Thursday Small Business Feature: Little Lovebugs Boutique

Welcome back to Thursday's Feature!  Today's feature shop is Little Lovebugs Boutique.

 Kristin Demay is the face behind the adorable selection of creations.  I had a hard time choosing which of her items to feature, there were so many cute things!  I think my favorite is the playmat.  I have 3 boys and there are so many amazing girl items; it's nice to see some boy themed things.  ;)

Here's what Kristin shared with us:
I am a stay at home mom to 4 beautiful little Lovebugs. They range from 8 to 1!

 My oldest daughter was my inspiration to start creating bows and 3 years ago I opened up a shop on facebook. Since then my little shop has gone beyond just bows and now launches new items 3 times a week!! A part of me goes into each creation so picking a favorite is hard!! It changes all the time.

Here's a list of where you can find Ms Kristin:
Website: www.LittleLovebugsBowtique.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Little.Lovebugs.Bowtique
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/lillovebugsbowtique
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lillovebugsbow

 

Please stop by her shop and let her know you found her here!  Happy shopping and see you next week where we will get to know another great store owner!  Oh and Kristin has set up a special coupon just for you! 

 

                                                  Etsy coupon code GIFTGARDEN
                                         FREE SHIPPING ON orders of $25.00 or more

 

Friday Favorites!

Friday!  Yessss!  :)  I am hoping to make this another weekly feature where every Friday I post some items I've seen throughout the week that I absolutely love.  Even though it is too late to order any of these for Mother's Day, I still thought it'd be fitting to feature items honoring our dear mothers.

This first one is my favorite!  I've been looking at it for awhile...actually I love a lot of her stuff and am hoping to purchase from her soon!  I don't wear a lot of jewelry.  I mean, I would like to but always forget.  Anyway, I love the simple yet elegant design of this bracelet!

 

This next pick is an original design by BugabooBearDesigns.  I love everything about it-the cheery colors, the saying, and the layout.  It's perfect for the flower-loving mom and personally, I could see it sitting on my mom's desk at work.  :)

 

I'm a big nature lover and like to incorporate it into my decorating.  A dear friend of mine made me a bird's nest necklace and I love it.  This next idea is practically genius.  Let the folks at InspiredArtPrints create a personalized nest photo for your mom so no matter how far away you are, you'll still be in the nest.  :)

 

 

 

 

This sweet gift would be great for the environmentally conscious momma and I can personally attest to the durability of these unsponges from NatureJunkies.  Cotton on one side and terry cloth on the other, these little gems are great for cleaning just about everything in the house!  Washable and helps to reduce waste by eliminating the need for paper towels and/or disposable sponges.

 

Even though it is getting pretty hot out here in Eastern NC, I still can just imagine cuddling up with this fleece shrug by Designs by Luanne.  Actually, when I picture that, I also picture my kids vulturing it and me having to hide it lol.  It looks so soft and cuddly!

 

 

 

There's always the more traditional route with jewelry like this elegant necklace from TotallyTish.  It would be a perfect piece to wear to Mother's day brunch!

 

 

Last but nowhere near least is an adorable wookie for the Star Wars fan by Jensyarnworks.  SO adorable!  Fyi, she has a lot of other SUPER cute creations.  wink, wink. 

 

There are so many other amazing gift ideas, I could just keep posting!  But, it's time to get going.  There were a few other shops that linked up some awqesome ideas to my facebook page; I just didn't have time to include them.  Please check them out here.  And, if you have a shop and have some suggestions-by all means post a link in the comments!  Confession: I have to still figure out what I am going to make and/or buy for my mom :(  Sorry, mom!  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Creating and Playing and Friday

Happy Friday!  Except that I'm so confused from the holidays on what day it is :)

Well, it's been a pretty productive week, even with the hubby home the first half of it.  I love when he is home of course, but definitely don't get as much done. 

I finished the heart towel and found and listed a pink crochet snake that I had made for a relative that changed her mind on color.

I have squares cut and ready to make a spring bag for a friend.  You can see the cut out squares here.

