{Dear Monday 1.9.12}

link up with Megan at H a p p y Day! :-) 

Dear Monday... you've already turned this into a very emotional week for me. Got news yesterday that my Great Uncle passed away and Hubby's first day back after his long holiday break from school. I won't let you get the best of me or set the tone for this week...it's going to be a GREAT week!

Dear Hair Appointment... I'm SO excited for you! Not only am I SO ready to have shorter hair again, I get to mark off #25 on my 101 Things List :-) Pretty dang excited! It's been over two years since I have my hair cut haha!

Dear Family... only 266 days until we move back to you! It feels like SO far away, but I know better...I'll blink and before I know it, I'll be freaking out about getting our apartment packed up! 8 years of being away is enough ;-)

Dear Princess and the Frog... you started out to be the movie we bought our daughter to keep her entertained, but I always end of finding myself stopping anything I'm doing and watching you with her. You're SUCH a cute movie, it gives me goosebumps every time.

Dear Financial Aid... thank you for coming 3 days earlier than normal. We really needed you! I'm certainly very thankful for your help with our single income household. We had such a fun shopping day yesterday and were able to get some much needed things for us and baby girl! It turned out to be a very nice family day!

Dear Mattress and Box Spring Set... I am BEYOND happy to be getting rid of you tomorrow to welcome our new set! You've been nothing but a "pain" for the past 6 years and we finally got the courage to spend a good chunk of change on a very nice set that we got for an amazing price! You've served your purpose but it's time for you to go so I can enjoy sleep again! :-)

Sorry about the slightly depression Dear Monday! I usually don't like to be all sappy or whine on here but I like how I can come to all of you to do just that and feel okay about it! Love all of you!!

How is your Monday going?! Share some happy news with me!! haha!

thursday thoughts...

 Linked up with Sar at [life of love] - SO glad you're doing a link up, girl! :-) 

Excuse the old "Thursday Thoughts" graphic, I haven't had a chance to make a new one haha

{ONE}

I feel like such a kid because I think I'm more excited about going to Jump N Party than my almost 2 year old daughter! LOL! It's a place full of bounce houses and inflatable obstacle courses...it's suppose to be only for the kids but parents are free and can accompany smaller children. Pretty sure the whole "free for adults" thing is just icing on the cake! I totally love reliving my childhood through Miss K!

{TWO}

Only a few short days left until my husband starts a new quarter at school *SIGH*. It's been SO amazing having him home. It's been super nice parenting together as much as we have (not that we don't anyways, but when he goes to school he's home less). I love that we've gotten a great routine down, but sadly it's going to have to change. I just gotta keep telling myself...only a little bit longer, he'll be graduating college and we'll be moving back to our families! :-) 

{THREE}

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Miss K sleeps a minimum of 10 hours a night! I get to sleep in every. single. day. unless there's something that causes her to have a rough night. I try not to take advantage of how much she sleeps, but I seriously can't resist! haha!

{FOUR}

Grilled cheese sandwiches are seriously one of the best things ever! :-)

{FIVE} 

I love the fact that I've tackled two huge sewing obstacles and now my sewing possibilities are ENDLESS!! My Etsy shop is finally going to have a bigger variety of items! :-) Not to mention I took on some pretty cute Pinterest projects! Check out this blog post I published late last night to see what I've been up too...

{this is how i start a new year!}

{SIX}

Anytime I need a smile or need to hear a feel good story or just need a good laugh...The Ellen Show NEVER fails! I just adore her and her generosity is just unbelievable! We need more people in this world like her!

HAPPY THURSDAY EVERYONE! :-)

{Dear Monday - 1st of 2012!}

Linked up with Megan at H a p p y Day! 

Dear Monday - I'm actually liking you so far! Hubby has the day off (expect for the graveyard shift tonight), I'm struggling to find things to do around our apartment because for once in my life I'm SO on top of upkeep, that I have nothing to do!! WOO! Other than the head cold that seems to be creeping up on my little family, I'm not disliking you at all!

Dear Blogosphere - I'm LOVING the fact that I'm using my blog more than I did in the past. It's been a really nice outlet for me, especially when I don't want to clog my news feed on Facebook. I also love that I have all of you to follow and interact with as well. You all inspire me to keep my mind "physically fit" by thinking outside the box by participating in fun posts like these and I can't thank you enough for that. If you're looking for some new, amazing people to follow and interact with, my gal pal, Julie over at The Life of Being in College and Married has joined the blog world in full force and is looking to network with some fabulous people, so check out her blog!! :-)

Dear Daughter - I can't believe you're 20 months already! You've seriously brought the inner toddler out in me this week and I completely LOVE it! You've been full of energy, giggles and smiles and I just love you so much! Thank you for reminding me that the simple things in life are a very beautiful thing!

