Apologies....

Clearly, I have taken on waaaay more than I am capable of....


the wheels on my wagon have officially fallen off - I believe I've lost them somewhere between last month and our team rummage sale last friday.... I'm positive once May has passed, I will be able to find them.... hopefully.

So my sincerest apologies for not being able to participate fully in Kids Clothes Week.... I have nothing planned for next week, and I'm very confident I can make up for my lack of presence around this blog space....

I have my teams largest fundraising event scheduled to take place this coming saturday - A THINK PINK TEA - I am super excited to be hosting this event alongside my wonderful teammates - and I am very grateful and thankful to those family, friends and community members who are joining us for this fun, empowering and inspirational afternoon.

Again, I'm so sorry for not being here.... My hubby will be here tomorrow to post my friday night video.... and I'll be back perhaps as early as sunday evening....

Thanks for being such great and understanding friends ;)

Kids clothes week: project 1 complete....

May, May, May.... you are here with a vengeance.... I want so badly to do many, many projects for Kids Clothes Week, and I promise to try.... and that's all I can do. My plate is full this week with pulling together a fundraising tea for upwards of 100 people, baseball for myself and 2 of my monkeys, a baby shower and Kids Clothes Week.... And now, I'm feeling run-down and tired from the blur of a weekend that just passed....

But, I am NOT complaining. I did this to myself, as I always do.... but, I digress. The reason I am here today is to show you this lovely little number that I whipped up for my little Hammy-Cammy....


I purchased the pattern from a very lovely Etsy seller named Adrienne, and her shop is called The Fuzzy Noggin. The hat is crocheted, and super easy and super fast to whip up using cotton yarn. Perfect for sunny spring days and cool summer nights. The pattern I used for this is called the Sophie Bucket Hat; and the great thing about Adrienne's patterns is that she allows you to sell your finished products! Unfortunately, I couldn't snap a photo of my little model wearing the hat as she seems to be camera shy at the worst possible times, uggg.

Anyhow, have a great day everyone.... take advantage of these beautiful days we've been given ;)

Can we just skip this month????

Do you ever feel like you can do it all? Ever bite off more than you can chew? I think it must be a mom thing.... We all do it. I know it. You know it. Yet, we're able to put on this stoic face that lets everyone around us know that we are in control, when really, we're never totally in control of anything. Is that what it comes down to though? Control? We need to be the commanding officers of our own little army. The centres of our own little universe.

I CANNOT do. it. all. There, I've said it. Now you say it. Take a deep cleansing breath, and be fine with the fact that NOBODY expects you to do it all. No one except yourself, that is.

Aaaaanyway, just to give you an idea of what my May is shaping up to be, here's the short list:
Make toy soldier costume for school play (oh, and it needs to be to school for TOMORROW. I got a real head start on it though.... this. morning.).
Hosting Rummage Sale for a Cause Fundraiser with teammates and friends.
Helping a friend with a Plant Sale/Fundraiser at our school.
Baseball for my boys starts (2 nights a week).
Hosting THINK PINK TEA Fundraiser with teammates and friends.
Attend baby shower for a friend.... I LOVE BABY SHOWERS... AND I LO-OVE BABIES, YUMMM!
Signing-Up for baseball for myself. (What, you ask? Do I play baseball? No, but what the heck, I've got time.).
Mom-to-Mom Sale... I've got a table... anyone care to join me?
Kids Clothes Week Challenge being hosted by the wonderfully creative bloggity-blog Elsie Marley.... please do check out this space, it's so full of fun and inspiration.

So, this is everything I can think of off the top of my head... oh, there's more, there's ALWAYS more. I can get through all of this, I know I can. And I know it's really not as much as it seems.... and truly, truly, I love being busy. I must, otherwise I wouldn't commit to SO. MUCH.

As a side note, and totally-totally off topic; just yesterday I had an urge to check out the Habitat for Humanity site, really it was just my way of escaping all of the aforementioned happenings.... Anyway, I've always wanted to help on a build. So, here's what I found out.... a-ma-zing organization, a-ma-zing volunteers, doing a-ma-zing things for people. I'm serious when I say, I will do this one day... only catch is, I'd love to do it internationally. What a fantastic way to see the world and all of the wonderful people in it. Check them out, you will be compelled to help.

Anyway, it's sunday morning, which is pancake morning around here - and oddly enough, pancakes always put me in a good mood even though I don't eat them; but my kids always get so excited and that makes it so much more special.

This little menopausal moment has been very, very helpful folks.... I feel so much better now than I did when I sat down to type this. Sometimes all we need is to itemize our to-do lists.... it seems to give us better perspective, don't you think? Ahhh, *sigh of relief*.

Let me know how your May is looking.... Oh, I've had one taker on my offer to sew something for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge, anyone else interested in something for free? Please leave me a comment if you're interested.

Have a great sunday everyone ;)

KCWC spring 2011 and a teeny-tiny giveaway....

It's that time again! Elsie Marley is hosting Kids Clothes Week Challenge again and I've joined in!




Call me crazy.... for those of you who know me, you know that my May is JAM-PACKED with fundraisers, a baby shower, a mom-to-mom sale, mother's day.... and everything else under the sun! But here I am, committing to something else, taking on a new challenge, cramming another task into my over-stuffed daytimer.... I dunno, I think since the nicer weather is coming, and I had such a bumper fall/winter with my skull and crossbones hats, I've been feeling a little idle. I'm needing to get these hands a craftin' again....

So, here's where you come in, dear readers.... I have TONS of scraps of material.... I'm thinking of skirts for the girl-varieties, and shorts for the boy-kinds.... if I have just 2 of you who would be willing to put in a request, then I HAVE to follow through with this challenge.... what'dya say, any takers???

