Year in a Glance

Well I 've been terrible about posting this year. I try every year to be better, but every year I fail. :) I thought I'd go back and just recount an important or memorable event that happened each month this year.

JANUARY

I bought myself a new computer. (Might not seem like a memorable event for most, but this was huge for me and Blake)

FEBRUARY

Found out that we were going to be an Aunt and Uncle!

MARCH

Went to Disney World with the Penfield family!

APRIL

Attended the first craft show for the year in Ennis, Texas with my mom and sister.

MAY

Saw my little sister graduate from high school!

JUNE

Celebrated our 2nd anniversary!

JULY

Had a bit of a scare when our niece, Cali Jayne, thought she was coming early, but she didn't. Thank God!

AUGUST

Blake started his last year of Law School! I wrecked my car, but was extremely blessed to be safe and have great insurance! :) Was able to get myself a new car!

SEPTEMBER

Celebrated on the first day of the month the birth of our first niece and goddaughter Cali Jayne!!

OCTOBER

Blake's brother married our new sister-in-love Jackie! Also, Blake finished Practice Court 1 and 2, which happens to be the absolute hardest part of law school.

NOVEMBER

Celebrated Thanksgiving with the Gager Family in Uvalde!

DECEMBER

Celebrated Christmas morning with the Penfield Family and then the evening with the Gager's.

It's been a great year. There were definitely times that I felt like Job. In all the blessings there was a multitude of trials. But the Lord stood by us and brought us through every trial into a new blessing. While there were moments where I couldn't see beyond the day or week ahead, it's awesome to look back and see how the Lord helped us through it all.

I know 2012 has a lot of changes ahead. Blake will be graduating and taking the BAR and we will probably be moving away from Waco. I'm a planner and like to know what the plan is for our future. At this moment I honestly can't see past about mid-May. But I know the Lord is in control and will be there every step of the way. I can't wait to see what he has in store!

Buy a Quilt Block for Esther

If you read my sister's blog you might have read her story about a little girl name Esther that she met in Uganda. She met her for the first time 2 years ago on her first trip to Uganda. She was a tiny little girl with a big beautiful smile. Back in June when Lexie returned to Uganda she was surprised to find Esther still at the orphanage. At first she wasn't the same cheerful little girl that she remembered. Years in the orphanage had changed sweet Esther's cheerful nature. After a while Lexie was finally able to see her smile and saw that glimmer of the Esther she knew.

When she returned home she was on a mission to find a family for sweet Esther. By God's amazing plan and provision she found them! So now it's our turn to step up and fight for Esther and help bring her home. Let's help the Stonebrook family raise the funds needed to adopt her.

Buy a quilt block for $10. All proceeds will go to the Stonebrook family adoption fund. I will then sew a quilt with all the blocks that I will send to sweet Esther and her family. To buy a block you can either send a check to me or click on the donate button the right column and pay by credit card or pay pal.

Thank you in advance for all donations. God has a great plan for Esther and her new family. Let's help bring her home!

Zig Zag Quilt

I am almost finished with a quilt top that I've been working on for the last few months. It's taken me so long because I keep stopping it and starting another project. But I told myself that I would not start another quilt or project until I had this quilt finished. I have a few strips to add to the sides and top and bottom, but I just had to share it!

My sweet husband agreed to hold it up for me while I took the picture. I love his feet sticking out at the bottom! :)

I got the pattern from here. It was super easy to use! I totally recommend you purchasing patterns from her! I used a mix of Heather Bailey lines for the fabric including Nicey Jane, Pop Garden and Bijoux.

Kitchen

Two posts in one day?! What's the world coming to? :) I just wanted to share with you guys a little "face lift" I did in our kitchen. I never loved the area over our kitchen sink so I did something about it. Here's what I did.....

I found this idea on Pinterest (place where I spend waaaay too much time!) to color clear vases with acrylic paint. It was super easy and I love the result. You just pick a few different colors of acrylic that you like, drip it down in the vase and twirl it around till it covers all the surfaces. Let it dry over night and voila! Super cute vases!

The framed applique bird idea I also got from Pinterest. A woman had posted a pillow she made with appliqued birds on a line in different color fabrics. It was super easy also. And those are my favorite part!

Pillows for my Sister

It's been too long since I last posted. At one point I tried to change the layout of our blog and I messed it up so bad. I got so frustrated that for a long time I just didn't want to look at it because I didn't know how to fix it. But no worries! It's fixed now. It's a silly reason not to post, but it's my silly reason.

Ok so I know the last thing I posted about was pillows, but I've made more. Not for me this time, but for my sister. She is going off to college in less than a month and I needed to make her some cute decorative pillow for her bed! So here they are....

