gifts :: soldered glass pendants

So, this is what I've been working on lately and I'm having too much fun with it! These are a few of the pendants I've created and am working on several more for Christmas presents.

It is a wonderful way to remember a special person or moment in your life. I create these by placing a photo (or other art) between two pieces of glass and using stained glass techniques to solder them with lead-free solder. I am making these for my mom, mother-in-law, sister and sisters-in-law this year for Christmas. I am also taking orders for Christmas gifts.

I love receiving thoughtful gifts, and love giving them even more. My hope is that these will bring treasured memories to those who receive them!

mama and papa bluebird

mama and papa bluebird
Originally uploaded by sushikat.

There is a whole family of bluebirds living in a bluebird house on our back porch. I caught them this morning during their flying lessons with their babies! They're so beautiful, and I feel really blessed to have them living here. The eastern bluebird has been in danger as of late and their numbers have been dwindling for reasons you can read about here.

This mama and papa are calling and watching for their fledglings as they wait. So. Sweet.

holiday crafting :: stockings

holiday stockings
Originally uploaded by sushikat.

See, I really have been working! This is one of my latest projects and is still a work in progress. I am making all new stockings for my children and have completed two of the eight! I am also working on this cute advent calendar! I am really excited about this project because it reminds me of when I was a kid and getting a treat each day in December before Christmas. I had a little motivation to get started early on these, as I taped a holiday show last week, and these were my projects for the show. If you're interested in learning more about the show, you can go here to read about it.

Now, on to more crafting. I have another other exciting project I've been working on and need to go pick up some more supplies. I hope to have photos soon, so I can show you what it is!

waveland, mississippi :: hurricane katrina's ground zero

Our family took a trip over the kids' fall break from school to go to Waveland, MS to volunteer in whatever way we could to help Katrina victims. It was unbelievable the amount of destruction the water and wind did to this beautiful seaside town. It is so heartbreaking to see so many people's lives devastated, so many people depressed over losing everything, and so much to still be done. It was also so rewarding and fulfilling to hear those we helped say time after time, "Thank you so much! You will never know how much this means to me!" It was a very humbling experience and I'm very grateful to have been a part of it along with our family!

These photos were taken one morning when I was able to sneak away to the beach and watch the sun rise over the gulf.

so. proud.

Anna's first cross country meet
Originally uploaded by sushikat.

Anna is one of the most determined (at times downright stubborn) people I know and I am so proud of her for that determination. This is her first year running cross country and she's doing great! They had their first practice meet last Thursday and will have their first official meet this Thursday. Out of over 100 girls, she came in 34th. But, she's not satisfied with that. She wants her team to win, so she'll be pushing to do better. Last year, our school was brand new, and the cross country team won first place in the North Georgia Region. We are looking to have another strong team this year. Watch out everyone -- The Generals are coming!

Thrift Thursday - Ansco Rediflex

ansco rediflex camera
Originally uploaded by sushikat.

I am so proud of my entry for this week. I found this adorable vintage camera at our local thrift shop for 25 cents! It still has film in it and it looks like it has 8 pictures left on the roll. I am going to take it to a camera shop and see if they can develop what is on the roll.

I looked on ebay for these and they only go for about $10-20, but I don't care. I don't want to sell it anyway. I plan on using it in a display in my living room along with one of my grandfather's old cameras.

georgia's new friend

georgia & sylvester
Originally uploaded by sushikat.

Our kitty, Georgia, loves our fish, Sylvester. He pretty much sits in the bottom of his bowl all the time except to come up for food. His bowl used to be on the kitchen counter by the sink until Georgia discovered it and began splashing the water everywhere. The highest place to put the bowl was on top of a bookshelf in our kitchen, which is about 5 1/2 feet tall. This deterred her for a very short time, because she quickly learned to jump on the corner of the table and then up to the top of the shelf.

She will sit and watch him for hours, sometimes batting at him through the glass, sometimes sneaking a drink of fish-flavored water, and sometimes falling asleep beside the bowl. I snapped this photo the other night when they were both sitting and staring at one another.

Makes you wonder what they're thinking!

more handbag sewing

close-up of flower
Originally uploaded by sushikat.

I finished this bag today, and am really proud of it! It took a little more time than some of the other bags I make, but I love the way it turned out with it's rows of white stitching and the black & white theme. I also made a new type of flower pin by fusing the fabrics together for the petals and leaves to give them more body.

It's for sale in my shop if anyone is interested!

Gotta run and pick up my girls at school. Anna is trying out for cross country and we're going to go cheer her on!

Go Anna!

Thrift Thursday - Pretty China

pretty thrifted china
Originally uploaded by sushikat.

Carrie, over at Sommer Designs has started a new flickr group called Thrift Thursday where you show your thrifted finds for the week. Well, if you know me, you know I love to thrift shop and this is right up my alley. So, I joined!

This is one my finds for this week. I found a set of four cups, saucers & dessert plates. Perfect for my banana muffins and coffee on the back porch!

