight line with my level, every couple feet I had to get down and lift and turn that ladder.

Sorry I'm whining so much.

So I taped up my stripes and painted the creamy color, and I got that done......and I don't have a picture of that color done, but this is why I do this when hubby is out of town... I HATED THE COLOR!

The cream just looked so dirty, I was going for a clean crisp look.  Sigh.  Back to Home Depot for the 3rd time, I picked up falling snow, a nice crisp white!  I had to RE-TAPE the cream and start the stripes over.  But I ended up loving this new white.

I had one more stripe in the cream color at the top of the walls and I said oh heck no, I ain't taping that sucker again!!  So I purpled over the very top stripe.

Most importantly, my hubby like it!  That was a relief.  So he wasn't too upset when he found out I had ordered a new light that he had to install.

I had to take the picture with the light off, because it was so bright.  When we took the old light down, there was so much dripped painted and lines, I had to sand the wall to paint so there would not be lumps.

So this was the project that never ended but in the end I am very happy with how it turned out!  Now I need to find a gaudy white framed mirror and some decor.  I am not sure what type of decor though.

Next week I am going to Junk Bonanza, so hopefully I will find something there!

For the Love of Moms!

Being a mom is the best, the hardest, the most rewarding, the most painful AND the most important!!  I love being a mom and I love my mom and I miss my mom terribly.  But I do not want to write another sad post, I want this to be happy!

What do you love about your mom?  I loved how my mom prayed for me daily.  I loved that I could call her up and ask her advice and she would know what the Bible said about any situation.  I hope I am passing that on to my kids too.

What is something that your mom did, that you are passing on to your children?

What is something you ARE NOT passing on to your children?  I will not pass on my mom's perfectionist cleaning regime!!  ha ha, ok I am a little germ obsessed (thank you mother)  but my house does not look like a museum.

Here's to all of us mothers or future mothers...... the world would stop without us!

My DIY wall stripes!

So I started watching Craft Wars, it's "ok".... but on one show I saw a contestant, Mandi, and she had the cutest intro with a picture of a room she had redone.  I loved it so much I looked up her blog and immediately went to work on her striped walls project. 

I picked a small space, the hallway going to Sophie and Portia's rooms, but it was still overwhelming to me.  But it turned out great and I love it!

My hallway before, Cottonballs by Benjamin Moore.  Pretty boring.

A pretty small space, I thought it would be a snap.  Maybe I should tell you I'm not really a details project person.

All taped up, you can find detailed instructions at Mandi's blog.  I followed them to a T.  T is for tedious.  But I know if this is going to look nice it takes time. First I took a level and drew lines 3 in. apart down the walls, that was the worst part I think.  I hope I'm not discouraging you from trying this, I just didn't expect it to be so time consuming.  I have a new found respect for people like Mandi who do this all the time and then photograph it and blog about it.

OH and you may find like I did, that your house was built without using a level!  Not sure how the home builder did that, but I guess that's why he is no longer in business!


So you can see at the bottom of the above photo, you put on a coat of the current wall color first.  I put that coat on to keep the gray from bleeding under the tape, that's what Mandi said to do, so I did it.
Here is my gray coat below.

AND.............................................. WA LLAH!!  I love it!  Don't you?  So all the prep work was worth it.  The blue tape took off some of my original paint when I took it off and in one area a huge chunk of the gray lifted too, but I will just touch it up.

I would love to paint the wall cabinet door a hot pink or a mustard yellow, however I don't think my husband would look to kindly on that!

So now that, that is done.... I may venture into another project.  I may stencil a pattern in my half bath instead of wallpaper.  It would be much cheaper, but again very time consuming.  But I think I'll try.

So what do you think??

20% off code for my etsy shop!

Now through Wednesday July 4th, you can use coupon code JULY4 to get 20% off a Lollibag or whatever else you like!  Head on over to Lollipookiesoap and start shopping!  I still have chevron lollibag's in stock....

Hi, do you remember me?

:)  Life has taken over, I have not sewn in a few weeks, or blogged, or been to my facebook page, or checked my etsy shop.....  I did accomplish a lot though!  Portia went to basketball camp, I took a trip to Oregon, I got through my son's graduation party, my daughter got her first job, and my 2 son's are settled in their new home.

I feel like it all happened without my approval, you know?  Life just moved on whether I was ready or not.  I was being carried away by a wild rushing river.... ok, you get the picture. These are all good things, ummm oh and 2 of my kids are now in relationships.