I apologize for the links instead of direct pictures, but for some reason my uploader isn't working :(

Another friend reminded me about making animal shaped potholders and I found these cute squares so we'll see what I come up with.  You can see pictures here.

Finally, I may be making a bag for my aunt; hoping she can find the perfect fabric for the project!

So, yeah, lots of planning, now to get doing :)

With the spring bag, I was able to stick to using what I had on hand and am happy with the color and design combo.  I am not sure what I am going to do  for the handles and lining yet, but I'll decide after I have made the outer shell. 

My aunt originally wanted to use a birdhouse fabric I had from Fabric Central's Aerie bundle for the bag.  Unfortunately, I did not have near enough of it and it is no longer carried at Joann's.  I am really bummed they do not sell that line anymore because it was such a pretty group of fabrics, and it could have been used in so many projects.  You can see my scraps from the bird fabric here.

Anyway, I have had a pretty good week with the kids.  They have still been adjusting to being back at home and getting into our very loose routines.  With all of their new toys, they have been bouncing from area to area and toy to toy-generally being messier.  So, we are working on remembering to clean up again.  My older one got a good deal of Playmobil and that has kept both of them pretty busy. 

He also got some starter science kits-a fizzy foamy one and a color mixing/crystal growing set.  We did the fizzy foamy set the other day.  The kit has about 7 different activities and I jumped right to the volcano one.  It hardly bubbled up so I tried the activity labeled "More eruptions".  That one bubbled up more but neither really fizzed up and spilled over so while the kids thought it was cool, I was a little disappointed.  Looking at the other activities, I realize that I probably should have done them in order because it goes through acids and bases and what makes it fizz and all that.  But, at the same time, I feel all of that information would be lost on a 4 yr old and 2 yr old.  The ingredients are basic and are all kitchen friendly-vegetable oil, baking soda, citric acid, etc.  So, even if I run out of something from the kit, I can easily replace it.  We haven't tried the color mixing/crystal growing set yet-hopefully today or tomorrow.

I have been struggling with how to structure their day and at times I have even tried to plan activities and lessons for them because I worry about them missing out on learning while being home.  But, I have come to realize (which I already somewhat knew and just needed to accept) that they will learn just fine through playing and experiencing each day.  My mom did not plan out activities and lessons for my brother and me and I do not think either one of us went to preschool and we did pretty well in school.  Right now, my boys just need me to play with them and enhance their play experiences.  They usually help me bake and I hear my 2 yr old saying he needs a teaspoon while playing in the tub.  We count while playing games and lining up cars; we find shapes and colors all around us.  If my 4 yr old draws a picture of a fish or cave, I have him write the word on the paper.  Seeing what my boys are capable of doing, reassures me that they are on the right track.

For those that do more structured days with their young children-I admire you and appreciate all of the hard work you put into it.  For me, my day just gets away too quickly and when I plan activities they almost never go the way I planned.  So, I let them decide how they want to sped each moment of their day (within reason) and try to enhance it.  They both have Mobigo's which is a game system for children 3 yearsto about 7 years.  The cartridges are well known tv and movie characters, except the generic one that comes with it.  The games help them with shapes, colors, math, letter and word recognition, etc.  Every game has an educational purpose.  The boys do not play them every day and when they do, it is not for hours on end, but I think it is a fun way for them to learn the basic skills while giving them some quiet time. 

Anyway, enough rambling...Hope you have a great Friday and weekend!

WIP Wednesday!

Here it is, another Wednesday!  How has your week been going?  Let's see, I can barely remember Monday for some reason-I think it was kind of a lazy day.  Yesterday, my hubby stayed home because he wasn't feeling well Monday.  Took the kiddos to the partnership yesterday, let them play for a while, came home with some tinker toy-type toys and some counting worms with activity cards.  I think they'll really enjoy them.  Anyway, having the extra person home really threw me out of my routine.  So, now I'm trying to get back in it!

I finished my fall quilted table runner-yay!

I am hoping to start on the Halloween one this week.   Need to order some black quilting thread. 

Here is the other project I'm working on:

It will be a crochet lap blanket.  Eight more strips to go! 

