i'm a little teapot killer.

r.i.p. robin's egg blue teapot without a whistle.

 you were given to me by a dear friend from high school at a bridal shower, but now you must inevitably go into the dumpster. i will miss you. you were very cute and i enjoyed you daily, but you were a quite mediocre teapot. you were by martha stewart, but you did not work that well.  you were robin's egg blue, but you did not whistle.

which is why you i almost burned the house down.

you see, i wanted to make coffee around 10 am. i got distracted and went upstairs to make a dress. this dress. 

(this happens way too often, i'm afraid)

i kept smelling something but i thought it was just my iron that i was using. 

i walk downstairs around 11:30 to find this.

it is burned, browned (which is funny because now it really looks like a robin's egg.), and the handle busted off because of the heat. all the water evaporated so its kind of cracked, too. 

i'm a cottonheadedninnymuggins. 

however,

it has  been replaced with the equal amount of sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows in the form of a yellow teakettle.

mr. yellow teapot, you were really expensive (i just found it for 15 bucks less than what i paid...blast....but i'm supporting local businesses, so whatever) and i spent my birthday money on you, but you had a whistle and you are yellow and happy, so i gladly brought you home.

love.

news & blueberries & matching toms

 hello!

so the news: i have partnered with cakies (my favorite blog in the world!) and have become one of her sponsors! i'm pumped about this. keep posted for a giveaway on her blog!

 sweet ricci made this button for me on the shortest notice ever.  she also sent me pictures of bluebonnets (since i won't get to see them blooming roadside this year) and cupcakes (because she knows i love them) this morning. she is a blessing.

the blueberries:
a new style for the farmer's market dress in a lighter blue is now in the shop. buy it here!

the toms:

 

 my beautiful sister-in-law, lauren, sent me these for my birthday! :) she's the greatest.

 

love.

birfday

we had such a great time in denver. we spent part of saturday in boulder and i definitely fell in love with that cute little town  republic. i mean, it's a city. whatever. 

we did a lot of walking, driving around exploring, shopping, and eating. we had some yummy thai food friday night...complete with coconut sorbet for dessert.  we ate lunch at "falafel" in boulder on saturday and had gyros, hummus, falafel balls and pita bread. we ate dinner at a pub...wyncoop maybe? it was ok. and then lunch yesterday at california pizza kitchen after church at Watermark - Broomfield. told you, lots of eating.

the downfall: we didn't take many pictures. 

two to be exact.

one of me in diva mode. cupcake, coffee, & shopping bags in hand. 

and one of chase in....well, chase mode.

after a long drive back to gunny yesterday, we came home to this!

sprinkles cupcakes, my favorite color in balloon form, presents, a stinkin' cute banner and sunflowers :)

 

(ari was the sneaky decorator and also got me these books!!! she's the best!)

chase proceeded to make dinner for ari, ali, and i and it was delicious! he made burgers with gouda cheese, arugula, lemon juiced/oiled/salt&peppered red onions, and sweet potato fries. YUM!

(he even cleaned up afterwards! how lucky am i?! i love him.)

it was a beautiful birthday. i am so thankful. if you called me yesterday and i didn't answer because i was on the phone or out of service, expect a phone call soon!  

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the birthday goodness continues with the arrival of mr. postman! 

sprinkles mix (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS) and funniest card ever from my bestie kelley in Austin. 

(the signs read "happy birthday" "happy birthday" "i like corn on the cob")

i'm still laughing.

and thennnn i got this cutie from my Aunt Mary!!! we all know i love cupcakes! how cute is this?!

love.

favorite things friday

"You turned my grief into a crazy dance. You made my sorrow burst into flowers. i cannot help but explode into song. i can't thank You enough. i can't thank You enough." 

::enter the worship circle::

1. enter the worship circle's chair & microphone album is so great. give it a listen and go buy it. really.you won't regret it.

