$39.95 for a little slice of heaven, and that's all...

Moving from Hawaii to South Carolina in the winter, I was sure was not going to be that much of an change. I was not counting on, however, the temperature to drop into the 20's and for snow to fall when we arrived. The Carolina coast, as I remember, had very mild winters, but we were pleasantly surprised with a white Christmas this year. One thing that I knew would not settle with my system moving here though was a lack of flowers. I get most of my inspiration and lovely thoughts from flowers, so I started searching around right away to find something that blooms here in the winter, and this is what I found...

purple viola's which are part of the pansy family

and yellow violas, apparently they will die after the temperatures reach above 94, but we will bask in their beauty until then...

Something interesting I found off of wikipedia about Viola (pansy's)

The name 'pansy' is derived from the French word pensée meaning "thought", and was so named because the flower resembles a human face; in August it nods forward as if deep in thought.

I think whatever the meaning, I grateful that their pretty little faces are gracing our yard this "winter"...For 5 big bushels of these flowers I paid $39.95 and that is all. Such a small price to pay for something that brings me so much happiness!!

Happy Sunday!

Look who is coming over for dinner....

Okay, so they are not really going to eat, but after getting our household goods three weeks ago, I have finally worked to the point of being able to park my car in my garage again...woo hoo!!!



Bam...well hello there my friend...I was careful not to run into any bins full of china, or space bags...



I would also like to take the time to put a plug in for this little guy (mama's best friend)

The little green shampooer from bissel, I wish I would have got one of these forever ago. The bissel seen in the picture above was used to shampoo an unfortunate puking incident had by one of the children. I have also used it to get paint out of carpet. As I was retouching some of the house today I spilled some red paint on my whitish carpet. This little green mama lovin' friend was there, at my side, faithfully pulling the red out of my carpet!!

On another note I also got a new serger!

The blade on my other serger started not cutting, and I needed to serge, so I got this little fella'...It was on sale and 2x the quality of my other serger. I am already way loving it.

On another note, the builder is supposed to start the attic conversion TOMORROW!!!! I am over the moon excited to be adding an additional 700 sq ft to the house. I want to get up there and take some pictures so I can keep the progress updated on my blog....I am also anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring.

That is one thing that I missed while in Hawaii, the birth of spring. Yes, Hawaii is the eternal spring, but there is something so wonderful about the first sprouts of green coming from the earth to give refreshment, and hope for things to come....Spring is my favorite time of year.

I also wanted to share this shot with you

different color dirt, but same story. He told me it was worth it, and I would have to agree. I call this much dirt on the hands of my two year old son livin'...big time......

Happy Wednesday!!!

clicking, shipping and making rubber duckies...

I recently became the #1 fan of the United States Post Office...I have to admit, I use to never think twice about them...that was until I ran into this guy

front door step pick up (click n ship)

Mr. postman...don't forget about me

The pictures above were my first package pick up, and I kept looking out my door, to see if they were gone. It seemed almost too good to be true. I mean, seriously...I use to have to go to the post office carrying my baby, wrangling an active two year old, boy and reminding my preschool daughters not to touch things...All of this while carrying packages, and trying to have a sound conversation with the post man...

Now all that I do is, pay postage online, print out the shipping label, schedule a pick up date, set it on my front door (pictured above), and watch it drive off with the mailman...Yes, USPS...I LOVE you....

On another note I made an edible rubber ducky today...

I had a pretty stressful day and I took out all of my frustration on icing this duck...

Today was my youngest son's first birthday, and I thought a rubber ducky was fitting. He is the sweetest little boy...In a way it seems longer than a year, that his sweet presence has been with us...

Happy Birthday little boy!

Happy Thursday to You!

zip a dee doo da

What a wonderful day!

I love days that are very productive, and today was one of them. We will see how things start to roll with the biz now that things are pretty much up and running. Since my last blog update I have listed two more items, and sold two, with a possible wholesale order to Spain. My prices are as low as possible so my retail price is the same as what I would sale at wholesale. I am very excited about this prospect of working with this retailer.