I cannot wait to see what everyone else has been up to!  Linking to Freshly Pieced's blog.

WIP Wednesday!

This week is going by wonderfully, and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to stay home with my children.  This life of staying home with them feels so much more fulfilling.  Don't get me wrong, we  still have some bad moments and some "what were you thinking?!" moments, but overall, I am very happy with my decision to stay home.  Hopefully, our finances will be happy too; guess we'll see.

The weather has started to cool down here; which is probably helping with my inner joy.  The kiddos and I have been playing outside more; that is definitely good for all of us!  I would love to get some weeding done but our yard is garden spider central this year and I just haven't felt like dealing with  them.  We've also seen more snakes this year.  Well, maybe about the same as last year but this year they have been closer to the house.  I do not do snakes.  I'm terrified of them.  I've taken huge steps this year-I have gone to the serpentarium twice.  Once was at feeding time.  I still can't go into the little boxed in area of snakes at the pet store.  I can go near the glass at zoos and serpentariums, but not pet stores.  I think I feel like their tanks are less secure.  I will not go in to my brother-in-law's house for that same reason.  I believe he has 8 snakes?!  No thanks.  Anyway...

We planted some seeds: various beans, lettuce, carrots, and some herbs.  The lettuce has sprouted but I can't ever seem to get it to grow past this first stage.  Most of the beans have sprouted.  No carrots, but they take longer I think.  No herbs, but it's probably too cold for them.  I WILL learn how to successfully garden!  Planning on taking the boys to the farmer's market today.  Last year they had some delicious apples, so I am kind of hoping to see them again this year.  I would love to find an orchard nearby to take them to, but I think the closest is still a few hours away.

Switching gears...

WIP WEDNESDAY

I have found that having various projects in the works can be nice to switch things up, but can also start to frazzle me. 

I am hoping to get my orange yarn in today to finish the orange kitchen towel with the black stripe shown in last week's post.

I've also started crocheting a blanket but need the orange yarn (and black) that should come in the mail today.  I made this blanket for my cousin.  At first I was a little bothered by the size-it is more of a lap blanket than full afghan.  But, I think it will be a good lap blanket or I could always add more to it.  We'll see.  I was really happy with how the colors popped against the black.  I don't have much done so you'll have to wait to see as it progresses. 

I've got my fall table runner together and have started quilting it.  I finished the first set of diagonal lines and have started doing the other set.  SO far, no bubbles.  The material seems to be a little puffier than I would like.  But, after the start I had with it on Friday, I'm not complaining!  It seems I have to learn the same lessons over and over.  1) Don't try to start something if you are already frustrated and not able to focus completely.  2) Read up on necessary steps before jumping in.  I was irritated Friday so decided starting to quilt the table runner would be a good idea.  NOT.  My 2yr old woke up during the process but I continued on in my quest, even though I knew better.  I couldn't install the walking foot (not focused because it was actually easy) and when I ran my project through to do the first and second diagonal lines, the backing shifted drastically.  Well, that put me over the edge.  I thought the walking foot was supposed to keep that in line!?  After I calmed down, I did some research and found that the walking foot does not work miracles.  I learned about taping the back down and pinning galore.  It made a hug difference!  Now this table runner isn't perfect but so far I'm happy with how it is looking.  I'm using YLI quilting thread and so far I like it but don't have anything to compare it to.  I think fussy cutting the leaves distorted my squares a little (all operator error).  I think having a clear template would be much easier, will have to put that on my list.  So, what do you think?

 

Finally, my last WIP for today is a Halloween table runner.  I started cutting squares out last night but think I may make it a little longer:

 



Alright, time to try and squeeze in some school work before the munchkins wake up.  Have a blessed day!

Work in Progress Wednesday!

Happy Hump Day!  Although, yesterday definitely seemed like a Monday so I'm a little thrown off! 