Wait, what happened? 2 of my kids leave the nest and 2 are "falling in love", now it seems there will soon be only 2 at home!  Since my daughter tells me she is moving out when she is 18, that's in a year and a half.   And I still don't feel 40 yet.

I've decided to embrace this new life (I have no choice).....  I already see a difference in my grocery bill, waaaaaay less laundry, less butting heads with all those grown men,  vacations will be cheaper, I am going to make wonderful memories with my daughters. 

You know how I was really missing Oregon?  I am so grateful I was able to go out for just a few days and see my friends, Cindy, the farm and just see the beauty.    I cried so much on my trip.... it was so bittersweet to see my friends, I miss them so much!  I miss them and Oregon, yet I'm so grateful, am I sounding like a broken record???  I am so jumbled up inside!  And all these life changes are hitting me at once, so you understand my instability right??? I knew you would understand.

Here are some photo's.

The first night I flew in, I went to Heidi's house, it was so much fun to hug her, we were crying like a couple of nut cases.  Heidi is in back, Denise is on the right.  So Denise didn't know I was coming out, so Heidi invited her to dinner, and I showed up too, it was the best moment!  She hugged and hugged and hugged me :)  Denise tells me my Minnesota accent is back in full force.

Here is Cindy and I. Doesn't she look great?  She just had surgery to remove 20% of her liver.  I've said before, she is like  a mom to me.  I love her so much, it was terribly hard to leave her, I sobbed in my car in her driveway when I left.  I think she is beautiful.

Isn't this the sweetest picture?  This is Cindy's husband, Skip.  He adores her and was so tenderly taking care of her.  Love.

My second child, graduated...sigh.  Could life please slow down to a scenic train excursion instead of the bullet train?

Love and Lollibags

I love this gray chevron, especially with the pink flower.  I think that is the extent of color choices for chevron.  The gray and yellow are my favorites.

I bought this vintage floral fabric in Oregon.  I love it.  Actually I bought it from a lady who is very dear to me.  She became like a mom.  She now has liver cancer and is having surgery Wednesday to remove part of her liver.  Thank you for any prayers you send out,  I appreciate it.  Recently she gave her life to Jesus Christ, I am so grateful and amazed by God's mercy!

Today I was reading in Romans about Love.

Romans 12:9-21

Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil;  cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God's people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you;  bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice;  mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written:  "It is mine to avenge;  I will repay," says the Lord.  On the contrary:  "If your enemy is hungry, feed him;  if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.


Well I have a ways to go, how about you?  I'll start with being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  And let me clarify, it won't be me, only God can do those things in me. 

Enjoy the rest of May, summer is almost here!!

New Lollibags~Chevron

Well I have long admired Chevron and finally ordered a bunch of Chevron fabric.  My yellow Chevron Lollibags are going quickly, so I just ordered even more.  Here are some of my latest bags.

This is Jessica Swift fabric in Preeti.  Isn't it cute?  Remember I am putting her wallpaper in my 1/2 bath too.  I think I have finally made a decision on which one.  More on that later. 

The yellow is my favorite.  I just made Lauren a bag like this only smaller.  The pink flower is vintage polyester.

We are coming up on a year in Minnesota.  I think I am finally liking it here.  Of course I am so grateful to God for the move and all it entailed and for God providing for us.  But I was just hanging on to Oregon for some reason.  BUT, I just love being able to call up my friend and sister and be able to go to coffee or shopping.  I really appreciate my kids having their Grandpa.

So speaking of Oregon.  I am going out for a quick weekend in June.  It is both happy and sad.  My close friend, who has been like a mom to me, has liver cancer.  I'm really excited to see her.  And of course my friends and the farm.  It will be so wierd seeing the farm!!!

You know how when you go through a huge life change like an out of state move, or your mom dies... after a certian amount of time you begin to question if you really ever did live in that other state or you really did have a mom?  I know wierd, but those of you who have experienced it...KNOW what I'm saying.  So anyway, kinda fun I get to go back to what I still feel like is my home ~ Oregon :)

Do you have any BIG plans for summer?  Or not so big plans?

New Chevron Tote...

My first of many with my new chevron fabric!  I also have this fabric in green and black.  I will list it on etsy soon!  It's going to be 75 and sun today, so I am going to be outside, have a wonderful day!!