On the home front, we are busy as a bee with home school, shopping, still setting up house, gymnastics, and soon to be piano and dance for the girls. They are also doing missionettes, which is a church type of girl scouts. I have volunteered to be a classroom helper there.

Our builder is coming on Wednesday with the heating and AC guys to look at what needs to be done to start the conversion. They are adding 700 sq feet, including my office for Sweet Home Boutique...

As many of you know, I am a self taught seamstress, and when we lived in our house here 3ish years ago I started learning to sew. In Hawaii I had a sewing room and would stay up all night sewing away, and honing my skills, but this house, here, is where it all began. I remember one day feeling a bit cramped with our 1300 sq ft home, and dragging my sewing machine up the ladder to the attic, and sitting in the unfinished frog cutting patterns and things. Now, that is the exact same spot where I am going to be working in my business. How wonderfully amazing and beautiful is that?

I am also making a purple linen dress for my sister. Since we are almost exactly the same size I am going to model it and list it  in my store before I send it off to her.

Here are my newest listings in Sweet Home Boutique

I think the style of the little girls dress is cute, I am going to be making more of those types of dresses with some pretty prints. The shirt is, yes, another tunic. I am almost over making these types of shirts...almost. They are by far my most popular, and I will continue to sell them, but I am not sure how many more of this style I will make. I am in the works of making a wide belt skirt...I have had the pieces cut for awhile, but need to put it together. I am also wanting to try some more dress styles for women. Well who, knows what I am going to make, it is all in good fun. I love what I do, and I LOVE that so many other people do as well.
Go Lord!

                                                                   Happy Monday!

She makes linen garmet and sells them...

This was my reasoning for making my newest dress...

I was browsing around Micheal fabric stores, and looking through all of the textures and fabrics. I normally use quilters fabric for my garments, but I wanted to try another texture. I browsed through denim, corduroy, etc, but I was very drawn to this linen. Not only it is super comfortable, but the Bible says of the proverbs 31 woman....
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

Proverbs 31:24

Linen is made using the flax plant pictured here...

Details of the flax plant, from which linen fibers are derived

( Wikipedia)

It is a strong durable fiber, that has been used for thousands and thousands of years. I do aspire to be like the proverbs 31 woman, and if linen fabric was good enough for her, it is surely good enough for me as well

Here is my newest listing using this luxurious linen fabric...

Happy New Year!

and things are starting to happen...

Nothing like having all of your house  hold goods dropped off at once, over the holidays, and being left to put it all together with four little ones in tow. I am so grateful though, I learned quite a few things over the course of the last move, so next time I will be a lot more prepared. Things are moving along nicely. I cannot even begin to get into full time sewing again, until everything else in our house is in order, and with a large renovation to our home coming up, that may take some time. I am still learning and growing as an artist however. I seriously love what I do, and even when I have time to chill, it is somehow related to sewing or my business. I sew because I love it, and that is my driving force. Once I sat at my machine again, and started to piece things together, I was able to take a deep breath...It is that relaxing to me.

I sold a skirt to Germany during my vacation mode, and as I sat down to make it last night, I realized that my customer was a size I cannot accommodate presently.  I apologized and sent her a full refund. She sent me a message today telling me that she loves the skirt so much that she still wants to order it,  (in the largest size that I make). Even if that means losing weight to wear it. How awesome is that? Something in my store might be "that clothing" that someone works out and gets into shape to fit into...

Coming from someone who works out regularly, and wanted to be a personal trainer at one point in her life. I find that absolutely amazing....

Here is the skirt that she ordered...it is a reversibly wrap skirt...




                                                  Happy Thursday!

Handy as a pocket

This is what my dad told me when seeing all of the navy wife skills I have acquired over the years. Seriously though, it feels so good to start being productive again in my home, and business. Finished constructing my first winter garment last night and got it listed today. This dress is soooo cozy, and cute...I feel so blessed to be able to do what I love...

So what do you think?