I am very happy with them and how they turned out! I got the tutorial for the flower one here and I came up with the pattern for the chevron one. I'm actually thinking of putting together a tutorial for how to do that one and posting it on here. Does anyone even read this blog any more? And if so, would you want a tutorial?? Let me know!

Sprocket Pillows

So it's been a really long time! Sorry guys! :) I don't have a lot to say, but wanted to share some pictures of some pillows that I'm making for our couch. I really like how they turned out!

I got the idea from here: http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2011/03/tutorial-sprocket-pillows.html

Dress A Girl Around the World

Do you like to sew? Do you need a good cause to sew for? :)

Well I have the perfect organization for you! It's called Dress A Girl Around the World. Their motto:

Imagine a world where every little girl owned at least one dress.

Plain and Simple, but so very meaningful for little girls all over the world. Join me in making pillow case dresses to donate to this organization. Use pillowcases, scraps of fabric, etc. to make perfect little sundress for girls. It's a super easy pattern that even a beginner could master! You can find the pattern here:

http://littlebiggirlstudio.blogspot.com/2011/03/dress-girl-around-world-sew-long-day-1.html

They have a pillowcase option as well as a full pattern option. I am going to create a facebook group dedicated just to the people who are coming together to make dresses. Let me know if you're interested and I will invite you to the group! Please share pictures of your finished creations!

After you finish your dress mail it off to:

Rachel Eggum Cinader

Hope 4 Women International

P.O Box 74010

Phoenix, AZ 85087

Please join me in dressing girls around the world!

Pillow Case

I found this fabric that I absolutely loved at Hobby Lobby. I bought two yards of it to use for a blanket that I will make sometime in the future. It's been sitting there on my shelf since I bought it and I admire it everyday. :) The other day I was at Hobby Lobby and saw in there "clearance scrap pile" a roll of the same material! It was 3/4 of a yard for only $1.50. So of course I snatched it up.

I had seen this really simple tutorial for making pillow cases recently and had just stored it away in my "To-Do" crafts folder. So when I came home with this small role of fabric I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. Here's the result:

Doesn't that just make you happy? :)

Project Couch: COMPLETED!

Ok so I know there really weren't many posts about my couch project, but I don't really care because it's finished!! :) And I LOVE them! While the actual slip covers aren't as brown as I'd like them, the fabric of the pillows makes everything better. Let me stop talking and just show you some pics!

I just love the fabric of the pillows! And I got it all for 40% off at Hobby Lobby!
Close up of the back....you can see where I added the zipper. Which I must say was way easier than I thought it'd be.
My cute husband sitting on the love seat reading a comic book. Isn't he cute?! :)

Baby Shoes and a Skirt

Let me start this post by first giving this disclaimer: we are NOT pregnant. Let me repeat myself (for those of you who skipped over the word NOT)....we are NOT pregnant. Just want to make that clear. I know many of you out there would see that I'm making things for a baby and your wondering brains would go straight to our future babies. :) That's kind of you to think of them, but that's not who these shoes are for!

The shoes are for my baby sister, Annie! :) They are actually a sort of Valentine's surprise for her. So don't tell her! :) I bought the pattern what I thought was a few months ago. Until today I noticed the purchase date was actually on Valentines day one year ago. I didn't know who I was buying the pattern for, but little did I know a precious little girl would be entering all of our lives. I am so happy that she's the first person I've made them for!

I also made a skirt for my other sister Karleigh Mei as a Valentine's surprise for her! It's basically just a reverse applique skirt out of an adult t-shirt. It was like the easiest thing I've ever made! :)

Project Couch: Step 1

I have decided to call my project to change the way my couches look "Project Couch". Today was day one/step one.....dye the slip covers brown. I decided that I wanted to go with the dark brown look. Like I said in the last post the first thing I was going to do was bleach the already blue denim slip covers and then dye them brown. Well let's just say the bleaching step didn't work. NOT at all.

So I'm standing there in this dirty, creepy laundromat with all these semi-scary looking people staring at me because I'm the only white girl in the place, and I am just wanting to get this done. I used three washers and with a gallon of bleach split evenly between the three, I was ready to say good bye to the blue. But I quickly realized the blue was not ready to part with me. I stood there for a while just looking at the now sopping wet blue slip covers trying to decide what I should do next. Desperate to start seeing brown, I poured a bottle of Rit dye in each washer and let it do it's thing.

After the first soak/cycle I realized that one bottle wasn't going to cut it. So I ran to the store, leaving my soaking slip covers in the machines, praying that no one would steal them. I mean really, who'd want them anyways?? To my joy, they were still there waiting for me. So I put another bottle in each washer and let it run it's cycle. Then I rinsed one more time to make sure all the extra dye was gone.

I have to admit when I was leaving the laundromat the slipcovers were looking anything but brown to me. Maybe it was just the harsh sunlight, but I saw a brownish blue and a purple. NOT the look I was going for. By the time I got them back on the couches they looked a lot better.

