Well ladies and gents, it's that time again. And because I've found myself with little else to do, I am going to do my darndest to make up another one of these. After all, gotta give somethin for my breathless readers to giggle over. All right. Here we go.


Dear MTMG,

I am always so happy to share something with you.
Even if it's silly television shows,
that you've been so brave to bear with me.

I miss Ashley too,
Anamchara


Dear Man I'd Do 20 Years Ago,

I'm sorry if my foot ever gets too far in my mouth.
Would it help if it means I love you?

Sincerely,
DIL


Dear Weather Man,

So done with this rain.
Makes beautiful skies and flowers...
Yeah.. I know. Still done.

Much Obliged,
Staring Out a Rainy Window


Dear Eighties/Early 90's Boys,

I am so glad that whole hyphen two first name crap is done.

Sincerely,
Watching too much Saved by the Bell on Netflix


Dear Hero,

I'm scared I'll lose you forever if I don't step up soon.
But I still don't know how to deal with the new you.
Times have changed, I know.
But I'm still that little girl on your knee.

I love you no matter what even if I'm bad at showing it,
Krissy


Wooh. That last one got me a little teary. Sorry about that. Just somethin that's been on my mind a lot. Anywho!

As always, don't forget to go check in with Elise for more fun and see which ones she's come up with lately!

The Weekend...

...and an upcoming project!

So this weekend was a pretty fair one, all things considered. My mom and I have been missing each other a bit lately, as we've not had the time to hang out on the regular basis we're used to. So my husband volunteered me for some 'mother daughter time, no sharesies' on Saturday. This was a wonderful idea... in theory.

The problem with the fact that my mom and I haven't been speaking as much as we usually do, is that I tend to have a bit of a well of reserved feelings/emotions/things that I have to talk with her about. The latest topic? My grandfather. In a brief nutshell, I have a lot of guilt about not visiting him as often as I should because I've found I no longer know how to interact with him. Perhaps because I'm growing up, or perhaps because he's changed some after my grandmother died two years ago. Ever since her death, it feels like I've been slowly losing him, and he was a very big portion of my life, since he stepped in as a father figure for the majority of my early life. So, to say the least, this feeling is killing me.

And I decided that we were going to talk about it as we meandered through the crap stores downtown. (I mean the home decor stores full of meaningless stuff, and oh god lotion, that pepper the main street of any town anywhere). This topic of conversation, coupled with the as always lingering hover of baby items and the like, of which I've obviously not started yet in the ol' incubator, kind of put me on a low note. I wasn't unhappy persay, just... regretful and pensive. It did not make for a happy me.

So...about the third store, I was tearing up for a countless time, and I finally tell my mom "You know what? I'm sorry, I can't do this.." And as always, she's perfectly understanding. Says she just wants to spend some time with me, and we can do anything it doesn't matter what. Guess what we chose... Drinks!



Yes, we decided to stop by the liquor store on our way back to her house, buy some peach schnapps to accompany her 100 proof vodka at home, and made sex on the beaches... all night. My husband was invited over about half hour after we started, and he started having some Peps. (A random name I have assigned to Dr. Pepper, vodka, and white rum). Needless to say, we all got a little... open... and some of the conversations we had that night I will never dare repeat ever again. Also, my husband is a saint. Again. He managed to fenangle me into some jeans and a sweater after I'd ended up on the concrete floor in a summer dress, complaining of the cold. It was one of those nights.

Though on the way, we of course stopped by Maurice's, and I finally got this god awful gaudy ring that I've had my eye on for some time now. I usually stick to no jewelry besides my wedding ring most days, but I've been pining over this thing forever. So I finally got my hands on it!

Now... a mild hangover (mostly including an uneven stomach all day yesterday) and a day later, here I am. I've decided to finally try and start that jumpsuit project I talked about quite a while ago. I just haven't had the gumption to do it yet, and we'll see how far I get this time. One thing I would like to bring up though is...



THE DREADED PATTERN!