My kids and I (well mostly me) decided to do our first theme on oceans and sea life.  I got a few things from our local partnership and was pretty excited.  It did not go as planned.  I pictured a calm, learning experience where we played with the toys and I taught them all kinds of new things about the ocean as well as seamlessly incorporated math, early literacy, social studies, etc.  Instead, the boys were fighting over stuff (go figure) with the little one (H) destroying things and the older one (C) tattling.  C was using pieces of a gear set to make a gun, I'm sorry it was not a gun but it was still going to shoot something at the bad guys , to paraphrase C.  I was pretty frustrated and feeling like I was going to fail them.  But, after thinking about it I realized a couple of things: 1) It's going to take time for them to get used to doing more of these types of structured activities as home, and 2) While there is a set of Core Standards in NC for Preschools, it's not quite as vital I jam pack his growing brain.  It's still more about expanding his horizons and experiences.  So basically, I just need to keep doing what I've always done but on an all day level.  I need to make sure he has plenty of enriching things to do, create, and play with and make sure I keep my focus on him.   I'm not trying to brag, but I'm almost positive he could go to kindergarten this year and be fine.  While that takes pressure off me, I can't help but feel a little worried that I won't be as good as a preschool teacher.

Moving on to MY school plans (currently taking education classes at a community college but hoping to get into a masters program for teaching)-I am completely intimidated about teaching.  I'm not sure why this huge chunk of anxiety came over me about my future abilities as a teacher.  Maybe it's the amount of school work I have to look forward to, maybe it's the thought of being responsible for so many young children's learning, maybe it's the intimidation factor of having excellent teachers in the family.  Whatever is causing it, I don't like it!  For now, I'm just going ot keep pushing through my school work and see where it takes me.

Phew, now to the purpose of the WIP Wedneday post!
Here is the orange and black crochet dishtowel that complements last week's WIP:

I ran out of yarn last night.  Just ordered some more-hopefully it's the right orange!  Thinking of starting a brown and multi-color one in the meantime because I am that impatient.

 

Here is my fall table runner that I eluded to the other day:

I've got about half of the rows sewn together.  I was going to try to sew it by hand but just don't feel confident in my capabilities when it goes beyond embroidery or cross stitch.  I have a green fabric that matches the red with the leaves for the backing but am not sure if it would be too drastic of a color change as the binding.  Guess we will see.

 

 

I will be linking up to Freshly Pieced's blog where Emily from Mommy's Nap Time is a guest blogger.  Be sure to check out what she's got in the works as well as other crafty bloggers!

 

 

I had a few nice Etsy suprises yesterday:  I sold my small gingerbread pillows:

 



I'm very excited and hope the buyer loves them as much as I do!

 

I was also featured in a treasury by a fellow teammate from the Quilts and Heirlooms Team on Etsy:

Hmm, well I don't know how to get the treasury to show up so please click here to check it out.  It's a really cute back to school theme!  And if anyone knows how to get the treasury to display, please help!

 

Well, hope everyone has a fantastic day and let me know what you are working on!

 



Motivational Monday! Even though it's Tuesday

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!  We visited with my family-always a good time and I still get homesick after visits.  Well, today seems like a Monday-bumping my head on lights, dead battery in my camera, computer refusing to work properly, but it will be okay,

So, this week is my first week of doing "preschool" things with my kids.  I plan on going over to the Onslow County Partnership for Kids to see if I can pick up some learning materials to work a theme around.   If there is time. I would like to swing by the library and get some related books. 

Last semester, I had to make activity lesson plans for various age groups.  For my preschool plan, I made a button board.  I believe I found it on education.com (they have a lot of fun ideas).  It's a great way for kids to practice actually making shapes by wrapping yarn around the buttons, grouping by button characteristics (size, color, number of holes), and practice creativity by making their own pictures. 

All I had to do was cut out a piece of cardboard from a box, glue paper onto it, and use pop-up adhesives (used for scrapbooking) to stick the buttons on.  You could probably use a hot glue gun instead.  I wouldn't recommend traditional glue only because it may be hard to get the buttons raised up enough for the yarn.  Well, Friday, my kids found it and of course started fighting over it so I let me 4 yr old make his own.  He decided to group the buttons by color which bothered me because they are supposed to be random.  But, really, it works because he was practicing grouping while making it :)

So, here are the button boards.  They were good in the car too, except my 2 yr old needs supervision because he's still in destructive mode and tries to pull things apart.