If you live close by, I can drop off or you can pick-up; if you are far-far-away, then you'll just have to pay for shipping costs.... sound fair? Yeah, I thought it did too :)

The colours and styles will be at my discretion.... not because I'm on a power-trip or anything like that; but, because I know what material I have.... I promise I will make your little someone something super cute (jeune fille) or way cool (jeune homme).... how's my french Crystal???

Aaaanyway, I look forward to your requests.... and please, don't hesitate to make your request.... chances are, I'll be getting to these items a little before Kids Clothes Week just for scheduling purposes (but mostly to keep my sanity before Crazy-May)....

I'm also open to and welcoming any encouragement from the peanut gallery. I'm gonna need it to keep on track next month :/

AND! Tonight is Amazing Race night, I'm a happy camper :D (see, that's me smilin'), and the only other show that gets me that happy is Golden Girls; ahh Betty White, she's so funny :D (again, me smilin').... I must sign off and get to tidying so the babes and I can cheer on our respective Amazing Race teams.... have a good one folks ;)

Closing day....

Last day of Kids Clothes Week Challenge... and lets just say, it has been a challenge for me... I'm hoping today to get to some kinda sewing project... hope-hope-hoping!

Yesterday's Mom to Mom went well... I managed to get rid of a great deal of stuff that was cluttering up mine and my girlfriend's house; unfortunately, I didn't fare so well in the hat department... sniff, sniff. I had so many people say they loved the hats and really wanted to buy, but didn't have enough money... I sold 3. I am quite happy with that number... and really, I can just stock my Etsy shop, and that makes me happy, see :D, that's me smiling ;)

I've taken the pictures, and will have them up in the Esty shop sometime today... please feel free to pop by the shop later to see the great colour range I am offering.

I'm hoping to pick some pumpkins today, no-no, not just me, of course the family too.... Halloween, it's just the best holiday EVER!!! Hope everyone has a warm and snuggly, pumpkin-pickin' day ;)

In need of a good mechanic....

So the wheels fell off the cart... I really, really tried to keep up with the KCWC... unfortunately, bad timing prevailed and my Mom to Mom sale took over... and I needed to devote a great majority of my time to getting my inventory done for the sale... in my defense, my inventory is for children and it is of a clothing nature... does that count toward Kids Clothes Week???

Aaaaanyway.... I still have Sunday to try and whip up some actual articles of clothing.... but please, please, don't hold your breath.

Wish me luck that my cool little skull and crossbone-y guys will be a huge hit tomorrow... feeling a little nervous that people will pass them by... keeping my fingers crossed regardless.

Have a great weekend all ;)

Mommy-wear to Baby-wear...

Take one shirt that you no longer wear, but can't get rid of because it is just so-so soft...


Cut it apart very methodically... without a real plan in place of course... first it was going to be a cute pair of leggings... then it was going to be a nice twirly skirt... but in the end, this is what I came away with...


An almost complete replica of what I started with... the exception being lettuced edges... And in this picture, one arm looks longer than the other, but truly it isn't, it's just the way I laid it on the table :)

Phew! Day three of KCWC has been a productive one... this is going up in the Elsie Marley Flickr Group...

Have a great evening all... back to work for me ;)

Time Warp.... Day 3....

So, as with all busy families... life decided to take over for day 2 of the kids clothes week challenge... I did get to finish off a few more hats late last night for the Mom to Mom sale... and that's about it... I do plan on getting to something other than crocheting this week... but... that still remains to be seen...

I'm hoping to post something a little more exciting and in the realm of kids clothes later today... stay tuned...

Have a cozy, stay-out-of-the-rain kinda day ;)

Kids Clothes Week Challenge... Day One...

Day One... Kids Clothes Week Challenge hosted by Elsie Marley... I worked for about an hour today, finishing off a crocheted hat for a Mom to Mom sale I'm in this Saturday... it's about a size 2-4 and made with chunky orange and light brown yarn... and I'd say it would probably be best suited for a girl as my middle guy (one of my hat testers) tried it on and said "It's for a girl, get it off me!"

Hopefully it'll sell... if not, my little Hammy-girl has already staked a claim to it... and here's where I'm in trouble; she seems to be a hat girl, and so every hat I make she wants... and to be honest, I have a really hard time not making her hats because she loves them so... Quite a pickle I tell ya!

Here it is... the hat...


It does look extra cute on my little girl-baby's head... so I won't be that sad if it doesn't sell :)

Have a great Monday evening all ;)

Buzzzzzz.... busy little bee...

I've been sooo busy... getting ready for an upcoming Mom to Mom sale where I will debut my 3 monkeys inc original skull toques... I know, sounds exciting, but not really... I actually designed the hat about 2 years ago for my two dashingly handsome boys (yes, yes, get on with it... rolling eyes)... and had so many compliments that I decided to take it mainstream (official lingo, you know)... I opened my ETSY shop last year and listed. one. item. (again, I'm cautious in all of my endeavours and so didn't want to overwhelm myself with the influx of people clamouring for my product... snicker, snicker)... my poor little hat, although not my skull design, sat and sat and sat for four whole months with nary a nibble. But I'm ok with that... my heart, at that point, really wasn't in the shop... I gave it only a half-hearted try... This time around, though, I'm hitting it full force. I have more time to devote, more energy to invest and have finally started to believe in my work enough that I think someone may actually be interested in owning a 3 monkeys inc original...

So here's a sneak peak at what's been goin' on 'round here...



Look at all of those colours! Truly, crocheting is my most favouritest! Will get back to you after the 25th (the day of the sale) to dish about how well or not-so-well my little hats faired... But! But! Will for sure be posting next week to show you my Kids Clothes Week projects!

Have a fabulous day ;)