Win Your Discount Wednesday at SVP-July 27th, 2011

Today has been a bit of an adventure. This morning I woke up to Jude quietly standing next to my side of the bed. I slowly opened my eyes and wondered why I was drooling blood. Then I looked up and saw that Jude's face was covered in blood! He had a nose bleed and had wiped it all over his face. I cleaned him up and he climbed into bed with me. This was at around 7 am and the littles have been sleeping until 8:30-9 am, so it felt very early.

After breakfast, we slowly got dressed and ready to make the weekly trip to SVP. We also had to stop at the Sooke Fine Art Gallery, so I could hand in my registration and payment for Art in the Park. Even though I had called the gallery before leaving the house to make sure someone would be there, there was no one there. Sigh!

Anyways, there is a path that takes us to a road that leads to the gallery. It's very short. I have been avoiding overgrown paths because there have been so many bear sightings in the area. This path is very short so I feel safe. We were walking through and stopped to watch the caterpillars.

There are new little ones. Jude couldn't resist poking them.

I don't think the caterpillar appreciated being poked.

There are so many, and they do a weird kind of twitching motion that looks like the are having a seizure. The kids find it amusing.

This plant has had the top completely eaten off and there is caterpillar poop on every leaf. Super yuck!

While we were giggling, laughing and closely inspecting the caterpillars, we heard a loud branch crash, and rustling in the bushes beside us. I yelled at the kids to run, and Jas immediately started screaming as I grabbed up Jude and pulled Jas along by the shirt to the street. When we were far enough away on the street we looked back to see what had made the noise, but couldn't see anything. My heart was pounding so fast, and the two littles were in such a fright. Jai dropped a shoe (he decided to wear one shoe and one rollerblade, but carried his other shoe so he could go into the shops) and so I had to go back into the path to retrieve it. Jude freaked out, and I ended up having to take him with me. We were all pretty shaken, and still have no idea what was in the bushes. It very well could have been a deer, or a cat, but I wasn't taking any chances with my little guys.

That was enough excitement for me! We ran our errands and stopped at the thrift store, avoiding any side paths, long or short. It's the long route for us from now on.

There was a much better selection at SVP today, and I won 25% off. Not bad. Not bad at all.

When we got home we played Chinese Checkers, which we also picked up at SVP, had some food, and are taking it easy.

The sun is out and it is summer in Sooke, at least for today. I really hope it sticks around for a while.

Savvy Mom Entrepreneur of the Year Award

On a whim I nominated myself for the Savvy Mom Entrepreneur of the Year Award. That's how I tend to do things, on a whim. Now I am a little overwhelmed with the requirement of votes. It is now up to me to promote myself and be "in your face" to make sure I get the votes required to make it into the top 10 for the chance to win.

I am not an "in your face" kind of person. Tooting my own horn makes me incredibly uncomfortable. I'm more likely to be found blending in with the wallpaper. My shop, my Facebook page and this blog are all huge steps for me, and of course were done on a whim. I imagine that no one is actually reading my blog, which is how I manage to write it. When I get an email notifying me of a comment on one of my posts, butterflies start fluttering in my stomach!

This has all been a great experience for me, despite my shyness, I have grown and gained confidence. I have days where I feel very bold and am comfortable promoting myself, and tend to only do the promoting on those days. Well, I feel like things will have to change if I want a chance at this award. I am really going to have to go out on a limb, and not worry if people feel I am being obnoxious, or spammy. I have to work hard for this award. I am just trying to figure out the best way to do this without coming across as obnoxious or spammy. Is that even possible?

I so badly want to win though! $15 000 would sure help me immensely. The equipment and supplies I could buy, as well as going to the thrift store and not worrying about how much I am spending! I could afford to advertise and have professional photos taken, more silk screens and ink, Photoshop so I can edit my pictures as well as Illustrator, oh my goodness. It's just too exciting thinking of how much my shop could grow!

So it's time for me to break out of my shell, and reach out for help. If you would like to vote for me you can click here. Also, there is a flashing button on my side bar you can click on.You can vote once a day, and can vote for as many moms as you like until Sept 12:) If you are a mom entrepreneur, you can also nominate yourself and leave a comment letting me know so I can support you. I am much better at supporting others:)

RIP Amy Winehouse

There is a lot of controversy over Amy Winehouse and her recent death. She was a very talented artist that had a very un-healthy addiction. I never knew her personally, so don't feel it is appropriate to judge how she chose to live her life. I do know that I am saddened at the loss of such a talented women, and I hope this will prevent others from heading down a similar path. 

This video is a great example of her talent with a more sober performance:

RIP Amy Winehouse, I hope you are in a better place.

Garbage Day

I've taken the last week off to focus on my family as well as take time to recover from the lack of sleep I had from staying up late sewing.

I started exercising again, and forgot how beneficial exercise is for me. I feel more energetic and positive when I am being physically active. Not that I'm not active with my boys, because they never stop moving, but it's different when the focus is on myself.

We went for a long walk with some of our friends late in the week. We met up at their place and then headed out. Maybe 20 ft from their house we saw this guy:

As you can see in the photos, it was garbage collection day, so the bear was feasting on the array of rubbish lined up on the side of the road.

We were all very excited, and a little nervous after such a close encounter. These poor bears are being chased out of their homes and have no where to go. Everyday there is a sighting of bears in our neighborhood. 