But in all seriousness, I hate trying to first, get the dang things all laid out and trying to figure out what you need and what you don't need, then proceeding to have to cut them all out, and then cut them all out again of the fabric! It just seems like there ought to be a better way!

Also, I'd like to one day find out what kind of high tech machinery they have that folds the damn things into the little perfect envelope. I can't ever for the life of me ever get them back in the way they're supposed to. I usually do okay with smaller pieces, and then the last piece, it's like 'HOW DID YOU EVER GET IN HERE?!'. Gah. Anyway, just needed to rant that tiny bit!

All right, well, wish me luck, and I hope you had as epic of a weekend as I did!

Excitement With the Lish

Well there's definitely only one way to find out! It's a pretty spiffy and exciting project that I promised y'all was in the works, but in order to get the real low down and details on how you might make your own as well, you'll have to go visit one of my ultra spiffy and spectacular sponsors!

Want to know which one?

It's Lish over at Imprintalish! She's featuring a post by little ol' me today, and I highly suggest you go give it a peek! And while you're there, spread some bloggy love for her as being a splendid swap sponsor and friendly host!

April Showers

♪April showers bring may flowers...♫

All I gotta say, is around here, we're gonna have a boatload of April flowers. -__-

But moving on to more pleasant subjects...

It's that time again ladies and gents!

I already have a new sponsor lined up for April, as well as a few repeat offenders. I'm already quite excited! But as I've said before, the more the merrier! I only accept ad swaps, since I believe in extending the community, rather than just paying for a nice pretty spiffy space. I also love to talk about guest posts and other fun things to do with one another, and if you get in touch with me, I'm sure we'll be able to help hash something out!

Also, EXCITING NEWS! I'm going to be hosting my very first giveaway in April! I've already got something lined up, which you'll have to keep an eye out to hear about, but I'm definitely looking for other blogs that may want to contribute! So come and get a piece of this phenomenal action, because I'm guaranteeing it's going to be great!

So please feel free to contact me and let's get to know one another!
1035kwhite{at}gmail{dot}com


P.S.
Don't you love my new little sig banner? I absolutely adore the little hippo patterned ribbon. Maybe one day I'll share the story of how that little emblem came to be ♥

Little Somethin

Hey all you Hunger Games fans out there. I know some of you have probably already seen the movie already, with the midnight premiers and all that. No fair for spoilers! And I'm also sure many of you are rip roaring for tomorrow to go and see it for yourselves. Myself, I am planning on going Tuesday when the crowds are (hopefully) lesser.

But with popular social media obsessed with the movie, and my own thoughts momentarily captured, I decided to throw up a little somethin somethin for those of you who have access to printers (lucky souls). Now, I warn you, I've not done these before, so I'm just playing with something that is graphically appealing to me. Maybe someone else will like it too, and hopefully it comes out all right on your printer :)



|Find here|


Quotes are not mine, but belong to the series written by Suzanne Collins

|Find here|

So, as I said, this is the first time I've given this a go. Hopefully they're nice for someone out there :) Feedback would be much appreciated, and I hope you enjoy your weekend! Looks like it might be a beautiful one here.

A Little Inspiration from Digger...

Hey everyone! It's that time again for another wonderful guest post! This one is from Digger over at Digging Deeper Design! I was so excited to have her posting up on my little ol blog, and I am definitely not disappointed! So here's your chance to learn some more about her, and if you dig it (hehe) go on over to her blog and pay patronage to her wonderfulness! Or you know, follow and keep watch. Either way. Either way.
-------------------------------------------------------------

"What is your main creative aesthetic and how did you find it/start?"

So I've been contemplating this question all. day. long. and it's hard! lol. 

Here's what I've come up with: 

my main creative aesthetic would be writing. 

I love to tell stories. 

I always have. 

It sort of runs in the family. I have very vivid memories of my grandparents and my mother sitting down and telling elaborate stories with gestures and props and character's voices. I loved it. I loved how I felt. I loved how it bonded us and gave me the most incredible memories! I loved learning the fables and finding the truths behind the words. 

