Sew Fun.

The Sew Fun book marks are back!

This time you choose the ribbon.

Up in the shop now!

give thanks-a fabric banner

Last weekend,

my friend, Erin, from CreativeLeigh Me,
came over to show me a thing or two about "fabric banners."

She is the fabric banner queen!  She has even made an interchangeable banner for different occasions,
and has sweet little accents like hearts ready to be thrown in the mix.

Boy, was it fun!

Lots of cutting!

I decided to outline the acorn and the leaves to help them "pop."

I refrained on the letters,

because it would have taken entirely too long,

and used crimping sheers to help the fabric not fray.

Then up she went!...a few days later.

After a moment, I realized something was missing--

Do you see it?

My new favorite owl.

He is quite cute, right?

And he helps spruce up my boring mantle.

This craft was involved, but relatively easy,
and has so many possibilities!

Have you done any fun crafts lately?

spooky treats.

Don't you just love the looks of these!

Candy-Coated Carmel Apples

Dirt Cups

Halloween Bat Treats

Licorice and Gooey Caramel Pecan Spiders

Pumpkin Pie Creme Brulee

Halloween Cupcakes

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Making any fun treats this weekend?

I was thinking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, until I saw these...

children do that.

It rained a lot today,

but the sun shone in my soul.

today's loves:

the shops on Hawthorne.

an entire double sided 6x3 foot display of ribbon.

a coffee shop with Powell's books attached.

a steaming cup of joe.

my Asher in all of his glory.

my dear friend,

and quite possibly,

our last coffee-shop-rendezvous

before her life becomes fuller than she could ever imagine,

and bestows upon her huge heapings of love

that will never cease.

It's the sort of love that makes your heart so full,

that it flows over,

changing the way you see everything else.

enormous. unconditional, compassion-seeping. love.

born to craft (a pennant banner)

Brooklynn is in her second year of preschool,

and proves regularly, she has major skills
 in the arts and crafts department.

She can trace, cut and glue better than I ever expected.

I let her start with "very-beginner" scissors,
at probably about Asher's age {2 1/2}

or maybe even earlier.

Maybe those times when she was tiny,
when I would sit her in her bouncy seat
while I was doing crafty things, channeled creativity into her spirit.
She was a pleasant, no-fuss baby girl--
the sweetest of sidekicks;
born and raised to craft.

On the contrary,
if my Asher gets a hold of glue, scissors, pens or anything else that can be used to destruct,
I will jump a flight of stairs to remove them from his grip.
Why oh why, must this be so?

During the weekend, Brooklynn and I had to sneak this little project while brother
was getting some shut-eye and rejuvenating his little tanks of potential mayhem.
{Want to see mayhem?  Go here.}

I plan to keep him on just crayolas for a long while.

~Do your best~

were the words she wanted this little lovely to say.

She also traced and cut the triangles,

chose the font and the paint colors,

stamped most of the letters

and picked out the ribbon and the flowers. 

She even used the glue gun to adhere the pennants to the ribbon

{with a little guidance from Mom}.

She is quite thrilled with her banner,

and I am as well.

I love seeing her light up each time she climbs into bed,

and look forward to many, many more crafts together.

And the chosen message...

It speaks volumes about Brooklynn, and her sweet, precocious spirit.

a fill of filigree

 I am so pleased with the filigree pieces that I had shipped over from Turkey. 

They've made the perfect focal pieces for my latest treasures. 

When I look at them, I see classic, chic, goodness.

Simple and elegant.

The copper is a warm rose-tinted copper.

I find it quite lovely.

I've loved this striped ribbon for quite some time,

yet it was too thin for the clamps that I wanted to use.

I decided to take to my sewing machine and create the width that I needed.

I love the layered look,

and it makes the book mark even sturdier.

I've found myself gravitating to the warm gold & yellow tones and black and white.

So very chic.

*This one has been snagged up!*

Gold makes my heart sing,

and I'm especially a lover of this animal print {like}drop-bead.

*This one has been snagged up!*

How do you like the filigree?

They are up in the shop now!

Did you hear?  No shipping!

Love the background images?  You can purchase your very own copy

of Ordinary Sparkling Moments here, and help a great cause!

A message on being "Pretty."

There are some messages that must be shared as quickly

as I can log into blogger and coordinate a readable post.

I just encountered such importance,

and feel the need to insert this message here, for you.
Kacy-thank you, thank you for sharing.

Slam Poet, Katie Makkai - Pretty

This is good.
{Every girl needs know this valuable lesson.}

the sweetest thing

They've gone and done it again,
so I am linking this post to Friday Pretties!

The ladies in my friend Shannon's family have some major talent.

It is a sure bet if you are invited to their house for an occasion,

you will be drooling over the eye-candy.

In fact, when I walked in last weekend to celebrate the baby boy making his way into the world,

I couldn't keep myself from wandering around,

lusting after all the fine details.

See for yourself...

they are lust-worthy.

Let's start from the beginning.

a fabric-sleeve invite for a hootin' good time...

and of course an owl to welcome.

The paper pinwheels by Martha...

made for a lovely entrance.

Talk about maintaining a theme!

Spotted owls in every corner!

{no pun intended}

A lovely sentiment,

handmade by Erin, Shannon's sister. 

She does take custom orders!

Susan, Shannon's mother,

found these cute "twiggy owls" online. 

I love how she incorporated the owl children's books

into her theme, too.

She is a preschool teacher, after all!

I can hardly stand how cute these guys are!

Boo!

handmade tissue paper floral arrangements

The menu was scrumptious,

and planned with the fall season in mind.

For starters:

cheese and crackers

apples and caramel dip

nuts 

baked brie!

{filled with berries and nuts}

coffee, cider and wine.

To follow:

The most delightfully cozy 

assortment of quiches, salads, and bread.

Sweets:

delicious maple-frosted cupcakes

pumpkin pie

fudge

and adorable chocolate owls

It really couldn't get any more festive, right?

Well it did.

Shannon's sister Cailin made this awesome diaper cake!

Looks like a fun project, huh?

In this game you had to guess the weight and height of the proud parents as babies.

Notice the owl table runner?

They matched the invites.

It was a perfect, sunny October afternoon,

and it was so nice to be outdoors enjoying the fall weather.

Heavens.

Erin, Shannon's sis made this.

No words needed.

Then to top it off, Erin made one of these for each guest.

It's an owl framed necklace!

(She had the chains in organza bags on the side.)

Each one unique.

It was quite fun choosing the perfect, kooky owl.

Isn't he cute?

And they receive an award right?

Susan, Erin, Shannon & Cailan.

 A perfect shower for a perfect little growing family!

Now do you see what inspired me to get

my wee collection out of the box?

Go on and check out the rest of Friday Pretties.

It is a treat!