Switching gears, I managed to get 2 kitchen dishcloths/washcloths done over the weekend.  I made an orange and a black one to go with the black kitchen towel.  I'm also working on an orange kitchen towel which I'll prob feature tomorrow.

A while back, I ordered a pack of scrap triangles from a shop on Etsy, Kelly's Sewing Basket.  They're mostly fall and Christmas themes and I've been trying to come up with ways to use them.  It's such a beautiful mix of fabrics!  Here are some of the things I've been thinking:

With these fabrics I'm thinking either one piece for a potholder or a set of 4 coasters. I'm leaning more towards the coaster sets. What do you think?

 

For this one, I'm thinking of making these into squares for a table runner.  picture quality is not too great, sorry!

 

These are some Halloween Fabrics I have...quilted table runner maybe?

 

So, the purpose of this post is to try to get motivated for the week.  I wanted to show you some of the projects I would like to get around to doing and am hoping this will help motivate me to get moving on them! 

What are your goals for this week?

Check back tomorrow for WIP Wednesday!

Finished Fridays!

Well, I am finishing up my first week as a stay-at-home mom.  Although technically it wasn't a full week, but that's okay.  I think I am in vacation mode-I just float around and try to do the things I really need to do.  But, the more interesting things keep stealing my attention.  I think one of the biggest challenges for me is going to be staying disciplined as far as keeping up with my responsibilities and not trying to spend my whole day playing on the computer and crafting.  :)

Next week, I am hoping to start preschool with my boys.  We have an awesome program that lends learning materials and toys for free and has materials you can use for a minimal fee.  I think I am going to take them there Tuesday and let them pick out a theme/unit.  Then, we can go to the library and find books on that theme.  I can design the rest of the week's learning experiences around what they pick out.  I really hope this works! 

Craft-wise: I am hoping to get some more crocheting done while out of town this weekend.  I'm thinking some orange and black washcloths and an orange dishcloth/kitchen towel with black stripes.  I cut out squares of fall fabric to make my first hand-sewn table runner, but you'll have to wait until Wenesday to see how that's coming. 

This post is called Finished Fridays, not only because we are finishing up the week (which is always fun), but I am hoping to have finished items to show.  This Friday, it is the black dishcloth that I was working on this week.  Here is the finished product:

 

If you would like to see the listing for it on Etsy, click here.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend! 
I would love to see what you have finished this week-post a link in the comments section!

I'm Back! WIP Wednesday

It has been a LONG time since I've posted.  So, here's the quick update:

I quit my job working in a lab for the city to go back to school to be an early childhood teacher.  I got a new job working at my sons' daycare because they would pay for my education.  I lasted almost 6 months there before I finally had enough.  Bad management, lack of support, etc.  It was not the kids AT ALL.  Which brings us to today.  I decided to quit work last night; today is my first day as a stay at home mom.  What I should have done was give my two weeks notice or even let them know yesterday when I left that I wasn't coming back.  But, I didn't.  And while I feel guilty for going about it the wrong way, it wasn't worth the trouble and hassle.  I feel more guilty for leaving my coworkers to more stress and for leaving the kids and their families.  But, it's time to move on.  For now, I'm going to focus on school and my boys.  My older son is 4 so I'm going to  look into doing preschool at home with him.  Hopefully in January I can start a Master's program in teaching.  So, there it is in a nutshell! 

So, now, I'm hoping to get at least a little more time to put back into my Etsy shop.  We'll see!  Here is what I am working on: 

It will soon be a kitchen towel in black and orange.  I'm hoping to do a range of colors, specifically fall and holiday right now.  Also, hoping to make matching washcloths! 

Feel free to link up your WIP blog posts-I look forward to seeing what everyone is up to!  Also, be sure to check out Freshly Pieced's blog to see what she and other talented artists are up to!