Source: kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com via Anna on Pinterest

So that's what I do. I tell stories. 

For now, they're just stories about who I am and my journey into finding that, but eventually, maybe I'll share some of the crazy imaginative ones that my boys stay up late to hear. ;) 

So, *phew* Part 1 - check.

All that being said, I get a lot of my inspiration from my readers. I won't lie. When I log on and see 8 new comments waiting to be moderated, I get excited. And it's not because I want to be the "popular blog" girl, see my name in print, have a mass following, or win some crazy big giveaway. I have no desires to be anything bigger than what I am. I just want to know that somebody is listening. And I want to know that my views and messages are coming across clear.

It doesn't matter if we're carbon copies of each other or complete opposites, it doesn't take a lot to find inspiration. It's in the pieces we pick up; in the small corners and rural roads of life. It is next to impossible to find it on the freeway or when we're too busy trying to climb the ladder and our eyes are only focused on the next rung. 

I could list a thousand things that have moved me over my lifetime. But they're not the same things that have or would have moved you. I could bore you to tears with story after story of why this song means more than that song, why this scent ALWAYS makes me cry, and why I search so deeply into every ounce of my life for reason and meaning. Those questions I could answer; this one I cannot. 

My inspirations are just that, mine. I don't say that to come across rude or even cruel-hearted. It's just that my list won't have the same effect on you that it does on me. I can't tell you what inspires me, but don't misunderstand, I love to share what moves me, that's what my whole blog is for. That's why I write. And I hope that I can inspire you with my lists and my thoughts.

Time to Mingle!

Hey everyone! Guess what? I'm an official (ooooh ahhhh) guest host of the Let's Mingle Blog Hop that I find over at Happy-Go-Lucky!

I will also have a guest post coming up on Monday over dere. Isn't that exciting?! I know I'm tres excited over the whole thing, and my day was absolutely made to be chosen and included. Gratzi!

Okay, now that I'm done butchering the languages of several different countries, let the hoppage begin!

There are no rules to this blog hop. Just link up your blog's main page. Then have fun reading new blogs and making new blog friends. We would love for you to follow the hostesses in the first four spots and our guest host in the fifth spot.

Please leave a comment so we know to follow you back.

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others. There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week!

Dear Boys: A Trial Run

So lately I've been trailing along, checking out some new blogs, and came across elise at elise's pieces. Her blog is fun, cute, and spunky, and I enjoy it. I also enjoy the sweet humor of the dear boys posts she blogs about each week. I pondered entering my own to the mix, though I wasn't sure how well qualified I was since I was already married. I don't do a lot of boy oogling lately.

So I decided, after some more inspiration on reading them, that mostly mine will be a bit more on the 'what I wish to say' side, and a little less on the 'oh I'm crushing' side. Hopefully you won't be burned by my venom. Heh.

Here goes...


Dear TMI,

Just because I was nice, and smiled,
doesn't mean I wanted to hear about how your marriage has failed
at the same time you were hitting on me.
Thanks for that.

Ugh,
Just No


Dear GLASG,

Your giggles make me smile so much.
I miss them when you're not here.
I love you much.

Love,
Anamchara


Dear DB,

I thought our friendship was nice,
and then I learned I'm easily replaceable.
I appreciate the boost.

Wising you the worst,
I'm not your buddy, Pal


Dear Broham,

I love you more than I thought I would.
You're incredibly sweet.
I think you'll change the world some day.
Enjoy your lumberjack hat.

Love,
The (cute)thorn in your side


Well... that was refreshing, and oddly cathartic. I'm glad that I had the time to enjoy this, and even though I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it on a weekly basis, mostly because I'm not usually quite so scorned, (haha), maybe it'll be something I can have fun with from time to time. Again, thanks to elise for putting it together, and go check out her awesome!

Feeling like Dear Abby,

It's that time again! I got a wonderful little reminder from Lish to link up again this week, so I figured, why not. And again, why not, follow the trending of the Hunger Games?!