2. j. crew's cascade ruffle tee in wild plum. it's currently all wrapped up next to me for my birthday. it's killing me. the worst part? now it's 19.50. i hate when things we purchase immediately go on sale and we live so far away from civilization that we can't go get it price adjusted. 

aye. rant over. 

if you go buy one on sale it will make me feel better. i'm serious....better than me buying another just to equal it out. and yes, i do that. guilty.

3. sweet fancy's little cottage pillows. so stinking cute. 

actually, her entire shop is lovely. check it out.

4. birthdays!!! 

(photo credit)

we're off to denver and boulder to celebrate mine. whoop!

(photo credit)

happy weekend!

**check out my husband's blog today for an interesting read on christian american's worshiping their country rather than their King in Heaven!**

love

chirp chirp

here's what i made with the yellow bird fabric (alexander henry's birdseed)

the design still needs some tweaking, but i'm working on it! one cute little bag at a time.

love.

stamps! from the star box

you know that i love featuring awesome etsy shops on my blog. well, this one is near & dear to my heart these days.

The Star Box recently did a custom order for me. I've been wanting stamps with my logo/shop name/owl/tree branch/etc. I'm a difficult customer because i have something in my head and then rarely do i ever get exactly what i envisioned. 

until now.

it's like Debi read my mind and she created the most beautiful stamps for me 

(and for a killer price! i'm still in shock)

"I am diligent in working with my hands to gain skill and knowledge in the everyday tasks of womanhood, including spinning, knitting, sewing, and quilting, that no part of my day may be taken up in idleness. Proverbs 31:10-31" -Debi (from her blog)

that's the best part about her. you can totally see her heart in her work. she has a desire to know the Lord and make him known and its been evident from the beginning of a transaction/order. 

 ( two of the many options i have in my stamps )

little does Debi know that she has totally inspired me. 

she hand carves the stamps out of wood. then she mounts it (a lot of shops don't do this for free!). then she stamps the top so you know which direction to place it.  then she packages it extremely well. she was full of grace & patience when i would have her change something last minute. she went the extra mile and somehow made the SAME exact font from my shop banner onto a stamp.

 (stamped earring box)

(i need more stamp pad color options)

 ( how cute is her handwriting on this? i'm still impressed that its all hand carved. )

there are a lot of days where i don't put my whole heart into my work. i make an owl and dread it sewing on the eyes....or i make a dress and don't put on straps because i don't want to do the extra work. but this isn't biblical! 

Paul encourages us in Colossians 3:23-24 :

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

busted.  

called out & convicted.

 so thank, you Debi. for awesome stamps and encouraging & inspiring me without meaning to. 

check out her shop here. (i especially love this chandelier stamp!)

 and take some time to look through her "sales" section. (stuff she's already sold) the woman is TALENTED. 

 now i'm going to play with my stamps some more.

love.

what day is it again?

?

i'm not sure. my computer says wednesday, so let's go with that.

i've been wanting to make a girly version of my favorite kavu bag.

(kavu keeper. one of the best buys of my life)

so i made this yesterday. not sure how i feel about it. that's what happens when you make a pattern up as you go. 

i need to tweak the design a bit. i made the straps really wide because i think they're more comfortable. it looks a little wonky with such a small bag. next time they will be skinnier (and inevitably a lot more difficult to flip right side out. my favorite.) 

maybe i should invest in one of these (a loop turner). 

i also received these beauties yesterday. i've been looking for the bird fabric for a lonnnnng time. 

they will make super cute coffee cuffs, clutches, and bags like the one above, no?

happy whatever day it is. :)

love.

blue & beautiful

i'm in love.

buy it here.

sold!! :)

when i get 8+ of these cuties made...a fun photoshoot is in store.  

hint: balloons and bubbles

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i'm being a little over-ambitious today. here's the green one!

love.

comfort

one thing God has spoken. two things have i heard; that you, Oh God, are strong, and that you, Oh Lord, are loving. psalm 62:11

 

find comfort and refuge in our powerful and loving king today.

