Let's Talk About Wreaths, Baby...

Ok, you know you are old if you read that in song.  I thought of it this morning, and thought, of course it had to be the title of my next post.  Which, I happen to have a lot of time for, now that I am busy with my new (old) hobby of monogramming.  I'm having a fun morning monogramming my very first item for a customer, and while I'm watching the machine like a hawk, I realized my computer is just sitting here and it is a perfect time to write a post.  About wreaths.  And monogramming.

My sister, Amelia, in case you haven't met her, is awesome.  And she's crafty.  I'm crafty too, but not like she is.  She has great ideas.  She's one of the people that thinks of the stuff you see on Pinterest, then puts it on Pinterest for the rest of us to copy.  

This is Amelia.  Best friend in the whole wide world.

Amelia makes wreaths and door hangers.  And they are presh.

It's a sweet door hanger.

Burlap ribbon, and a monogram...I need one of these.

And then there's this.  Don't you love it?  I'm hoping my sweet sister will send me one in the mail...(hint, hint).

She's super talented guys, and you want her to make you a wreath, so follow her on instagram @ameliamadelyne and check out the fun stuff she makes!

I've had a fun day today.  I got to complete my very first monogram for money job for a dear friend.  I was a nervous wreck about doing it.  It's one thing if you mess up your own stuff, it's a whole other thing to mess up someone else's.  (I've done it before, and all I can say is Sorry again!!)  All that to say, it's a scary thing to take something that you really love and offer it to someone else, because, what if they don't find the work that is so near to your heart, good enough? 

Risks are always worth the reward.

So I took a risk and monogrammed for a friend.  It was fun, and I didn't suck and the monogram didn't suck.  

I'm realizing that I had somehow buried a part of me over these last four years.  It can sound cheesy to say that this is part of who I am, and you are allowed to think that, but let me just say.."This is a part of who I am."  I really love doing this, and it brings me joy, so I think that it might be part of my DNA.  As in, I was created this way, so there's something in this for me, that I get to use to draw people to Jesus.  Love. That.

Monogramming looks beautiful, but some of you might not know the process.

Here's the process I went through with the blanket that I got to do today...It was so much fun!

Step 1:  Make the design.  I use Embird to put my designs together and then I open them in my Singer software to get them to go to the machine.  This font is Carmen by 8clawsandapaw.com.  It's a good font for a baby boy.  Not too curly, but still fun.

Step 2:  Hoop the blanket.  I hoop my stabilizer and then pin down my blank.  On this particular project I had my machine put down a basting stitch to hold the blanket in place.  This comes out easy breezy with a seam ripper once you are done.

Step 3:  Gather up the extra blanket and secure it together to keep things a little more manageable.  Float a piece of water soluble stabilizer on top, and then send the design to your machine!  Chip clips are obviously the high fashion choice when securing a blanket.  Duh.

Step 4:  Voila!

So there it is, from conception to reality.  In my heart, this is such a picture of what has been happening in me lately and this little piece of me getting to go from dream to reality.  I'm so grateful that Jesus has provided a way for me to chase after His heart by responding to the desire He put in my heart.

Thanks for reading guys!

The story begins again...

Wow.  2 years since my last post.  2 whole, entire years.  Well, 2 years and 2 weeks to be exact.  Sorry I left all of you hanging that long.  I'm sure you've all been dying to know what I've been up to, what the Land girls have been up to, and what Ken has been up to.  I'm sure you have been sitting on the edge of your seat trying to dream up what kind of deals I've found at Goodwill and assorted thrift stores over the last two years.

The girlfriends.

Me and my handsome hubs.

Well, let me tell you.  The last two years have been jam packed with lots of deals, lots of my sweet girls, and lots of life.  I think that I'll try to catch you up on some of it, but I'm also going to give you a look at where we've been currently.  Life has been happening.  Fast and furious.  And up and down. But it's been really, really, great.  I'm learning more and more everyday about who I am and what I am passionate about, and what I want to do (and you would think that at 33 I could have some of this nailed down by now!).

Lucky for you, my passions still include sparkly things and thrift shopping (I feel like this is an always for me).  So check out this chair and ottoman that I got at Goodwill, just a couple of weeks ago for $20.50.  That's right.  $20.50.

The chair that was a serious gift from Jesus to me, right in the middle of the Frankfort, KY Goodwill.

And, 2 weeks ago my sweet, sweet, generous husband gave me the best Valentine's day gift...a brand spanking new, not off EBay, actually bought from a store Embroidery Machine.  It is super, amazing, and just what my heart needed.  I had forgotten how much I love monogramming.  It's another one of my passions, I think.  I'm going to post some pictures of my beginning work.  Keep in mind it's been 4 years since I've monogrammed, so these might look a little rough, but have no fear.  My plan is to get better and better.

Just my initials.  NBD.

Behold.  A shirt that has a long story behind it for Annabelle's Valentine party at school.

We got a dog.  Norman, or as we call him Stormin' Norman.  Sometimes we call him Stormy Normy. He's this tiny little Maltese and even though he cannot get the hang of potty training, we LOVE him.  He barks at his food and he looks like a mop when he hasn't had a haircut, but he is so sweet.  (Ken says that he hates him, but I know he doesn't really mean it.)

Stormy Normy.

So, friends, readers, family, whoever you may be.  My promise is to not stay gone so long.  My pastor, Justin McCarty, gave a great talk today about awakening the passions in you, that you were created for  (you can find that at churchforyou.tv ), and part of that for me is this blog, and monogramming, and shopping, and pursuing my masters (almost done!). Can't wait to keep you guys updated, in the loop, in the know, and so on and so forth!