Dear Sewing Projects - you're coming along amazingly!! WOO HOO!! I've tackled a few already and I'm loving every second of it. It's nice to get excited about sewing again! :-) My creative juices are flowing like crazy!!! haha! 

Dear New Years Eve - I felt like an old, boring, lady! LOL! Hubby had to work so the kidlet and I just watched movies. However, hubby was home just in time for our New Years kiss at midnight and to toast to the upcoming year! :-) I'm really looking forward to all the amazing things that 2012 is going to bring our way!

Dear Bills - I would appreciate it if you could remember that we don't get financial aid for about another week and just put yourself on hold until we get it! Thanks so much!! :-)

How is your first Monday of the new year? :-)  

Do you have a Dear Monday post? Please feel free to comment below with your link and then head over to Megan's page to join the link up! 

Much Love, 

{this is how i start off a new year!}

For those of you that didn't know already...I LOVE quilting/sewing/etc. Thanks to the ideas that have already been swirling my in head and Pinterest...I have been extremely inspired to create and try a bunch of new projects! Sometimes I don't know how I find the time to do what I do with an almost 2 year old running around! There are definitely those times where I wish I could sew as fast as my mind works...but I guess it's a blessing that I can't sew that fast because then there wouldn't be any time to enjoy it haha!

This has been a pretty big week for me already. It started with me tackling my fear of sewing zippers to garments, and now I've started off the new year by tackling more uncharted territory...BINDING!

For those of you that don't know what binding is, it's the finished edge of a quilt. Here is a picture so you can have a visual of what I'm talking about...

Image: Courtesy of twin fibers

This was the project that led me to my first binding experience (I followed the binding tutorial HERE that I got from Diary of a Quilter)...

My very first sewing machine cover!!

I saw the fabric for my cover in a fat quarter bundle at our local Ben Franklin and I just could NOT resist getting it! I'm completely in love with how this cover turned out and I can't wait to make more!! There's another variation of a sewing machine cover that I would like to try next. It's a bit more simple.

I'm also excited to share that I will be participating in my first sewing challenge! Over at soscrappy, the author of that blog has created the "Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012". You're encourage to make ANYTHING out of the "color of the month" that is chosen. The color for January is RED. You can see the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 button to the top right of my blog all year long if you ever decide you'd like to participate! You don't HAVE to do it each month, we all know our lives get busy and sometimes it's just impossible to have the time to do stuff like this. I can't wait to share my monthly projects for this challenge with all of you!! As of right now, I'm thinking of doing just one quilt block a month and then in December, make an entire quilt top out of all the blocks I made for this challenge throughout the year :-) I could change my mind though haha!

Megan at H a p p y Day / Handmade by Megan - this challenge made me think of you!!

And if all those projects weren't enough, I went crazy making Pinterest projects the other night...here are just a couple of the things I made...

A brown felt flower hair clip for Miss K. You can find the tutorial I followed HERE. I improvised on the tutorial a little by adding an extra petal and adding the pink button in the middle. These flowers really don't need any embellishments when they're finished but I have TONS of buttons lying around so I put them to use ;-)  Here's another variation of the tutorial but you make 4 leaf clovers instead ;-) Here' the finished flower...

I also made a recycled t-shirt flower pin for me! You can find this tutorial HERE. It's SO easy and such a fun project to do to get rid of old t-shirts you have floating around the house! Your hubby.boyfriend/partner will never know what happened to his old shirts but hopefully he'll notice the cute little pins and hair clips you've added to your accessorize your wardrobe ;-) This specific clip is about the same diameter as a standard sized baseball. I wish I had gotten a picture with it on me...maybe next time. I'm not exactly photogenic right now haha. But here's my finished flower...

And if all those projects weren't enough...I also managed to find the time to create a new button for my business/blog, Made With Love by Caty...

www.madewithlovebycaty.blogspot.com / www.madewithlovebycaty.etsy.com

And I created my first button for my photography blog, Photography by Caty Blakley, as well...

Facebook Page HERE

I'm already thinking of what I want to do next...I must be crazy or just inspired...haha. I leave it open to interpretation ;-)

So....what projects are you all doing right now?! I've love to hear about them! :-) 

Much Love,

{Fill in the Blank Friday - New Years Edition}

 Today's Fill in the Blank Friday theme was inspired by Lauren at the little things we do and it's also a link up so join the fun by linking up on her page! Enjoy!

New Years is... a "new beginning" or "fresh start". For me, this New Years is special because 2012 is the year we are FINALLY moving back to our hometown after almost 8 years. This year is going to bring us a lot new adventures and excitement!