If I get a chance to take more photos, I'll try to post more later today. But, it is the last chance I have to take the kids to the pool before they start to school on Monday, and I think I'm going to take advantage of it!

pleated peach paisley

Wow, three posts in one day! I am really behind (gotta catch up)!

I have been sewing a lot lately, and have put some of my purses and bags in my shop if you want to take a peek!

I am trying to use up a lot of the remnants that I have and have been coming up with some different designs, in doing so.

Here's one of my new bags -- I think it's really pretty! It's for sale, too!

campsite 105

Last weekend we drove two hours to Cumberland Mountain State Park in Crossville, TN and spent a few days camping. We had a great time swimming, fishing, hiking, cooking outdoors, roasting marshmallows and making smores, knitting, reading and whatever else we could think of to do!

there are places I remember...

This is a fun way to see all the states you have visited. I was surprised to see I've been to almost half! Only another 26 states to go!



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Try it yourself!

happy independence day!

I'm so thankful for our freedom! I'm thankful for my freedom as an American and most importantly, for my freedom in Christ my Savior!

j's butterfly

j has come such a long way since he started swimming on our swim team! Here is a cute picture of his butterfly stroke.

He has a long way to go to perfect it, but hey, he's just 8! I didn't even know how to swim at 8 years old.

i love lemongrass!

I just finished making a batch of my favorite summertime soap.

Lemongrass!

Its earthy, citrusy, bright scent just makes me think summer. It also is great for repelling mosquitos. They hate the lovely scent of lemongrass.

There's also another reason this soap is one of my favorites. There was a dear, sweet lady in our local town that everyone knew as Miss Martha. She loved gardening and being outdoors. She taught swim lessons at our pool for at least 40 years and everyone loved her. As a matter of fact, the city pool is named in her honor. She was Ringgold's first city councilwoman and never minded standing up for what she believed in, despite pressure from other people. She was retired, but always busy serving others. She always put others first, and I'm sure I could never do her memory justice because I only knew her a few short years. Last November, she joined her beloved husband in heaven. Everyone misses her and it's hard to believe she's no longer here. Miss Martha was one of my customers, as well as a precious friend. And her favorite soap was my lemongrass soap. I will always think of her every time I smell the scent of lemongrass. So, I present to you, Miss Martha's Lemongrass Soap.

We loved you and miss you, Miss Martha!

our first swim meet!

My younger son has never asked to play baseball, football or any other sport. This year, when the swim team sent home flyers in the kids' folders from school, he asked if he could join. He loves the water and has been swimming since he was 3 or 4 years old. Well, we signed up and their team, the "Tiger Sharks", had their first meet of the season last night. It was so much fun to watch and they have some incredible swimmers!

Here he is swimming the backstroke.

I know he's going to love it. He already asked if he could join the swim team next year!

end of year teacher gifts

I have been so busy, but I always enjoy giving my kids' teachers a handmade gift to show my appreciation at the end of the year. Since we only have 3 in elementary school now, it's not quite as difficult to accomplish. The older kids have several teachers, so they just get a very heartfelt thank you!

See if you can guess what's inside these packages...



Did you guess this?



I hope their teachers enjoy using them as much as I enjoyed creating them. They have played an important part in our children's lives and are so special to us! It's only a small gift in comparison to all they mean to us!

on robots and knitting...

Can you guess what I got in the mail today? I'll give you a hint...








It came all the way from Canada...








From a very talented children's book illustrator...
Claire's work is beautiful!







She even added a few little hang tags, and the sweetest little kitty gift tag!







It's a cute knitting robot watercolor print!











For my cute little knitting robot!

stencil fun!

Okay, I have to admit it...THIS IS FUN! I am having a ball with this. I have to get some more blank tee shirts because my girls now want shirts, too. I have stenciled before, but not using this method, and let me tell you, this is much neater and easier. And it looks professionally screenprinted!

You cut out an object out of freezer paper, iron it on your shirt or whatever you want the stencil on, stencil it with fabric paint (I used Jaquard textile paint), peel off the freezer paper, let it dry, heat set it and wear it. I made these three shirts yesterday afternoon in less than an hour.

The penguin and owl are for my younger son, and the karate guy is for my older son, who is testing for his green belt tonight! I plan on surprising him with it after he gets his belt!

she's all grown up!

Today is my "baby" girl's birthday!
She's 19!
Happy Birthday, Lauren!!

thrifted goodness!!

I love to go thrift shopping! Aside from all the wonderful bargains you can get in the way of kids' clothing and such, I love looking for fabric! You can find such unique vintage linens, clothing, books, etc. Here are just a few of my finds from Saturday's outing!


This is a wonderful gold and black batik fabric. I'm not sure, but it may become a skirt or a very large bag.








This is a vintage bedsheet. I love the colors and just might make a skirt out of it as well. On second thought, it would make a lovely apron, don't you think?







And, yet another bedsheet. This one was still in its original packaging. It reminds me of the sheets we had when we were growing up!