Work In Progess Wednesday

So, I have a lot of projects that are in progress, big suprise right?! I don't have pictures-I'm still learning about blogging and trying to set up a consistent posting schedule. I'll get there eventually, so please be patient ;)

I am partway through a custom order for crochet snakes and am very impatiently waiting for the yarn I need to find it's way to my door. I couldn't find the colors I wanted anywhere in the stores around here so had to order some. Which, I completely don't mind doing but I just hate waiting-I'm an instant gratification kind of person. lol The good thing is that I need those same colors for a friend's order so that works perfectly. I think I have a total of 10 snakes to make for various people. I've got 3 down, 7 to go...If you're curious about all of this crochet snake talk, I posted a picture of some in a previous post.

I haven't made any progress on the red, black, and white table runner (also shown in a previous post). Am really hoping to make progress on it, if not finish it, this weekend. I think a part of me is stalling on it because I'm worried about messing it up. The fabrics are so pretty and the rows that I did sew together look so nice. Now, I'm worried the rows aren't going to line up perfectly and then after those are sewn...I am facing my first quilting experience. I'm terrified but excited. A cross hatching pattern was recommended to me but a very talented and experienced quilter. So, cross hatching it is! Now, if I could just decide on whether to hand quilt or machine quilt and what color thread would be best. Baby steps.

Finally, I started a crochet ladybug last night. I thought about taking a picture of it to share for today, but it's really a garnet colored crochet oval right now. Not too exciting.

So, those are my WIPs. I won't even start on all of the ideas floating around in my head! My goal/plan is to finish the lady bug for Friday, then work on the table runner until the yarn comes in. Then, I will be crochet snake crazy! After that...who knows!

I would love to see your WIPs! Just post the link in your comment. Thanks and have a great day!

Random Friday Thoughts

Eventually I'd like to do something every Friday like, local events or something but this week it's going to be a bunch of randomness!

Life: I'm trying to keep my priorities in line this year and not let the little stuff get to me. We have been blessed so much and the Lord has always provided for us and protected us. So, why do I need to stress about stuff that, in the end, I know doesn't matter? For example, our Homeowner's Association and homeowners in our neighborhood are a drama-filled mess. I'm not going to bore you with all the specifics, but they recently sent a letter saying the HOA was dissolved. There are a bunch of other aggravating issues that go along with it, but the main thing that got me was that the VA (Veteran's Asssociation) will not finance a home on a dirt road without an HOA in place. Well, we live on a dirt road and in a huge military town. I feel comfortable saying that I would guess at least 90% of the homes purchased here are done through the VA; the military is that prominant here. So, basically, if there is no HOA, we are stuck in our house infinitely, which is NOT in our plans. I was getting all fired up about how screwed over we are and blah blah blah, but then I thought about if it really mattered. I mean, we have a house that we can afford and that protects us from the elements (for the most part). In reality, we aren't planning on moving anytime soon, and if some amazing opportunity presented itself, we could rent the house out. In the end, it's just a house, and it's just money. There are so many amazing things happening in our lives, like watching the kids grow and develop, why should I let things that I don't have control over and that really don't matter ruin my mood? Things happen for a reason and will play out how it's meant to. In the meantime, I'll just be patient and put my trust in Him and focus on the innumerable blessings we have received.

Weekend Project: I'm really hoping to get most of my first table runner put together. I have the squares cut out, and would be happy if I just got them pieced together. Then, I have to figure out what backing to use and approach the scary part for me: the quilting part! Hopefully, I can take pictures and share my experience next week.

Finished Project: I am hoping to add a section to my Etsy shop with cute little crochet animals. I had a snake listed but it sold within 24 hours! That was an awesome feeling! I made ones for my boys and now have some requests to make them for family and friends. So, I'll be mixing in their orders with making ones to be listed. I'm also hoping ot get a ladybug done before Valentine's day, but we'll see!

Aren't they cute?! The pink one is for a niece and the variagated one will be listed in my shop. So, see that mess in the back...yeah that's on my to do list this weekend. Actually, I have to do that first so I can have room to sew! That would be a product of Christmas, getting ready for a bridal shower, and traveling.

Anyway, hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and weekend!

I just linked up this post to Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish it Friday! Check out her post and see what other crafters and creators are up to!