One of my New Year's resolutions will be... to enjoy my family and whatever life throws our way. We've been through a lot these past couple years with finances, jobs, schooling, etc. Even with as hard as it got at times, I wouldn't trade the struggles we went through at all. They completely made us better people and a closer family. I look forward to embracing the challenges and just let them happen instead of making myself miserable by fighting them!

A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to... to be a good Mother and to follow my parenting instincts! I was pretty pregnant this time two years ago and last year this was also my resolution but tweaked a little ;-) I know it's a bit of a cheesy one, but it definitely makes me sit back and think about how the last year went and what I'd like to improve on.

The most time consuming resolution I ever made was... definitely being a good Mother. You're a Mom 24/7! And as much as it is a difficult experience at times, I feel like that it is seriously the most rewarding!

This year I will be spending New Year's Eve... probably relaxing at home with Miss K and my Hubby. Hubby has to work until 10pm that night so we'll probably watch the ball drop at midnight and have a glass of champagne to toast to the coming new year :-)

If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be... that our transition back to our hometown and the process leading up to it goes VERY smooth!!! I'm secretly dreading the packing, moving across the state, but being back by our families again is worth all the stress! :-) 

2012 is going to be... absolutely amazing! I'm beyond excited to see what this New Year brings!!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

What are your plans for 2012!? Would love to hear :-)

{Work in Progress (W.I.P) Wednesday}

Part of my Dear Monday post I mentioned my list of unfinished sewing projects that I was hoping to attack starting this week. With the help of a place called "Jump N Party" (a place FULL of different kinds of inflatable bounce houses, slides, etc) that a friend of ours told us about, Miss K and I had a BLAST and she took a very long and HARD nap today, allowing me to finish one project and start a few more.

Here's what I finished today for a customer of mine for my business, Made With Love by Caty...

Owl Carseat Canopy/Cover

Here are my "works in progress"...

This is fabric will become a carseat canopy like the one pictured above. Today I was able to get all the fabric and supplies for it cut out!! Just needs to be put together and it will be going up for sale in my Etsy shop!! :-)

The fabric below is going to be turning into a nursing cover that will also be available to purchase in my shop as soon as I finish! :-)

This is a nursing cover I made with this fabric before for another customer just so you can see what the finished product looks like...

The story behind this next work in progress is kind of sad lol. I started these stockings back in November to have them done in time for Christmas this year...well, that didn't happen! Mainly because we decided not to do stockings as a family because Miss K is still a little young to understand them, so hubby and I decided to take the money we were going to spend on stocking stuffers and just put them towards a bigger gift for one another. The first picture is my W.I.P. and the second picture are the two stockings I actually had finished in November. I made all three of these stockings out of fabric I already had in my fabric stash so we didn't have to spend more money to make them :-) I love how they turned out even if they aren't "matching"! haha!

My Hubby's

My stocking is on the right, Miss K's is on the left

I'm hoping to have all these projects done by the end of the week, because if I do get them done by this weekend, that would seriously make my whole day!! Then it's onto a whole new possibility of projects I can do. YES! 

What you are currently working on?! I'm really anxious to start doing tutorials...is there any specific tutorial you'd like to see me do??

Much Love - Caty

{Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!}

Ohhhhh 2011, there are so many things I want to say to you, but I'll say this...

This past year has definitely been an amazing one, to say the least! As many of you can relate, parenting has its "ups" and "downs" but the really wonderful moments make it all worth while. It's been such a blessing to have my blog to come to and share my hopes, thoughts, feelings and dreams with all of my blogger friends! 

I came across the idea of "my blog highlights of 2011" and wanted to participate. Below you'll see my most popular post from each month this year. If you click on the titles, they will take you to the original posts :-) 

January: Sasi-Crochet Corner....CUTE CUTE HATS!!

February: *Banana Bottoms Cloth Diaper Review and Giveaway*

March: "The Business of Being Born"

April: **I actually didn't write a single blog post in April...sad :-( lol**

May: Update!

June: **I didn't write a post in June either...must have been busy the months I didn't write, huh?!**

July: One Year, 52lbs

August: "IF ONLY"

September: Can it be?!?

October: Holy AWESOME-NESS!

November: "I AM THANKFUL 30 Day Thanksgiving Challenge"

December: {Vintage Pyrex}

It's been pretty fun to see what I've talked about this past year by creating this post! I find it even funnier that THE most popular post I had was my "One Year, 52lbs" post where I announced my determination to get ready for Baby #2 this coming year ;-) 

What was the highlight of 2011 for you? Do you have a resolution? I hope you look forward to 2012 as much as I do!! :-) 

Much Love - Caty