Two Years Ago.....

Two years ago I wrote this guest blog post on the Lil Blue Boo blog.  It was one of my first blog posts, and it was about how beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  More importantly, it was about recognizing our failures or shortcomings and taking them as stepping stones to paths of greatness.  One of the last lines reads: "...let’s take a moment and give a standing ovation to our failed projects. Without them, how could we appreciate all the beauty we otherwise create?"

Now, two years later, I had no idea how true that would ring.  Ashley is now battling cancer, and can't do the things she typically could in the time frames she is used to.  She needs more rest, something she is not that used to doing.  She's got a new scar and tiny skeleton hands (see her blog posts here ) and you know what?  She's as beautiful as ever.  

I think that while many people have always loved her, without even knowing her, now even MORE people love her.  They can see through her recent struggles, the greatness that lies within her.  She's not just a crafting guide to so many, she is a wife, a mother, a friend, a sister, a daughter.....  And now she has chosen to share her recent 'shortcomings' with the world in order for others to learn and grow from their own struggles.  If she helps just one person, she's helped give them the standing ovation that they need to get through a hard time.  It's more than most people can give in a lifetime.

Today, oddly enough, a local magazine is having a photo shoot at my house.   They are shooting "Art and objects in a home that inspire."  You know what I suggested to them for one of my objects?  The same bricks that I wrote about in that blog post two years ago this week.  

Funny how things come full circle.  Old houses are demolished, but we maintain a piece of it with us for the rest of our lives.  Ashley's body was practically trampled in surgery, but she maintains her high spirits.  Our failed projects, our losses, and our disadvantages, do not equal defeat.  They equal a path to greatness.  


xo,
Shari

4th of July hits this Canadian Household!

So I've neglected the blog, I've neglected cleaning the house, I've neglected leaving feedback, I'm even neglecting packing for my upcoming move (Eeeek, only 2 weeks away!!) BUT, I won't let a holiday pass me by :)

I just finished 4 new Penny Pants for 4th of July, to complement this dress that I finished yesterday....

Here's a sneak peak at the pants....There's a size 18-24m, 2T, 3T and 4T in this pile. It doesn't look like much, does it? LOL....but they took a lot of time!!

Uploading them to my etsy shop between 10-11am PST :)

While I'm here on the blog, remember the Fugly Knit swap I participated in? I turned this pile of knit into a two piece halter set.....




Well, I also sent this bunch of hideousness.....



to Olivia at the fabulous and always sold out Olivia's Ultimate and finally got pictures of Finley in it today!!! (Notice she was unable to use our tie dye, which I am oh so thankful for ;)

Any outfit that can make my less than active and coordinated girl scream "Hey, I think I can do ballet in this outfit!!" is a massive winner in my books!! Look at her go!!!

Thanks Olivia :)

And while we're on the subject of Fugly Knits, don't forget the Great Ugly Knit Upcycle Contest Ashley over at Lil Blue Boo is hosting!! I cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with!!!!

OK, that's enough blogging for me for the day..... I guess I need to go pack/clean/leave feedback now ;)

xo,
Shari

What is Fugly Upcycling you ask?

It's really, really ugly (anything with an F in front of it is baaaaad ;) turned hopefully great. :) That was the goal of the upcyclers challenge a few friends and I put on. We picked names from a hat, sent our ugliest knits to the person who drew our name, and wait for the mail lady to come with something upcycled brilliantly for our kiddos!

So it seems I understood the challenge quite well. Oh did I pick ugly. Look what Olivia (of recent etsy shop fame Olivia's Ultimate, plus a photographer extraordinaire) received in my Fugly Mailing:

Yup, that's REALLY fugly. So much so that I really don't want Finley wearing anything made from it, HA!

Now Lisa, of Ellebows, is the one who was supposed to supply me with fugly knits. I had to send her back to the drawing board 3 times because everything she gave me was too cute!! We finally settled on this:

Now, it wasn't so much fugly, but a challenge. The brown stripes is a very stretchy ribbed hoodie, and the other piece is a heavily embroidered knit skirt.

I knew I couldn't turn it into a typical SLD because of all the embroidery, so I decided to go totally out of character and make her a shabby chic two piece halter and matching capris :)

I took a panel of the skirt with some plain pink tee and turned that into a halter top, incorporating the brown stripes of course into the straps.

Then I turned the hoodie into super casual capris and turned an embroidered patch into oversize pockets.

I managed to use the fugly knits as 90% of my upcycling, which was really cool!!

Now, if you're inspired to upcycle some fugly....then get in on the action at Lil Blue Boo, where she is hosting The Great Ugly Knit Upcycle Contest! Your ugliest things hiding in the back of your closet may magically transform into something cool. Plus you may win a sewing machine for doing it. :)

Now that is upcycling at its best :)

xo,
shari

One imaginary Friend + One package = Pure Joy

Finley's been begging her imaginary friend (IF), Soren Lorensen, to write her a letter. I sent her one from her other IF, Evie, but it didn't seem to do. Then my wildly creative and incredible friend Ashley did this. You must check out her pictures of the package contents on her blog, they're amazing! I am still blown away!

Finley usually doesn't like having her picture taken, so we had to tread lightly. She also doesn't like to do things that weren't her idea first, so we set the package up outside on a blanket for her to stumble onto.

This was her reaction:

"For me?" She asked...

She shook it to see what could be inside...

And then we told her it was from Soren Lorensen.

Oh Happy Day!

She opened it up...

To find tons of treasures!

And we pored over every gorgeous little thing Ashley put into it. We read the incredible letters...

She was shocked to hear he left all his letters to her by mistake in his backpack! "No wonder they were late!" she said!

Elephants are her favorite (she sleeps with Harry Elephante, a stuffed blue elephant). She named this one 'Lumpy'

She made up a little game using the erasers in the packet, where we had to throw them and gather them from the grass...

She LOVED the origami paper and paper crane (one of her favorite books is about a little girl who makes a paper crane and names him "Menu" and he becomes her best friend because she hasn't any real friends at school)

We played with the little animal chips

She was like a kid at an Imaginary Friend Store ;)

It was a wonderful way to spend the morning...

Thank you Ashley, for making such an incredible memory for our family. We will cherish this forever and ever!! xoxo

So the post about my first sewing project reminded me....

I was once a guest blogger at Lil Blue Boo and I oh-so-generously reminded the entire world of my failed attempts at various projects. You mean to tell me blogging isn't supposed to be an embarrassment to myself? I apparently did not get the memo. ;) (hence the photos of myself yesterday ;)

It was fun to write that guest blog post, and I hope you'll pop over to see it, and then of course scroll through the amazing blog that is Lil Blue Boo.

Here is a snippet from the post:

So today I ask you: what is your craft project gone bad?

Sadly, I have a slew of items to pick from. Let me see, it could be the terrible rust colored dress I made my daughter using an old silk shirt of my husbands. Ashley said "It's cute" in an email. but I could tell by the lack of exclamation marks, it certainly was not. What was I thinking? My child looks like she belongs in Little House on the Prairie in this one!

Read the rest of the blog entry here.