And this was a skirt! I love the "japanese" butterfly print. If one of my girls will wear it, it will have a home. If not, I'll make it a home!







Definitely not least, is this cute, cute straw bag! I'll use this a lot at the pool this summer. I love these flowers!

More of my fun thrifted treasures to come soon!

tomorrow is the day...

that my new camera arrives! My fuji finepix s3100 died - and I mean completely died after about a year and 3 months. Of course, that was 3 months after the extended warranty expired! So, I ordered a fuji finepix s9000 and can't wait to learn how to use it. I know my pictures will be better than the ones I have been posting recently, because they were taken with a 2 megapixel camera which belongs to my daughter. I have lots to take pictures of, too, because I have flowers blooming, and window treatments I just installed! Yippee!

oh, I really do knit!

Honestly, I do knit. I taught myself how to do the knit and purl stitch from one of those old needlework booklets when I was a teenager, but never had anyone to show me anything else (my mom crochets, not knits). I kind of left it alone after that, because you can only make so many tube dresses for your little sister's barbie dolls. But, about a year ago, while Christmas shopping, I picked up a "Teach Yourself to Knit" kit. And while the kids were visiting their other parents over the break, I sat down and taught myself again. Then, I got online and found a local yarn shop, The Genuine Purl. Then, I signed up for some beginning knitting classes. Then, I got online and found an enormous wealth of information, videos, tutorials, patterns... I was on my way to being obsessed with another thing to do! I really don't have a lot of time to knit, and usually do it when I'm waiting for one of my kids at a sports, theatre, music practice/event or while riding in the car with my husband driving, but I absolutely love it. It's so calming and meditative and practical!

These are a few of my works-in-progress.






And I just picked up some Crystal Palace Deco Ribbon to make a cute shrug/sweater for this summer. Hopefully, I'll have some finished projects to show real soon!

Aren't these tee shirts the cutest? I got the idea from all the cute scrapbooking stuff out there and thought it would be neat to personalize shirts for my kids. I let them choose the colors and shapes for their names, and my son even had me put a penguin on his (he wore it today, so I couldn't photograph it). Then, I printed them out on iron-on transfer and put them on the shirts that I picked up at AC Moore for $1.66 this weekend! What a deal! You'll probably see more of these in the future.

my new spring bag & wallet!

This is a bag I've been wanting to do for some time now. I have joined the sew-along over at sew? i knit! and this was the perfect opportunity to get motivated!

I used denim from an old GAP jean skirt for the outside of my bag. I used my basic tote pattern and added belt loops at each side seam and center front and back. I lined it with a matching blue canvas. I also added a magnetic snap/flap closure. Then the fun began...



































I made 4 interchangable sashes from some gorgeous Kaffe Fasset fabrics I picked up from my local quilt shop. This way, I could just change the sash and use this bag with most everything I wear.

With the leftover sash fabric, I made a stripwork quilted wallet. I used the pattern "A Safe Place" from Favorite Things. I love this pattern! It was really quite simple and I just used scraps from the denim, another purplish fabric and the leftovers from the sashes. I LOVE IT! You can get so much in it and it will match my purse! I highly recommend this pattern. The only thing I did different on it was to add a magnetic snap instead of velcro on the flap.

Now, I just need to learn how to put my photos where I want them to go in my post!

I'm ready to do another quilted project, now! Maybe one of those cute japanese handbags!?

will life ever slow down?

With 8 kids between the two of us, life is never boring! I'm really not complaining, it's just that I'm tired! My youngest daughter is in the production "Peter Pan" which opened last week, and we have two more weeks of performances left! We've been rehearsing for this one since last December. It's really an awesome show, but we're never home! Here's a link to a beautiful picture of her at rehearsal. And here's a picture of her with a couple of her fellow cast members.


She has a matinee and an evening performance tomorrow. I'd better go and get some rest.

i love you grandmama!

My grandmama is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know. She loves pretty flowers, especially wildflowers and has always loved tending her gardens. She now has Alzheimer's and is very rapidly declining. But she is still so pleasant to be around and she still loves her pretty flowers. This trillium photo was taken at her house last Mother's Day. I have several plants in my gardens that came from her. She gave me these beautiful daylilies and some gorgeous varieties of hosta, as well. I love you grandmama!

i couldn't wait...

to get home from the grocery, that is! I had to open it and drink it! Isn't this the cutest glass? I bought the pomegranate lychee green tea, but there were about 4 different varieties at the store and it cost about $2.49. It was worth it to get the glass! And the tea was pretty good, too.


I can't wait for the pretty flowers to start blooming in my garden again! The daylilies, daisies, and blackeyed susans are all coming up and the rosemary is blooming! Spring is here!

sew-i-knit ... I'm signed up!

I just signed up for the sew-i-knit sew-along! I am really looking forward to what everyone is going to come up with. This month's theme is bags and that is right up my alley! I also just bought some gorgeous fabric that I'll get to play with! Here's a peek at what I might use for my bag/bags...