welcoming summer! and a selfish sewing session wrap up!

we had some lovely weather this evening and decided to welcome summer in true fashion {at the park}.  little miss had the whole playground to herself, she played on the swings, slide, ran around in the grass, watched some fishies, and of course modeled for mommy and my new creations from my {selfish sewing session}

enjoy!  we sure did!




love this new bow tie inspired headband and fabric beaded necklace.. presley jane loves!




she looks so old...



and.. bow tie clippies

I have been obsessing over fabric covered buttons, so I managed to use some of my very loved scraps and make up some adorable little earrings!!  I heart them much! lots of different sizes and colors...

I tried out a pattern for my bloggie bff raechel , she's amazingly talented and actually created this pattern.  I enjoyed sewing this little romper for pj and I love how it shows off her baby chub... yum

these bow tie clippies are just the cutest thing ever... I am able to use up my beloved scraps and make lots of different colors and prints.  we may have to make up several of these because miss prefers clippies to headbands!

welcome summer, good to see you again!!

Oh, and in case your wondering, I did not shoot in green square today.  Nope, I adjusted my f/stop and feel like I did pretty well with it, maybe even go so far as to say, getting the hang of adjusting it!  we'll see, fingers crossed!

and to wrap up my selfish sewing session, let's recap on all that I was able to accomplish. 
{I like lists, mm'kay}
1.  bubble romper
2.  button covered earrings and necklaces
3.  ruffly camera straps
4.  fabric beaded necklace
5.  bow tie accessories {by accident but maybe my fave of the weekend}
and I am in the process of making myself a necklace, some more earrings, and a TON more bow tie accessories...

next week, going to start cutting my quilt out {eek.. scary}  I mean I have enjoyed staring at my lovely joel dewberry fabric stash and I always feel a lot of pressure cutting it up, but I am sure that very soon it will look lovely again.  I will keep you posted.  wish me luck on my first ever quilt, mm'kay, thanks so much!

ok, until next time friends...

a basic photog class...

Happy Memorial Day friends... I hope you all have had a wonderful day of remembrance and enjoyed the company of your families... we had some beautiful weather here, and did our little family b.b.q. last night since momma {me} has to work tonight...

while enjoying the nice weather and snapping pics of little miss outdoors, I remembered a gift from my photog friend, ran inside to grab it, and was so excited to start lesson 1.  I have been waiting for nice weather to get started on this begginers photo class from 2 peas in a bucket.  {make sure and check their home page too, here, they have all sorts of lovely scrapbooking ideas, and creative what-nots, on top of their photography tips, LOVE this site}

I bought my canon rebel xs because I wanted to take sweet little pictures of my baby and wanted to take rockstar shots for my etsy store.  I will admit, I had an altered conception of {photography} to say the least.  I was under the impression you drop a few several hundred $dollars$, get a nice camera, and all of a sudden your pics just looked amazing.  well, imagine my disappoinment upon buying my first slr camera and my photos were not winning any awards.  I realized I had a lot to learn but had no clue where to start.  thanks to my friend molly, she so kindly printed off all the lessons and put them in a handy dandy little notebook and made it so pretty and gave it to me as a christmas gift.. GENIUS..

so, if you're like me and need some very basic direction to get to know your camera and want to take better pictures, then join me as I do this 12 weeks to better photos.  I will link up each week to the content and then share the photos I have taken and you do the same...  sound fun?? ok, let's get started.

lesson 1: aperature basic training  {click on this here link and it will take you to the content}

I will be the first to say, what? aperature? maybe I should continue to shoot in green square {a term dubbed by my friend jolene} another way of saying automatic.  well, I am going to give it 12 weeks and see if I am brave enough to shoot in AV or whatever you photog's call it, or continue in green square.

I did lesson 1 and I vow to shoot in AV all week long.  I changed nothing on my camera except the f/stop, like it said to do.  here is what I came up with...

gus {the gorilla} is more in focus here, while the plants in the back are out of focus

it seems like both gus and the plants are in focus here...



to me, gus is in focus but not as sharp and the plants are also in focus



is that what is supposed to happen.. I wasn't convinced so I tried a few more times...

I see it!  first flower in focus, the rest a nice "blur"

front flower still in focus, background not quite as blurred...

everything in focus!

and again...

front lily's in focus, and bushes in background blurred





front lily's in focus, back bushes more in focus but still a little fuzzy...

mostly everything in focus...

so, play around this week with your camera, but shoot in AV mode only.  take some different shots while adjusting your f/stop.. next week, we will add in the next lesson...

{on a side note}

remember how I said I was having a selfish sewing session?? well, I sewed many different projects and one of them, a new camera strap to jazz up my canon.. she was in need of a new outfit... I have seen these ruffled camera straps before and thought, I {heart} ruffles, I {heart} camera straps, why not? and I love how it turned out with these fun gray and pink polka dots and pink ruffly goodness and I especially love the gray decorative serging.  it's definitely a keeper {and thank goodness, because these little baby's are hard to get on}

more pictures coming soon from my selfish sewing session, there are lots of lovelies to share.

have a lovely week friends!

oh and check out my new bloggie bff for a chance to win not only from the pink jellybean but many other adorbsey little shops as well...

window shopping...