I don't have any pictures to share yet because I was too lazy to take them today! :) But I promise I will get some tomorrow when the lighting is better and I will post them first thing!

New Project: Quilt

So I made a quilt one time before.....and let's just say it didn't work out. :) But I've decided to give it another shot. So while passing through Walmart the other day I casually looked at the fabrics. To my delight I found a bunch of fabrics on sale for very cheap. I bought a yard of each and decided to figure out a plan when I got home. I will actually be using this fabric for several things, but the quilt if first. Here's a few pics of the beginning of this project....

Wristlet Purse

So last night I decided I was going to try out a purse pattern I'd found online. So I headed over to Hobby Lobby to pick out some cute fabrics. I was pleasantly surprised to find some really super cute fabrics! Here's some pics of the finished product:

Let me know what you think!

Craft Projects

So I can already tell that 2011 is going to be a year of craft projects.....or at least for the first couple of months it is! :) Why you might ask.....because right now I'm in a very crafty mood!

I have always loved doing crafts. Especially crafts that create fun items that you can use or decorate with in your home. I had a friend in high school that nick-named me "Crafty Kate". :) So I guess I'm just living up to my nick-name! Last year I attempted to make a quilt....which I might add was a bit of a flop. I now know what I did wrong though....so it was a learning lesson. About a month ago I found another pattern for a quilt sort of blanket that I LOVED. And even better yet, it seemed pretty easy and do-able. So as soon as we were back in Waco after all the holiday traveling I went to the store to buy some fabric.

The result.....a blanket that I LOVE! I love it so much that I am actually ready to make more. While it does take a lot of time to make because it is very, very, very....I must repeat very repetitive. But, with patience and a little bit of soreness, the end result is a gorgeous blanket.

The first one I made is about the size of a throw blanket. Perfect for curling up on the couch with and watching a good movie. I must say, that there have been a few "fights" between Blake and I over who gets to use the cool new blanket. Guess that just means I will have to make another! :) My goal is actually to figure out how to make one big enough to use as a quilt on a bed. I will update you on that when it happens.

My next big craft project....do something about my couches. Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, I love your couches and am so very grateful that you gave them to us. But I must be honest......I am really sick and tired of the fabric that is on them. :) Thankfully the fabric is a slip cover! So here's the plan....

- bleach the slip covers for the couches themselves
- re-die the slip covers a lovely tanish brown/chocolate brown....haven't decided yet
- sew new pillow covers for the existing pillows with some fun vibrant fabrics....another pattern/color yet to be determined
- make a few smaller throw pillows to add

So I decided to post my progress on our blog. It will keep me accountable to get it done. The only thing that is holding me back is 1) not wanting to destroy our ok couches and 2) money. While it will be cheaper than buying new couches it will still be a little bit of an investment. But if you know me, you know that I will find a good deal. I can't buy anything without knowing I got a good deal. For instance....the other day at Old Navy I got four shirts and a pair of pants for $25. That. is. a. good. deal. :)

Anyways....that's about all for now. I will post pics along the way. And if don't see any updates on the couch situation in the next couple of weeks.....ask me about it. Keep me accountable. :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I can hardly believe 2010 is over! I know I say that every year, but this year really went by quickly. They always say that as you get older, time seems to fly by even faster. It's kinda funny because I knew that the year was coming to an end, but it really wasn't until yesterday that it hit me that it was the last day of 2010! I think that was a combination of the year flying by and me being so busy, that I have barely had time to sit down and think about what day it is, let alone what month it is!

2010 was a really great year for the Penfields! Here's a little summary of some of the major events that happened in our lives (this is in no particular order):

- Blake completed his first year of law school! (hooray!)

- we were in 2 car accidents, but walked away without even a scratch or bruise (praise the Lord!)

- I successfully began my own little felt flower headband and hair clip business (abeauideal.etsy.com)

- related to the headband business....I participated in my first 3 craft shows and had a really great time!

- I continued to build my photography business and had an amazingly busy, but great year!

- my family welcomed in my soon-to-be sister Annie (who, if I might add, is the cutest thing ever!)

- Blake began writing for a movie review website and is loving it (themoviepool.com)

- Blake began his second year of law school

- Blake participated in a client counseling competition in school and made it to the semi-finals (I'm very proud:) )

- Blake's brother, Travis, got engaged to an amazing beautiful woman (both inside and out)

That's all I can think of right now, but let me just re-iterate....it was a busy year! We have a lot to look forward to in 2011! We have already booked a trip with Blake's parents to go to Disney World in March! That was our big Christmas present. We are SUPER excited! And of course, as I mentioned before, we will be having a wedding in the family. I really can't wait to see what all the Lord has in store for us.

For now Happy New Year to you all and God bless!