The rest of the day we had bear related activities, such as eating salmon berries on the way to the beach and eating a bear chocolate bar, neither of which were planned. 

I hope to be back on track with sewing this week as I have a few shows coming up that I need to prepare for. I hope you all are having a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Win Your Discount Wednesday at SVP-July 20, 2011

The pickings were slim today as far as T-shirts go. There used to be a huge bin full of tees, and now the bin has a handful of shirts folded neatly in a stack. 

I did manage to find a few good finds:

This brown tee with a subway map of Manhattan.

Some colorful side plates. 

a sewing book

a couple of pillowcases. I just love brown right now.

Some floral knit fabric

and a floral knit nightie

a floral tank

and butterfly shirt.

The boys also found a 3D lego space puzzle for playing with their lego on, as well as a couple of stuffies. They always have to pick a couple of stuffies, which never get played with. I keep meaning to bring them back with us. Next time:) 

Today I am going to try and take some more photos of my stuff so I can order some more Moo business cards and possibly some stickers. Right now Moo has 30% off everything, so it's a good time to order! Today is the last day of the sale so I've got to hurry!

Book Recommendation

This book is a MUST read if you are a Canadian...really it's for everyone though. Especially if you wish to be more informed about First Nations people in Canada. I have just finished the second chapter, and I am loving it.

Anishnaabe World: A Survival Guide for Building Bridges between Canada and First Nations

So far he has covered an amazing amount of stereotypes, broken them down and tossed them out the window! Seriously! You should read it. It is empowering me, and giving me pride.

I will share more when I finish the book, but it has started out strong, and I can imagine it only gets better!

Jessica White Photography

Adorable pictures by Jessica White Photography of her darling daughter in a Love In Everything sundress:

What I Made This Week-July 15th

This week started out slow. I didn't have much motivation, but half way through the week I was hit with a ton of ideas. I didn't have time to make everything I wanted to make, but this is a start:

White and Brown leather booties with fringe

Rob's step-mother and her sister in law brought me a bunch of leather samples they found at Chintz and Company (a very expensive furniture store in town) close to a year ago. I have had these booties in my head for almost the same amount of time. I feel pretty happy with the real life version.

Stripy Green pants

With a fitted waist

Care Bear "Dreamer" Twirl Skirt

Made from 5 different t-shirts

White with Asparagus Green fringe leather booties.

They are just too adorable!

Taupe with Brown fringe leather booties.

and the finished quilt!

A close up of the quilting

The quilting on the back.

I apologize for the very brief descriptions. I've been staying up late, and waking up early, and I am definitely feeling the effects of lack of sleep. Today I plan to try and fit one or two more projects in, but mostly I plan to rest. Tomorrow is the Moss St Paint In which means extended hours for the Moss St market, as well as around 10,000 people walking through the market! I hope to be bright eyed and bushy tailed, rather than a zombie:)

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Let the Quilting Commence...

I'm going with an outline to quilt this Tree of Life quilt, and am going to take a break now, so I can take my oldest to the store for chicken stock. He has been asking me to help him make mushroom soup for a week! I'm being a bit neglectful, and it's time to get back to my real job as a mom:)

Win Your Discount Wednesday at SVP-July 13, 2011

Today we went to Salvation Army as well as St Vincent de Paul. The kids really wanted to go to both thrift stores. I was okay with that idea.

Here is what I picked up from SVP, and I picked a 50% off chip! Awesome!

I have been thinking about getting a cake decorating set for birthday cupcakes, and low and behold, look what was at the thrift shop today:)

More shirts, and some fabric to transform into cute kids clothing.

And this! Wow! It's not something I will ever wear, but it was just to cool to pass up!

The boys also picked out a toy each from SVP.

At the Sally Anne, I found almost the entire "A Series of Unfortunate Events" for $0.99 each. It's just missing book 9, which I am sure we can easily find at the library. The books are in pristine condition. 

Thanks to my boys for the wonderful idea of visiting both shops today!

Garden Update

Well, it's no secret that I LOVE my garden, so when a fellow blogger over at elephantislove left a comment asking about how my garden is doing, I just had to share. So here are several pictures of my garden:

A good friend stopped by for a visit on Monday with her daughter and they brought this lovely Lavender  bush for our garden. At least I think it's Lavender. 

This is one of the blossoms.

And I am not sure of the name of this plant. It came with our house:) It just started blooming last week.

A new dahlia flower blooming. The poor petals are being eaten by some sort of critter.

As well as the leaves. We haven't caught any critters in the act, so we aren't sure what it is. Anyone have any idea what it could be and how to stop them?

The blueberries are starting to get round and plump!

One of my lavender bushes is getting some more blossoms.

Some of my kale.

The peas are still producing tons of peas. We pick everyday.

Yellow squash is starting to grow!!!

The lettuce kind of blends in, but they are there and doing well.

The zucchini is also starting to grow!! It's so exciting!

Black currents. We don't have many berries growing.

A pumpkin plant our neighbours gifted us with.

Cucumbers!! This is my first year growing cucumber, so I am pretty excited about them.

Our strawberries are delicious! The best strawberries I have ever tasted.

Still no tomatoes, but they are blossoming.

A starburst squash. Look how cute it is!

My pole beans are doing well:)

And last but not least, my beautiful yellow roses. I have been drying the petals so I can use them for.....something. I haven't quite decided yet.

There you have it. My garden. I love it. It is so satisfying to watch tiny seeds or plants grow and produce so much food for us.