I heart etsy... {have I mentioned that before??}  sometimes, when I can't sleep, I find myself "window shopping" on etsy.  I love supporting my fellow handmade stores. 

 here is my top 5 picks on etsy right this minute. beware, by reading the rest of this post, you may have the strong urge to get on your computer, pull out your credit card and start shopping... not responsible for purchases... {just kidding, well, kind of kidding}

so, I have a slight fabric obsession... if it's pretty, I buy it, and will figure out what to do with it later.  and until I figure out what I will use it for, I like to just look at it in my stash... Im swooning over this new anna maria horner- loulouthi {love} I can always count on my fave fabric store mimi's to have exactly what I want.  I see fall dresses with this... 

I love this store the wheatfield, I think I could fill my house with all of her prints.



I heart this little frame, I am so into bunting {attempt to make my own, coming very soon}. this lovely little shop is chalk full of fun and creative frames!!

this shop, tookies, is full of yummy greatness and prettiness. my fave here, the jar cakes, ready to eat and packaged so darned cute... one for me, and one for every friend's birthday too...   I think so! 

 

and lastly, I just love this vintage looking necklace from tamar, I so badly want one of her peices but am having the hardest time deciding on which one.. oh, and she has a kids store too. so you and your little can match, GENIUS... this store makes me happy.

happy sunday friends, and happy shopping too!! 

what are your fave etsy stores?? what's on your wish list??

{oh and one more thing.  I can't wait to share what all I have been up to this weekend... it's been a selfish sewing session all weekend long!!  lots of new projects!!}


 

the best part of my job...

lucky for me, when I go to work, I am able to witness the most precious gift that God can give.  the birth of a child.  to experience such an intimate and emotional time with my patients reminds me why I became an OB nurse.  it is truly an amazing experience each and every time.

it becomes even more amazing when I am able to care for someone I know.  recently, I was able to share, with a dear friend and co-worker, the birth of her child.  I feel so fortunate to know such a lovely family, and to have been there with them as they welcomed their second child into the world. 

anxiously awaiting...

they were not sure if they would be welcoming a baby boy or baby girl, but as soon as mom caught glimpse of those gender defining body parts, she started laughing, crying, "it's a boy, it's a boy,"  and continued laughing, and continued crying and it was perfect.

love at first sight...

so much emotion and love was in the room, you could feel it.  such a miraculous moment, seeing your baby for the first time. 

welcomed with many open arms, including the big brother...

and he too, felt love at first sight.  mom kept saying "you two are going to have so much fun" and big brother agreed.  dad was just smitten.

my friend, she is amazing.  wonderful wife and mother, caring nurse, a great friend, child of Christ, and did I mention she is amazing???  this little child weighed in at 10 pounds 14 ounces.  we were all shocked, mom laughed, and we all thanked god for his safe passage and just swooned over all his cuddly chub!

thanks friend, for letting me be a part of such a sentimental moment.

and thanks to the talented willow brandt photography for sharing this time as well, and capturing these beautiful memories. 

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.

-Psalm 127:3

a heavy heart for Joplin, Missouri

last night, after hearing of the "absolute distruction" that had occurred in Joplin, Missouri, I immediately got on my phone and texted one of my best friends from nursing school who was employed at St. John's hospital, the hospital that took the tornado's direct hit.  my husband too, was immediately on his phone, calling his friend, also employed at st. johns.  thankfully, our friends were safe, and neither of them were at work when the tornado hit, but both were on their way to help out. 

my heart was heavy, I was feeling conflicted.  St. John's, not only an amazing hospital, filled with employees I happened to know, was also a place where I spent a lot of time in nursing school.  I felt a calling to help, so off we went, a team of 4 nurses and my brave husband.

I am just shocked by this devastation.  I can't believe, a place I once frequented, was now no longer.  Joplin proved its sense of community, as evidenced by the amazing volunteers and medical staff that were available to help. 

the very next morning, again, Joplin was hit with another storm with possible "rotation" and we found ourselves in the basement of the make-shift triage center.  and the storms continue, making search and rescue difficult.

please keep Joplin in your prayers.. please pray that those who are lost or missing, are soon found and reunited with their loved ones, that those who are wounded or injured will have a speedy recovery, that those who lost their homes and belongings will have the strength to rebuild, that those who lost their loved ones will be reunited someday at the gates of heaven, that those firemen and police officers are safe and are successful in their search and rescue efforts, that those doctors, nurses and medical personnel can have level heads and steady hands and provide the best care possible to their patients, and for those who lost their lives due to this tragedy, may they rest in peace.

tree completely uprooted

direct path of the tornado

rangeline

ihop

what was left of home depot, {rangeline}

apartment complexes, gone

all that was left of a burger king

after coming home, I feel blessed to have those things that may be taken for granted. my home. my possessions, my family and friends accounted for, even my hospital intact and functional, and most of all, my baby and being able to kiss her good night tonight.

please continue to pray for all those affected by the destructive tornado's over the weekend, and please keep Reading, Kansas in your prayers as they too were devastated with severe weather.

god bless!