Lately.

This week has been kind of slow, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Here is what I've been up to lately.

Baking.

I adore baking bread. And Southern Hubby and I can't seem to get enough of this particular bread I've been making recently. I got the recipe from the Homestead Blessings: The Art of Bread Making DVD. I treated myself to a few of their DVD's recently and I love them. ;)

Puppies.

This little man warms my heart and soul. Even though in April it will be two years since we rescued him, he can still be a bit skittish, slowly poking his head around corners and jumping at the smallest sound. I often wonder what sort of hell he lived through at the puppy mill he came from. I can't say this enough, rescue, do not buy.

Working.

My 'Bama Bee necklace is not one of my most popular necklaces but it holds a special place in my heart. I got a couple orders for it this past week and I decided to use the typewriter font for the word 'happy' and I love the way it came out. Must make one for me now.

Crafts.

My youngest sister had her wisdom teeth out, so I bought a soft blanket from Target and embroidered it for her to take. (My sewing machine also does embroidery.) I took one (yes, I'm a scaredy baby) and it really comforted me and kept me warm when the anesthesia made me chilly.

And how was your week? :)

Right now..

... I'm thinking of my "word" for 2011.

... I'm mourning the holiday season and all that goes with it. Extra friendly smiles, the connection that we are all in this together, even the hustle and bustle. It makes me feel the 'aliveness' that I desperately seek come January when it's cold and dark.

... I'm learning the ins and outs of one of my Christmas gifts from my mama and daddy.

... I'm itching to start a new knitting project, but can't decide what to do. Socks, perhaps? lol :)


 

... I'm wondering what I can do liven a boring living room mantle. It just looks so plain now that all the Christmas greenery and pretties were put up. :(

... I'm excited about celebrating my sissy's 29th birthday today! She got some new wheels for Christmas, too! :) Happy Birthday, Sissy- I love you mucho!

... I'm still recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction. All four are gone and my mouth suddenly feels much roomier.

... I'm nursing some hurt pride from an olive branch I extended to a "frenemy" that was undoubtedly ignored. People can argue over the silliest things and despite my absolute stubborness, I'm realizing that life is way too short.

And because life is indeed, too short, I'm getting off the computer to spend time with Southern Hubby.

Have a great night, y'all! And a very Happy New Year!



PS Today I'm linking up to Thrilling Thursday over at Paisley Passions. :)

Crafty Tuesdays: March 10, 2009 and Gratituesday

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA on the Crafty Tuesdays posts. Hopefully you'll remember it's here and link up!

Today I'm posting about a new design I put up in the shop. I recently ordered some new sterling shapes for my store and loved how thick they were. I knew they'd be perfect for a key chain charm since they're pretty substantial. I just had to make myself myself one, but didn't want to put my full name on there. As you know, I'm a big fan of monograms, so I figured it would be a great compromise. I was very excited to get them up in the shop!

What did you make the week? I'd love to see it!

I'm loving this carnival! I definitely need to remind myself daily of all the things I'm grateful for!

As I sit it my untidy kitchen, today I'm most grateful for being able to stay at home and take care of my little family. I know there are many women who are working right now- who are missing their babies, who are thinking about the million and one things they could be doing to better their family instead of someone else's, who would love to be doing the same laundry I'm dreading instead of staring mindlessly into a computer. Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity. I pray that I have a servant's heart today and can honor and serve you and my family through the work I do today. Amen. :)

Crafty Tuesdays- February 24, 2009

Welcome to another Crafty Tuesday!

Well, I tried really hard to get a good craft for you gals, I really did. But my viking had a mind of her very own. And can I tell you, she's being a bit of a pain!

This is what I was going for...

And this is what I got...

Well, actually, it's what I ended up with. :(

I started the project by getting a super cute and super cheap slub tee from Tarjay. Then I laid our coordinating pieces of fabric onto fusible webbing. I ironed the squares on to get them to stick, the cut out the heart shapes by hand.

Once that was finished, I laid them onto the shirt in what I thought was a good arrangement. Then, ironed those babies on to get the webbing to fuse to the shirt.

After that, I tried to stitch the hearts on. The original shirt's hearts were just sewn with a straight stitch to let the edges fray after washing for a cute effect. I was going along perfectly fine and had one heart down, and then this happened...

Ugh!!!Double ugh!!

I'm telling you, this Viking has given me so much trouble. I know my sweet hubs paid a pretty penny for it when he bought it for my birthday. It isn't even a year old and it's already been back to them for work. I'm going to have to find time to run this up to Joann's before our trip to see if I can get the ladies to look at it. I don't think I have to tell you how frustrated I am! It's the same problem time after time- something keeps pulling the fabric in and causes a big ol' mess inside the bobbin area.

Last time I took it in, they said I wasn't using the correct bobbins. Apparently Viking has their own special bobbins made just for their machines. And at almost $14 for 10 bobbins, it's not a very thrifty choice. Now that I'm using the right bobbins, let's see what they have to say this time around...

Hope everyone's crafts went better than mine! :(

PS- Don't forget to sign up for my Tucker Blair GIVEAWAY!!! :)

*All entries must be in by tomorrow at midnight!