Now don't get me wrong. I love the novels as much as the next girl. Though I'm fairly afraid of a few things. One, the high crazy publicity. The last time this happened we got Twilight. Now, I will also go on record that I did enjoy those books, for what they were. But I also believe that too much was taken liberties with in the movie to service the fans. So. That's just my little piece, and I'm worried that the same thing will happen to the Hunger Games. Perhaps I'm just getting older. But that's not to say I don't have plans to go see it with my sister and my mom next Tuesday. I'll let you know what I thought of it, deal? Though I will say this, they've already earned major points with me for including Stanley Tucci on the cast. That man is my favorite actor. God love him.

So, (Yes I know I said a few concerns, but I can't remember them just at the moment), here's my list of a few Hunger Games inspired things that I found through Pinterest this week. P.S. I think Hunger Games themed weddings are a bit much. Maybe that's just me.


1. Hunger Games Style Earrings | 2. Hunger Games Stamp Bracelet | 3. Vinyl Decal - LOVE Mockingjay
| 4. Hunger Games Quote (just picture) | 5. Hunger Games Mockingjay scarf

If I had to pick a favorite... it'd probably be between the scarf or the bracelet. I love me some printables but I A) Don't have a printer and B) don't have too many frames. Regardless, most of these things seemed to be linked up with etsy shops, so go check it out! I highly encourage it. And again, thanks to Lish for hosting her How Pinteresting. I suggest going and checking that out TOO!

with love,

Through a few sources, I've been seeing great things through After Nine to Five's Blog Positivity Week. A chance for us bloggers to be reminded of the positive things about the community we thrive in when it's easier to focus on the negative. So I figured what a wonderful thing to participate in! So here goes.

TO MY SPONSORS...

Each and every one of you has truly made a difference in my blogging experience. I was incredibly intimidated to see what I might be able to do with this, and I couldn't help but think "Why on earth would anyone agree to be a sponsor to my blog? It'd be so one sided..." But to my surprise, it seems everyone I've asked has has a positive reaction to it! Color me curious. I'd like to give Mary Kate a specially warm thank you for being my very first, and for introducing me to the idea of ad swapping in the first place! By working through ad swap, it gives me an opportunity to interact further with the sponsors, as well as come up with creative 'payments' that further my friendships with them. Even when I feel like perhaps no one out there is gaining anything of 'nutritional value' from my dabbling, I know of at least four people who thought me worth it enough to agree to some free publicity swapping. So thank you.

TO THOSE WHO COMMENT...

Believe it or not, each and every comment I get is something very special to me. It brightens my day each time I get one, and I hold it dearly to my heart. I know I'm not the best at responding to comments, and with the lesser number that I get, I really should be, but I'm still trying to decide what the best way to do such is. So please be patient with me! But I wanted to say, right now, that I'm grateful for each one of you who does. It always is incredibly rewarding to know that someone took the time to spread a little love over here. And I check my e-mail always for more, throughout the day. It's like a little blossom that spurted up while you were away. But I do want you to know that each one is read and cherished, even if I haven't gotten to telling you so yet.

TO OTHER BLOGGERS I READ...

I want to thank you for sharing your stories. For having the confidence to put things out there that might not always be comfortable. Even if I don't comment, or don't do anything more than bring it up on my little screen, for those ten minutes I read, I feel connected to you, and it inspires me to do more with my own blog. Inspiration comes from everywhere, and I am incredibly grateful for that which you give to me!

TO THE HOSTS OF BLOG HOPS, LINK PARTIES, AND GIVEAWAYS...

Thank you thank you thank you! I am a self proclaimed prize-a-holic. I admit to it freely. If there is something to be won or given away that I don't have to pay for, and that can spur my confidence in the fact that I received it? I get a great high from that. True story. I love furthering my little bloggy feelers into learning and connecting with more people in the community. I love the fact that people are willing to do these things, put time and effort into having them, so that I can come by and spam them! Thank you so much for the efforts and energy, and believe me, I'll be on the lookout!