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in other news, Robbie Seay's new CD, Miracle, is GREAT and can be purchased through itunes. I highly recommend it.

love.

today...

i posted the first of my rosette necklaces in the shop. thoughts?

i ate 200+ calories worth of twizzler's pull & peel.

i hung out with my favorite 5 year old, ollie, and played plenty of "red light, green light." we got bored with it and added "black light" which means you have to bunny hop. really cool, i know.

i was going to make 3 dresses...but my serger is broken :(

i joined twitter. who am i? and what do i do now? seriously...i still don't really get it. i'm only 22 (23 on sunday!!!!!), so why is technology so baffling to me?

anywho...follow @ohsweetjoy for exclusive sales, promotions, and discounts. yada yada yada.

i wished i worked at a cupcakery. heck...i just wish i lived somewhere cool enough to have one within a 20 mile radius. soon enough. soon enough.

((check out her flickr group and be prepared to drool over her designs.))

i thought a lot about the future....not the "everyone has their own flying automobile and  dresses  like lady gaga (God help her)" future,

but just the changes in location and vocations that chase & i will be making in the months to come. exciting stuff. more to come later when i'm positive that i'm allowed to talk about it on here.

hope your monday was splendid.

love.

dresses available in shop

you can now purchase the first available farmer's market dresses in the shop.

now go get 'em and keep posted for the other colors!

love

dress preview

so i made the first trial of the "farmer's market" dress. i used the orange color because i only had one yard of it.  i'm very pleased with it...except i got too excited and forgot to line up the stripes & forgot to add the pockets i cut out for it. oh well. 

i've come up with 6 designs and have 7 colors. they will all be lined in muslin with every seam serged and finished. i used to be so concerned with pumping out as many as i can in one hour. this go-round i'm focusing on tiny detail and professional quality.

i'm so pumped to start sewing apparel again! i've missed it....but definitely needed the break.

the pictures are kind of sucky because it's overcast and too late to have great sunlight in my studio. i'll get my handsome photographer of a husband to take some when i get more made. 

tomorrow i'll be working with the yellow fabric and the "tuxedo" style. it's going to be stinking cute.

love.

favorite things friday

first on my list is joel dewberry's modern meadow collection. i received 9 of them for my first quilt attempt.

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second is my new favorite obsession. i think i've looked through every page on their site at least 5 times. 

spool no. 72 (awesome company name, no?)i especially love their dresses.



this one looks like some vintage fabric i have. so pretty! check out the rest of their stuff. you won't be sorry.

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i also want some new toms. preferably, these maroon linen ones (gig em). 

however, i will refrain this year and wait until the wedges come out. besides, it's still hard for me to buy them when my first pair (my sophomore year in college) was only $21. talk about inflation...but for a good cause.

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my etsy favorite is this tshirt from dark cycle clothing.

hilarious.

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finally, court yard hounds. the music venture of the two "good eggs" of the dixie chicks. 

(pun very much intended. this is one of those times where i think i'm really funny & clever. someone feel free to humble me)

 (is the one on the right cross eyed? i've always wondered. she's beautiful nonetheless)

i will admit that i have always loved the dixie chicks. they are my favorite to roll down the windows in the summer and sing louder than the tourists probably prefer. their new stuff is totally different than your expected "cold day in july," but i'm really liking it! my favorite is "ain't no son." 

 

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one of my not so favorite things, if you don't mind my complaining for a second...

i ran yesterday in a tank top in capris. it was almost 60 degrees! i woke up this morning to everything being covered in white. BLAST! it's still snowing currently and i have to drive to crested butte for a hair cut. i'm not happy. chase and i are angry. yes, i am well aware of how bratty we sound.

i suppose we'll get over it.

(this is the day the lord has made, i will rejoice and be glad in it)

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 happy weekend :) i have lots of sewing to do! these cute summer dresses aren't going to make themselves.

love.