Summer Hiatus

Hmmm. So far this Summer, my machine has only served as a collection plate. Piled with fabrics to finish my boy's fox quilt, a few new frames I picked up the other day and mail. Sewing seems to have taken a back seat to Summer. And I'm okay with that. In fact, I think it's pretty fantastic. Our days have been filled with trips to the pool, library, play dates, baseball games, hiking, fishing and camping. Today, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the beautiful mountains that surround the Salt Lake Valley.

This is one of our favorite spots. It's called Donut Falls. The day I took this picture, we were up there pretty early in the morning, so the water was freezing, and up to my knees in the donut hole.

My sweet boy always picks me flowers. 

Last week we went to Lake Mary . The hike was lined with wildflowers. It's one of the more colorful hikes I've been on. Definitely worth it just for the flowers, but the lake is pretty amazing too. 

Here's something you don't know about me. I love thistles. I always have. I love the flowers they produce; I love to see how pokey they are. They fascinate me.

Another one of our favorite spots. On this visit, we were able to catch a small frog in the marsh. He was only about 1.5" long. There are also ducks there, that are not shy and very willing to share your lunch :)

I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer as well. I may even get around to cleaning my machine off before school starts again ;)

On a fabric note, Hello Darling is currently in transit from the Moda warehouse and should be arriving the shop on Friday. But it could also be Monday. I'm really hoping for Friday!

Hooked

While fishing yesterday with Daddy, Little Miss reeled in her line and snagged her finger on the hook while trying to grab the line. Although she wouldn't allow it to be taken out (it was a little stuck), she was pretty determined to continue fishing until she caught at least 1 fish! This girl has such tenacity!

By the time they got home, she had had the hook in her finger for 4 hours! I couldn't believe it! I immediately got ready to take her to Instacare, but first she wanted to stop by the End Of Summer Neighborhood Popsicle Party so she could 1) get a popsicle and 2) show all her friends.

We were in and out of Instacare. She told everyone we passed about her little finger. She was quite brave when they had to give her 2 shots of Lidocaine to numb her finger and thought it was pretty cool that it made her finger 'fat'.

The kids came home with 4 fish. Little Miss caught the biggest one :)

Fairy Forest

A couple months ago, a friend of mine told me about a Fairy Forest she heard about. After doing a bit of research, I was able to find Its location, and we all went out there last month. This place was so amazing! It's located in an area of woods that was so open, with trails winding in and out of the trees. Nestled below the trees, in the trees and  in the small clearings were fairy houses, dwellings, villages and trinkets for all the fairies.

First thing we saw was the Enchanted Forest, where Tinkerbell and her friends live. 

This little ranch was my absolute favorite! I love the little pigs and cows. It even had a little chicken coop!

Fairy Stonehenge.

We spent a couple hours in the forest. There was so much to see, I don't think we got to it all. Every couple of seconds one of the kids would call out "Woah, look at this!" "Look what I found!" "Hey guys, I found something over here!". 

My kids wanted to make some houses for the fairies too. So I got a couple of small bird houses and some glitter paint. I found a cute little set of picket fence and picked out a few fake flowers. The kids also brought home a few pine cones to paint.

 A couple days later, we headed back to the forest to give the fairies their new houses. A few minutes after we got there, we got caught in a hail storm that lasted at least half an hour! We were pretty soaked by the time we found a good spot for our houses.

 

We also sprinkled some glitter around their new houses and marked a pathway for visitors. 

Hope y'all have a magical day! :)

Summer Dress

Back in March, or April, I can't remember which. I thought I would make another dress for my little girl. I got as far as cutting it out. I glanced at the instructions and noticed some shirring on the back bodice. I think that's where my interest was lost. I have never done shirring. I know, everyone says it's really easy, and there are some fantastic tutorials out there. At that moment, I was not feeling like getting out of my comfort zone. So Its sat. Birthdays came, and parties to plan, swimming lessons, hikes, gardening and so forth all took over. I decided I might not get this dress sewn before Summer was even over. So I called in the cavalry! My Mom.

My Mom has always been an incredible seamstress. She used to make me dresses when I was little. Big. Frilly. Dresses. Although I try to sew clothing, I am not that good, and the instructions more often than not, confuse me quite easily. My Mom was kind enough to sew the dress for me. She did a fantastic job! She seriously had this done in an afternoon. I'm pretty sure it would have taken me at 5 times longer!

It's the perfect summer dress, and my little girl simply loves it. Best part, it has twirlability!

Fabric for this dress is Enchant Floral in Navy by Natalie Lymer.

Getting Back To It

This has been one busy summer! And it has been great! My kids beg to go swimming just about every day, so we have pretty much been living at the pool. When not at the pool, it's been hanging out with an awesome play group, hiking, fishing and bike rides. I've finished up a few projects of my own, but am soooo behind on downloading pictures, and really, I plan on showcasing in their own posts. In the meantime, the ol' camera battery is charging so I have enough juice to get those pictures transferred.

This summer has also brought about some pretty exciting things that I'll be able to let you know about in the coming days/weeks. And since I haven't been around much this summer (plus it's Labor Day weekend), I am holding a flash sale today! Today only, all in-stock (non-clearance) Layer Cakes are available for $30.00 each when you use promo code laborcakes at checkout. AND, all in-stock (non-clearnance) Ten Packs (Riley Blake) are on sale for $17.50 each with promo code laborten at checkout.

Sale ends at midnight MDT. Promo is good for new purchases only. All sales final.

If purchasing both layer cakes and ten packs together, you might only be able to enter one promo code per order. So, you would have to make 2 different orders. I will combine shipping, if going to the same address, and refund the difference. Sorry for this inconvenience. It's not my design, and it sucks.

Anyway ... There is a great selection of Layer Cakes and Ten Packs in the shop;

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