All right... I think that's it that I can think of just off the top of my head. I highly encourage you to go participate and read some of the entries this week. They truly are quite incredible, and I am happy to throw in my little smidgen of gratitude. A heartfelt thank you goes out to any and all I've come into contact with throughout my blogging experience, especially if I didn't catch you somewhere in the mix of those labels!

Wishing you the wonderful

To Being a bit Outrageous

Hello my little fellow blogonians out there! Today I've been having a pretty fun day just playing around. I wrote up a guest post that I'll be having featured on one of my sponsor's blogs coming up shortly. And truth be told, even if I don't get around to posting as often as perhaps I should, I love doing the posts themselves, or rather, creating the graphics for them. Can't help it, just a pleasing hobby of mine, graphic design.

So that put me in a pretty spiffy mood. And since I'm not going anywhere that I know of today, I decided to play with my makeup. I know, sounds almost backwards, huh? Well to me, I like having nice and classy makeup when I'm actually going to be present somewhere with you know, the general public. But since the only person I suspect seeing me today will be my husband, I decided to have fun. And that turned into leopard print.


View the tutorial here.

Now this is obviously not an everyday look, but for me, it was incredibly fun. I'll have to admit that. And surprisingly? It didn't really take any longer than any of my other more 'normal' routines. I thought the leopard print, yes I did that by hand with liner, would be really difficult. But it's just a bunch of little smudgy spots and 'c' shapes. It's actually kind of gratifying, as suddenly you do two, and it's like, wow, I'm a leopard! Hee hee.

Anyway, just figured I'd share, and pass on the good mood I was having, if nothing more. I hope y'all have a great day, and that your St. Patrick's day was pretty great. I know my husband and I went over to my mom's and had a 'good old irish meal' in celebration of our actual heritage. We had corned beef and cabbage, home made soda bread, and Guinness. What more could a lady really want? Okay, I will tell you, my husband and I are both kind of on the fence of the whole corned beef deal. It's a bit.. awkward in texture. But the soda bread was super simple and gorgeous, might I add. I'll post up a pic here soon, promise.

Have some fun today!

Another Blog Hop (This Sunday)

I just received quite a charming 'save the date' e-mail from the lovely Live Laugh Rowe. She helps host a wonderful grow your blog series that it turning into a monthly ritual. (P.S. this is where I found another one of my current sponsors, Lish! See? Never know what you might find with these opportunities)

Now we all love more results for less work, right? Well this is another one of those splendid opportunities. One link up provides you coverage on six different hosts! What a great bargain, right? Plus, last month anyway, they did a wonderful series leading up to it with all of the hosts making posts on tips, tricks, and experiences with growing your blog. I found some of them really enlightening. I think you might too!

So for all of you that didn't get in on it last month, Sunday starts the new series and you should really come and check it out!


The button leads you to a description and links to last month's.

Hope to see you there!

Needing A Jumpstart?

Most of my creative endeavors...well..okay..most to begin with..I'm getting better, really! But most of them stil come from the necessity to enter something. I love link parties, and places where you can enter ... not competitions persay. But you know, where you can get featured and feel all good about yourself and whatnot. Well, there's something coming up soon that is going to spring forth a 'spring project' from me. Just you watch.



Relax, it doesn'ts tart until April 2nd. We still have some time. But! I really love these, mainly because you know, you link up one place, you get viewed seven, and hey! Voila! It is also how I found one of my favorite blogs authored by one of my super sweet sponsors, Digger! Yes. Their valentine's day blog extravaganza business is just where I stumbled upon her, and I've been hooked ever since.

If you want to read more about it, go over and visit her! Tell her I said hi, and well, you'll learn soon enough just how super spiffy she is.

Now...to figure out just what I'll be putting up...

Frankly because I figured why not?