PPS- Does anyone know where I can find the blog that was hosting the study guide/group discussion on Debi Pearl's Created to be His Helpmeet? I'm ready to start the study but am having some questions about Chapter 1's study questions. A point in the right direction would be wonderful! :) Thanks! xo.

Crafty Tuesdays: February 17, 2009

Welcome to Crafty Tuesdays, y'all! I'm so glad you could join me again. Y

As most of y'all know, this past week has been a doozy. Last minute trips and a small spike in shoppe sales caused much chaos over at the Southern house, so crafts went on the back burner. So, I decided to highlight some of my past favorite crafting. These two bags were made in the last couple years- one when I was a beginning sewer, so of course they aren't the most complex but I hope to get better.

My first bag was crafted after this adorable tote! It is from Pink Lemonade Boutique. Lisa's purses and totes are amazing and she pays so much attention to detail. I just loved the simple look of this birdy tote. I'm a sucker for birds, so I knew I had to make this!

I had recently made a a pleated linen bag and decided that it was just a bit too simple. It needed a cute bird outline that matched the interior of the bag.

Since this one had been given away as a gift, I got to work making another one!

And voila!

Did you know how hard it was to press linen on a bag!? ;) I loved the way it turned out. And it was the very first thing I had made using my new Viking, so I loved it all the more. I was sucker and ended up giving this one to my little sister, so I have yet to carry a purse that I made!

The next bag came about after a summer long obsession with going to the library. Southern Hubby and I went several times a week during those months and sometimes walked out with armfuls of movies, books and CDs. I knew I needed a bag to carry everything but I didn't want to use a plastic grocery bag time after time. How wasteful! So, my library tote was born! I'm not a fan of the print anymore, so I think it's time for a new one...

By the way, dear readers, visit your local library. Not only is it a good way to save money on books, movies and music, but more importantly you are recycling. Did you know that?! When at all possible, I try to buy used on Amazon or Half Price. I hate, hate buying new. Recycle, people!

There you have it! Now, let's see yours!

Introducing Crafty Tuesdays!

Hello my lovelies!!!! I'm so excited to welcome y'all to my very first Crafty Tuesdays! Here you will find the rules for entering as well as other important info on participating.

First, let's start off with the banners. I made a few and just flat out couldn't figure which one I liked, so I'm just going to share all of them and you can pick whichever you'd like or you can rotate like I probably will. The one that shows the Proverbs quote is probably my favorite but I love cutesier ones, too. I guess just pick the one that's speaking to you that particular Tuesday. :)

Calling all craftonistas! Would you like to be able to post a picture of something amazing you accomplished this weekend? Do you want to show others that big ball of tangled knitting yarn in the hopes that someone out there may have seen what you did wrong and help you correct it? Are you looking for just a bit of inspiration or encouragement for any crafting you had in mind? Then you are at the right place, sweets! So, take the dust cover off the sewing machine, unravel your old knitting yarn that's been the cat's toy lately, or get that scrapbooking table organized. (We all know you scrapping paper-a-holics have piles on piles of cute paper everywhere!) And join us each Tuesday for Crafty Tuesdays!

The Easy-Peasy Guidelines

The Crafty Tuesday meme will meet here at Her Southern Charm every Tuesday. In order to take part in it, you must:

• Post a picture of something you have created (not your aunt, uncle, hubby or kiddo). The more pictures, the better!
• Write a few words on why you made this particular item. Was it a birthday present? Something that came out of a bored Wednesday night?
• You can, but do NOT have to, make a tutorial or give directions to show others what you did. (Again, this is not a requirement but may save you some time, cause if it's super cool, you know you're gonna get flooded with emails!
• Post one of the supplied headers at the beginning of your post. You can stay with the same one, or rotate them all. It's up to you.
• Crafts can fall under so many headings- sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidering, felting, painting, basket making, floral decor, making decorations for your home, photography, scrapbooking, cake designing, jewelry making, whew! There are many crafts out there, so the sky is the limit. If you were creative, inspired, and made the item yourself, then it qualifies!
• Once a month, I'm thinking about having a challenge where I throw out a word, phrase or picture, and letting you, the designer, come up with something inspired by the word. How fun would that be?!

The Easy Peasy Rules

• As a courtesy, please mention my blog and link back to the main page of my blog http://www.hersoutherncharm.blogspot.com/. Just think of it as the hostess gift you take when you attend those fabulous Southern parties! It's also nice to the other readers as they will know where to join in the fun!
• Do not use this meme as a way to sell your merchandise. All direct sales links will be removed immediately.
• Copy the "permalink" ONLY from your "Crafty Tuesday" post, not the link to the front page of your blog. (To do this, click on the little time date stamp on the bottom of your post. It will pull up that particular post and you can cut and paste its link into Mr. Linky back here.) This will make it much easier for others to find it on your blog.
• Come back here and add your permalink to my Mister Linky box. Make sure you are putting it in the correct box. Don't switch the names with links.
• NOTE: Inappropriate links, links to things you sell, links to inappropriate blogs, etc. will be removed per my discretion.

