finding a rhythm in my new life

So, we are here, in South Carolina, pretty settled for the most part. We are finding a routine and a rhythm. I think we found the church we are going to be attending. It is here in town, and a smallish church, and they really make you feel welcome. I also like that they have Wednesday night service. I really missed not going on Wednesday night at our other churches. I think we all need that community more than once a week. I am a pretty busy mama with all of the activities I have the children in, homeschooling, doctor appts etc. I am now making ready made garments for my shop, and have put a dress in our local boutique for sell, and I plan on adding more.  So far it has got rave reviews. I will be paying the shop owner a portion of the sell, but I love the idea of having my (children's) clothing, in our small town childrens boutique.

My oldest daughter (5) loves doing art, so I made her this

It is a crayon folio, and it is perfect for her, it also has two little slots where my babies hand is that hold a paper pad, and and stickers



Can you tell that my 12 month old really likes it too?

 

It has ribbon handles and a velcro closure

 

I really like how it turned out, and I plan on making several of these for my Etsy shop and our local boutique. I am also excited because I have ordered clothing tags, and new business cards with my current store address.


The builder also made a lot of progress on our attic conversion, here are some recent pictures
Here is the grand tour

from the garage, step door from the garage, and you can see where the archway is going to be into our house

windows that are going to be put in sometime next week

 



heading up the stairs






my sewing room, there is going to be a huge window on the front



This is where my built in corner desk is going to be,

 that box is the frame of the windows, this area is going to be a sitting room area, with book shelves



okay, this picture is blurry because it is dark over there, and I had to put it on a night setting, and this is the best shot I could get. That big unit is going to be taken apart and moved starting Monday of next week, and beyone that is going to be the childrens big play room with again, bit picture windows.



 sewing room again

 storage area

going down the stairs, we are going to put in a chandeler for the light fixture on the landing

There is the door again, with the archway and access to the garage. This conversion should be complete in a couple of weeks, and it is going to be such a wonderful addition to our home. Thank you for touring with me

Happy Thursday!

things and more things...

ahhh, it fills good to finish something right? With the help of Dark Chocolate, I was able to completely file our taxes by myself. I feel a sense of victory. Ever since I was a college student, I had the desire to file our taxes, but have always been intimidated by it, but now, I did it...

On the housing side, here are some pictures of the progress being made on our conversion. It is a lot more finished now, but I will update these for now

ceiling stating to be cut out

do you see a little tiny hole above the molding



this little hole( not the dirt on the carpet) that is where the entryway to our upstairs in going to be



stairway coming along, I will go out and take some  more pic in a bit, they are doing great work!


Also to note, I put my shop in vacation mode for a week. With the renovation, still getting set up in our new location, and homeschooling, I had to take a break, and think of how it all could work better. I opened up again last night, but this time I will only be making ready made garments to sell. That way I can still sew for fun, and not have the pressure of completing custom orders, and being everything to my family at the same time.

I want to encourage you today, to embrace your calling, whatever that may be. To let go of things that He has not put on your plate, and look to the future with a smile..

Happy Monday!

A couple a new thangs

I wanted to post some pictures of some new "thangs" for Sweet Home Boutique

Some pretty Amy Butler Fabric from her new collection "soul blossoms"...I am going to make a long sleeve, as in down to my wrists long sleeve dress out of this pretty fabric

bam...well hello maternity pillow, you arrived right in time to finish up my first maternity order

bam, a little bit of pair covered fabric

One of these sewing magazines...I think I might subscribe to this one...

yep, it's sideways...I forgot to edit these bad boys before I uploaded them to my blog, nonetheless, this should be a great read

and some of this little stuff...to trim some things up..

Thank you for stopping by!
Happy Friday!

stairway progress

After three of my four children were throwing up last night we spent all morning this morning at the doctor. They are all resting and recovering what seems to be a 24 hour stomach virus. I am not really one to get sick. I might eat my words later, but for the most part I do not catch things that go around. I think it is because I work out, drink a lot of water, and eat low calories...So....that's good because if mama get sick, well, that simply can't happen...

The good news is while we were away, the builder was here working away. He had to step out for a moment to get some supplies, so when I got home I snapped these pictures. I was excited to see that he had placed the board for where he was going to put the stairs, and cut some of the ceiling for that. He has also been doing a lot with my sewing space, and I have asked him to add some closets on either side of the large family room area.

Day 4 of attic conversion and here is where we are at....

wooden beam going up where the stairs are going to be

opening cut where the stairs are going up

one angle of the wall where my office is going to be!

                                                                            

Conversioning the attic, and new things...

So....things on the shop front are going well...This has been a great month for sales, the Lord has really blessed Sweet Home Boutique. I am in the process of finishing up a large order to a friend in WA, making a dress for my friend to where to some of her speaking engagements, and making my first maternity dresses for a friend from high school....fun, fun, fun!!!

Yesterday I constructed this dress for my sister who loves purple...I shipped it out to her today via...you guessed it...click n ship ( I love that thing)

front

back



I also got new sizing label's in the mail to put on all of my clothing under my clothing tag...next on the list is care tags that I will put on the side...Handmade clothing is supposed to be hand washed, but I throw all of my things in the washer and dryer....What good are clothes if their not easy to care for and durable :-)

Also on the home front we have been busy, busy, busy....Our new cleaning lady came over today, and I love her love her love....She did good work cleaning, but I love that she puts character over all. One thing that I love about living in a rural town in the south, is that people seem to place a high value on good christian values, and community...more than any other place I have ever lived, I love it here.

The builder finished up day 2 of the attic conversion and I poked up there when he went on lunch break to take some pictures. Our builder is way awesome. He is the same person that built our house in 2005, and put our fence up in the backyard. He does great work!!


This is how the builder is getting up there right now, via, pull down ladder. There is going to be an archway added in the front of the house as you walk in that is going to be a stairway leading upstairs.



This is going to be the future home of Sweet Home Boutique. The window is going to be taken out and a larger one added,  and the boards you see coming toward you on the sides are going to be cut out, and more space is going to be put on the entrance going back there.

This is going to be the end of the greatroom/home school/playroom/chill room..He is going to be putting windows on the side of this wall,  and sky lights throughout the roof...I LOVE natural light!



This is going to be the large hall open room...There is going to be windows on both sides..and that big huge heating and AC system is going to be moved, in fact we are adding a whole new unit to accommodate the extra space.



I will update my blog as the conversion moves along. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to here the sound of a saw and things falling above us....That with the combination of the cleaning lady vacuuming was pure and total bliss!!! Ahh!!!


Until we meet again....


Happy Wednesday!!!!!

 

$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!!!