I pretty much adore blog hops, can't help it. I don't always have a fun new thing to throw up and lead to an 'inspiring' bit of information for someone else. My general mindset doesn't support that. I blog to have fun, and whilst I am always excited and overjoyed at more followers, I know that because I don't have the capability of pumping out gorgeous things all the time, or even inspiring thoughts and feelings, I won't be one of those 'high end blogs'.

At least...that's what I'm trying to learn.

But! I'm also learning to embrace the delight of 'why not?'. To do something just because I think it might be fun. Or I find it in some way inspiring my muse. I tend to 'borrow' things a lot from other blogs, such as 'make your own and follow along'. Those are my life saver when I am feeling particularly guilty for not posting up anything 'of my own'. So I'm further embracing it.

So I decided to share this blog hop here on my own spiffy little blog. For those of you who might not have stumbled upon it before. I found it through Happy Go Lucky, but I know a few blogs (first four on the list) host it regularly. So please, do go stop by and give em a shout, as well as maybe find a few new favorites!

So aren't I a lucky ducky? I found the perfect inspiration for actually following through on a post today! I'm so sorry my lackluster attitude towards my creative endeavors lately. Though I do have to say, exciting things are in the future, including a guest post and a very wonderful feature I will be having coming up! Keep an eye out!

Now, as you know, Imprintalish is one of my fabu sponsors for March! She is really quite something, and I'm quite glad to have met her through the blog hop she helped host at the end of February. I believe there's one coming up at the end of March as well, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, regardless, you should definitely go check her out because she always has something bright and fun to share!

Now, moving on to the actual 'content' of the post today. How pinteresting is basically a newly started link party Lish is hosting. Basically just find a group of things that are vaguely related on your pinterest, and blog about them! So, as I tend to always do when I'm not entirely sure what to be doing with myself, I reverted to make up. Started me a board about it finally, and got to pinning. Here are a handful of my favorites!


1. Brown with a twist | 2. Neutral Liner (Bad Pin, eek) | 3. Metallic Taupe with blue accent
| 4. Purples and Orange | 5. Oil Slick Inspired Eyes

Well I will say, after doing that link tracking list there, which I know at least one of them isn't precisely the post, but more where you can find it, but I can't understand the language. and another is wrong but similar, I will say, I wish people would pay attention to where they're linking to!! I can totally understand the need for 'original source', as more of a traffic and all that stuff. But also, I absolutely hate when the links move to a random search page or just the blog itself, and you can then never find from where the actual pin you're looking for is from. Okay. okay. sorry. Rant over.

Now. As for my make up choices. As you can tell, I'm a pretty big sucker for color. I love vibrant colors, but I like them on the tasteful side. I don't do bright neon to my eyebrows thank you very much. But I'm also a fan of taupes and browns. And one last thing, purple, I believe, never looks bad on anyone. Purple is like my all time favorite color choice for eyeshadow. So! That is my how pinteresting post for this week, and go check back on Lish to be inspired to link up your own! (Clicky the button down below).

To inspiration,

Lace Circle Skirt

So it's time for the big reveal! Out of those curtain valences, I made myself a beautiful little lace circle skirt, and I was so very excited by the way it turned out! Isn't it precious?



To give credit where credit is due, the inspiration I got to make this was from the wonderful and ever bountiful Pinterest! I saw this pin somewhere or other, and couldn't help but try it, since I am always excited over vintage styled clothing, that extra feminine touch, but yet I don't actually have any. I think it's mostly because my shape is kind of hard to fit, with being short and round, well, it's just easier to make things for myself if I want it to fit right, especially skirts, since anything that is meant to be short on someone with my typical waistline, is not built to be just as incredibly short as I am.

Anyway! Getting back to point! The original project came inspired by Abby over at Morning by Morning Productions. I instantly fell in love with it, mainly because it was so sweet and simple, and looked so classy and elegant! I made this entire project in an evening, not even my whole evening, and it turned out to be my new favorite thing to wear. Now, onto my own little way to make it, as Abby offered the inspiration, but not a specific tutorial. In her post, it mentions Dana over at Made, and that circle skirt tutorial really saved me here. It was the base of my skirt, since I honestly couldn't find a tablecloth in a thrift store, and just the shortened valences, I made the lace part an overskirt over a crepe circle skirt underneath. I really love how it turned out, and here's how I went about making it!