For this week, if you want to participate but haven't made anything just quite yet, then show us your craft space. Where do you work? Are you lucky enough to have a dedicated craft room, or are your materials scattered across the family dining room table every day but Thanksgiving and Christmas? Show us where you come up with your ideas and creations! We'd love to see them!

My entry for this week is a Valentine's Day shirt I embellished for my niece. First I bought a long sleeve pink shirt from Tarjay and got to work choosing which colors I thought were best. I originally intended only to do the circles and hearts and maybe a ribbon, but loved the outline heart that developed when I cut a smaller one from the same fabric, so I used it instead of trashing it.

I decided to go with the ribbon for sure since it needed some sort of umph. But I think I went too far with the embroidery. I hand embroidered Happy Valentines Day and I really did not like the way it came out but I was too tired to sit there and unstitch the whole thing. Oh well, it put a toothless smile on my niece's sweet face when I gave it to her yesterday. (She just lost her front two and is struggling with some words. It's so adorable!

And there you have it ladies! Can't wait to see what cool things y'all have in store for me!

Happy creating! Y
xoxo

A Weekend to Remember

Folks, unfortunately I can't participate in Homemaker Haven Mondays or Happy Home Mondays this week. (I will be back to it next Monday though.) I've got a ton going on for the next couple days AND Southern Hubby and I have decided at the last minute that we are going to get away for the weekend! We will be traveling to the Gaylord Texan to attend FamilyLife's a Weekend to Remember. And I am SO darn excited to attend, I can't even begin to tell you!

We had our neighbors over for dinner Saturday and they mentioned they were going and told us we should attend, too. As soon as I looked up what it was all about, I emailed the link to Southern Hubby and he thought is sounded awesome, too! So we're packing our bags and headed to Grapevine, Texas. We've been to the Gaylord Texan for Christmas before, but we've never stayed there. (PS- if you're near the area, it's gorgeous during Christmas time!) So, I'm really looking forward to staying there since it's such a beautiful hotel.

How fitting to have a marriage enriching retreat over Valentine's weekend? We normally don't put too much thought into the 14th and like to do our own special day after the hoopla of it all is over, but we just couldn't pass this opportunity up. I hope this conference stops in an area near you so that you can take advantage of it. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity to learn more about His design for a happy marriage that will last for a lifetime- not just until things get tough. Oh, and for those readers who are engaged, you can attend, too! They break you up to talk to topics specific to those who are about to enter marriage.

Oh! And I also wanted to give those that are participating in tomorrow's first Crafty Tuesdays the buttons, just in case you missed them. Please feel free to snag them and put them on your blogs to show your participation and to pass the word on. More participants, more inspiration and ideas! ;)

I'll be designing the header tonight so you can post it above your entries.

Talk to you sweetie poos later!

Happy hubby lovin'!

xoxo Y

Thank You!

You guys are awesome. :) Seriously. Between the comments and the emails I received about my last post, I was overwhelmed. I am indeed blessed to be among such like-minded and understanding individuals.

With that being said, I probably should not have said anything. My daddy always taught me that there are two things you should never really discuss in public- politics and religion. Everyone's beliefs are different and fighting to prove your point is not going to change their minds. (Not that I was trying to change anyone's mind.) I do hope I did not upset anyone. As we have seen, arguing about religion produces only two things- intolerance and hate.

It definitely hurt my feelings to see that my faith was viewed as 'heretical' by a certain church, but more than anything, I was really mad at myself for A. letting it get to me, and B. doubting what I believed in, even if it was just for a second. Never would I accuse someone of being a cult or less than myself for believing something different and I was naive to think that everyone would afford me the same courtesy. I like to think of myself as very tolerant of people's lifestyles and religions because in the end, it won't be me that they are standing before. So why judge them here on earth? I have no authority to try to change minds or force my beliefs on them.

I was surprised to see that most people saw hurt in my post. Yes, I definitely was hurt, but I was mostly feeling anger and frustration. I didn't think about whether or not I should say something, I just did it. I'm very quick to react to things that make me mad or upset and sadly, I have a very short fuse. I think I do have thick skin, but I need to learn that when faced with opposition, I should not immediately turn to anger or get defensive. I recently learned to ask myself, "What is He trying to teach me?" when something troubling arises. And I think that was the lesson right there- be slow to react to anger from other people. Two wrongs don't make a right, do not return evil for evil, you know the drill. And I've been working on it for a little bit now and I think He just needed to throw me a slight curve ball- just to keep me in check. :)

Anyway, enough of that business. I'm definitely keeping my blog, so no worries. I was so grateful for the sweet comments, so thanks again. You guys are awesome. Did I already say that? Well, I have to say it again, cause really, y'all are.

Hugs all around! Y

xoxo

PS- Don't forget that our first Crafty Tuesdays is just around the corner! So throw yourself in your craft materials and get to creating! Finish up those WIPs that you forgot about! Start a new one! I can't wait to see what some of y'all have up your sleeves. Here's a quick peek at my CT project.