morning

Good morning, friends.

February has been good.  busy season is pretty brutal thus far, but I've had a few fun moments (other than work which is fun) to pass the time.  Luckily, some of these moments involved the busy man himself!

A post full of photos....

I've gotten to pick up my favorite little gal from school a few times and we have dance parties in the car.  I know she knows who I am (and loves me :)), but every time she sees me she excitingly says, "Teeeeee?!?!?!" This is what she calls Uncle T.Dud and it is so sweet how she loves him and asks for him.  My response lately is, "He's at work," and she'll say, "T wowk."  

A note, I didn't take this photo while driving, we were at a stoplight.

 This is Austin. T's not-so-little brother.  He was in his first musical and had a solo!  He did so awesome and it was so fun to see him looking so grown up with his beard.  People, I met not-so-little brother when he was in 4th grade (they are 10 years apart) and now he's a SENIOR about to go to college!

Leslie and I took Granny to lunch (Leslie takes her every week, I joined them this week), and then took her to Muddy's for a cupcake.  It was her first time there and she loved it.

Since I got into sewing in the past few years, I've wanted to sew up a quilt top to make into a quilt for our family.  I found this fabric and thought it was so cute, so I finally started cutting the pieces to sew it up.. I know this will be a long process, but glad to finally start!

Valentine's day 2013.

Friday evening wine and cheese.  Thanks to Aldi for these items, and my valentine for those flowers.

New thing we tried on the green egg... Lobster!  It turned out great (I love lobster) and I think T enjoyed it also (he hadn't ever had it before).  He even tried the broccoli.

Start to (another) new project.  I saw this pattern and immediately fell in love with the words and flowers and colors.  I want this to be a pillow for our bed.  So far I'm really enjoying this during our evening TV time.

 T man's 5 seconds of fame on Fox Sports South.

Sunday morning muffin date.

Sunday afternoon leaf blowing.

February 2013 has been filled with joy in my life, and I'm so thankful the busy time is passing with these moments.  Savoring every one of these moments.

on the go + craft + pouf

Since the beginning of October we have been in Oxford every weekend, and while we do love it, we are glad to finally enjoy a weekend at home (this weekend).  The weather has finally turned chilly in Memphis, and while I was ready for it now that it's here I'm freeezzinggg.... And Gibson is shivering too. But I love sweaters and scarves and boots and wool socks and fires, so here we go!

I've done a few crafty projects around the ole house lately, and I never want to feel all braggy on this here blog, but one of them T absolutely loves, so I thought I'd share.  My inspiration for this came from pinterest... this yarn wreath below:

via here

Leslie had just made a yarn wreath for Juliette's door, and I guess I hadn't remembered how she told me that it takes SO LONG to make a yarn wreath... Well it does.  And I only did 2 layers (you're "supposed" to do 3).  I just loved the colors of this so I found some pumpkin colored yarn at Hobby Lobby on sale and already had the off-white felt.  My MIL had just given me this huge bunch of decorative sticks, so I new I could use those for the accent brown.  I hung it on our bedroom door...

Another new item I've been enjoying is our new pouf!  I spotted it while we were in Oxford shopping around the square with Margie, and I just had to go back to get it.  In our den we have 2 chairs, an ottoman, couch and coffee table, but there actually isn't room to have the ottoman in front of the chair.  Plus, Gibson would be depressed if we took away his perch...

So I this awesome kilim pouf and T and I went back to grab it up--good thing too because it was the very last one.  He mocked me for a little while that we bought a "pouf" but then he realized how awesome it actually is.  A sturdy stool that is just the right size and easily mobile.  Here it is on the way back...

Future possibilities for this little pouf are endless.

--> UPDATE of pouf in our den (per request):

gibson is a good helper

When I am doing projects...

I have done a few things at the house this week, well one of them I did a long time ago, but I'll share it now.

When we bought our house I found all these huge frames and a couple of them I decided to use for some bulletin boards. One I spray painted, and the other one I left wood [but should have spray painted].

Here is what I did in photos with the small one, and then I did the same thing for the bigger one.

1. The frame of your liking. Make sure you measure the dimensions where you are able to staple the cork into.



2. Roll of cork and foam board [cut to dimensions you measured earlier].



3. Some fabric. After you cut your foam board and then glue the cork over that (I used 2 layers of cork), lay it on top of the fabric and cut the fabric leaving some room around the edges so you can staple it to the foam board.



Let your cute pup help you with this part. :) They like to walk on fabric and thing you do on the floor.



And then your silly hubs will wrap him up in it so there is plenty of dog hair as extra decoration.



4. Staple the cork [foam] board covered in fabric to the frame. I had a heavy duty stapler, but that went through the front, but a regular office stapler worked fine for me!

5. Voila. Hang up your stuff and you have a cute and inexpensive new bulletin board.





Here is the larger one in the "office" room [that isn't so much an office right now]





[sorry photos are kind of weird, I'm not as good at using t's camera]

I also added something to our living room [that one day will be a library]. Dudley's mom gave us this old record player cabinet and it's awesome. The radio works, but the record player doesn't. Maybe I'll try to paint it one day, but for now I'm leaving it as is. The top of it was a little beat up, so I thought I try to whip up a cute table runner.

After the estate sale at our house, I found this huge bag of fabric in the huge street trash pile. This fabric was in the bunch, and long enough for a runner. Perfect.





What do you think?

you want one too?

I have Adobe Illustrator at my fingertips, and I have been tinkering around with the program. I'm sure I'm not even using it the correct way, but I have managed to figure out how to draw things. I originally got the idea when Leslie said she wanted a drawing of she and Jonny for their christmas card. She sent me a photo of them, and I traced the outlines of their faces and hair. She told me the outfits she wanted them to have, so I did all that, and then added little Red, the cat. I think it turned out excellent, if I do say so myself. She got many comments on how great the card was.

Well Aaron Snow said he thought I should do these for people, and sell them. Well, I'm attempting to do it! I didn't want to open up an etsy just for this because it is too personalized to be able to have enough examples. I did come up with a few examples though. See my cute family below. Little Gibby is just so precious.

Contact me if you want one too. You'll send me a photo and I'll get going on it. We will discuss over e-mail all other details about the drawing. I did one for the Stephens, too.

Do you want one too? I know you do! It will cost you only $50 and here is what it includes:

- 2 people and 1 extra (animal or child)

- 3 proofs

- all rights to high resolution file

If you wish you add more than 3, it will be $10 for each additional being. If you require more than 3 proofs, it will be an additional $5.

Email me @marthagcarter@gmail.com for further details and make the subject line cartoon.