First of all, make your pattern for your underskirt. Dana takes you through a wonderful way to do this.



Basically, you're making a quarter of your skirt. The inner ring is made by measuring your waist, plus 2 inches for a bit of give with the elastic, and dividing it by 6.28. Then the outer part of the ring is the measurement of the length of your skirt. This forms a quarter of a 'donut' that will be your skirt base. This is just the bare bones of what it is, and Dana explains it much better, along with a cute little diagram, so I do encourage you to go look at that for the more technical elements.



Here's how it'll look held up to you. The waist will obviously be a bit big on ya with that extra bit of give for the elastic waistband. Then I used a bit of a zigzag to finish up the waist band. Especially since the crepe material seems to be a bit prone to fray.



All right. Next step is you want to position your lace over your skirt base. This is where you can take the time to get it basically situated in your head just what you want your final product to look like. I really enjoyed teh valences because they already had the decorative touches of the bit of ruffle as well as the loop where the curtain rod goes through that added a bit of an illusioned waistband. All in all, I was happy with the way it turned out. Now, in adding your elastic waistband, you actually sew it over the top of the waist of your skirt. so this particular joining doesn't have to be all that pretty. But, if you want it to be, the way I did it was pinning the right side of my lace to the wrong side of my skirt. That way, when you were finished, and turned everything right side out, the right side of your lace would be facing outwards, and laying over the top of the right side of your skirt. Make sense?



All right, if you're like me and you A) need more than one piece of your lace to go around you, and B) don't entirely know how or are too unconcerned/lazy to measure just how far you need it around your waist, you can do what I did. One piece of lace was already secured to my skirt, and I simply drew out the length of it and did a simple seam to the next piece before pinning and continuing to sew it along the waist. Fairly simple, didn't take too much creative maneuvering. I did run into the slight trouble that my back piece was a good three inches maybe longer than my front piece, which I found out after I'd already secured everything. Even though the bottom, the top, and the ruffle design were the same, for some reason the pieces were not the same length. So, I solved this by adding a number of small darts/ruffles between the lace ruffle and the top. It gathers a bit, but in the way I wear it, and really unless you look incessantly close, you can't really see it. Gotta love creative improvising!



As I noticed my seam was rolling a bunch on me, I did a bit of stay stitching on the waist next. Then I formed my elastic waistband, simply by sewing the piece together at the ends and laying out the seam and sewing the edges down so it laid better. Here is where I suggest you hold up you rskirt once more against yourself and figure out just where you want the front and back. I made a booboo in thinking what I wanted as the front was going to end up as the front. So technically, my waistband's back is in the front of my skirt when I wear it, but since you can't see it with a normal shirt, I'm not too concerned.

Also, I highly suggest following Dana's instructions on connecting this waistband. I didn't take many pictures because a) I was excited to finish my project, and B) I figured you'd have that to look onto. She does wonderfully explaining just how to do it, and someone like me who's never sewn on an elastic waistband, it made it super easy. I was entirely proud of myself truth be told.

After a small hem to your base circle skirt, which I used the zigzag stitch again because I like the look of it, you're finished! See? Wasn't that an easy super simple project? But I have already fallen in love with it. The skirt flows beautifully, and makes me twirl all the time. It just makes me feel feminine and pretty without being overt and obvious in it's appeal.

I hope you enjoy your project as much as I did mine, and feel free to drop any questions you might have to me!

P.S.
I'm planning on linking this up to a few different link parties, so go check out my page about em and see what other awesome crafts people have to offer!

Happy spring!

New Project Teaser

Soooooooo!

My mother, husband, and I went shopping today. Did some thrift store haunting. Now I have a very harsh love/hate relationship with these kinds of places. Especially this one. I have a bug in my bonnet that I will burn it down one day. If you ask me why? I honestly can't tell you, I don't know. I just have this intense burning urge to watch it spring into flame. Regardless!

I did find some of the things I needed. And for a relatively cheap price. I paid for some curtain valences, lace, about three bucks each I believe. The economy has even affected thrift stores, I'm telling you. But at least it was still mostly reasonable. Besides, where else should you splurge besides these places?

And! I ended up spending the evening making a brand new project with them! I'm not going to tell you just what yet, but here's a preview of what my starting project looks like, though the grain on my camera was too bad to get an adequate picture for a teaser shot.



So! You will be seeing the post for this soon. And you should be really excited. It turned out super neat. ^^

On the Upcoming Agenda:

•A pair of upcycle maternity pants for my sister who's starting to pop.
Picked up the materials I needed today at said thrift store, so I'll get to that pretty quick.

•My jumpsuit I bought a pattern for
This one I suspect might take a little longer. Being a new project and not upcycled. But I do have the material now, a really pretty bright blue for spring/summer. I did forget a zipper, but I am confident it will be done soon!

So thank you for everyone who reads and has been patient with me in my bit of lull of creativity. It will be replenished soon!

Spread some love,

Someone's Blog-day is here....

Kate over at From the Guest Room (my very first sponsor ever as of last month), is having her blogaversary as well as her birthday all in one weekend! Her one year blog anniversary is today, and her birthday is tomorrow, I believe.

She has been one of the most supportive people I've ever found through the blogging community. Most people are open and willing to do a ad-swap, but Mary Kate goes way beyond that. She's always excited to help, and offering things to do and ways to participate in a bunch of ways. Last month was a valentine's day story special, this month it's all about hospitality. And she offers out her sponsors to help celebrate. I think that's so awesome, and I feel truly touched to have gotten to know her in the way I have so far, though I know I have all that much more to explore!

So I'd highly encourage you to go check out her blog, say hi, wish her a happy b-day and birthday! And if you can't be convinced just through the desire to offer good wishes, she's also having a GIVEAWAY! Two winners will get party favors. Go check it out!

So from me to you, Kate...

Cheers!

Look What I Got!

*drumrolls*

I got my winnings from the giveaway I won over at Along for the Ride! It has been the first and only giveaway I've won since learning about the wonderful things. But I was so excited because her pieces are so beautifully simple and done well. I can't say I'm disappointed upon opening the beautiful little box. It had a little hand written thank you card and everything. I felt like I was some celebrity getting a swag bag! Never have I felt so enthused over such a little project.



I've gotta say, I'm definitely loving these little pieces. They're so feminine but with color as well, which I really enjoy. While I'm not totally for the whole 'color blocking' trend, I do enjoy me some nice bright accessories. Plus well, it was free and I was quite excited. Too bad my husband decided to leave it in the car all of yesterday and not even tell me!

Regardless, I have them now, and wanted to send a super special shout out to Laura from over at Along for the Ride for the great giveaway!

Cheers!

New Sponsors!

Lookie Here!!

Or rather...over at the sidebar over derr.

I have new sponsors! Look at that, I've increased my sponsors by 400% from last month! I'm pretty damn excited. I am working on furthering my networking, and hopefully if I can talk to some of them about it, you'll be having some brand new guest posts to look forwards to!

I follow each one of their blogs, either through some guest posts of other blogs, or through some of the blog hops I've participated in. Each one of them are inspiring in their own way, and I highly suggest you check them out. I'm also quite happy to be welcome Mary Kate back for another month of ad-swap sponsorship!

I've been in a bit of an on and off patch lately, especially when it comes to creative endeavors, and I'm sorry to say I haven't been updating as often. But I promise this month is coming up with some real humdingers! Until then, I highly suggest you go check out each one of them nifty sponsor blogs, because each one of them is sponsoring me, and well, share the love!

Also, I will be talking further of each one of them in further detail on another day someday soon, so yes, will talk a bit more about that as well.

Take care!