Weekly Challenge #1

It's time for the next challenge in my organizing. I attempted the 21 day cleaning challenge and was doing awesome but then we moved so everything at the moment has a home and is pretty organized so I'm moving on to the next challenge of organizing my life :) I'm super excited about these weekly challenges and hope I can keep up because I love being organized and used to be pretty good at it before I had two kids and a family to take care of! A mothers job it never done so here we go...... I hope you'll try too!

I do better with deadlines so these challenges really help motivate me! 

if you'd like to follow along, join in and link up her you go:

Weekly Challenge #1 is a Home Management Binder

I will get started on this soon and share later in the week :) The Bowl Full of Lemons blog has some great resources for printable (some free) so check it out even if you can't join in each week! 

WIP - Child's Flower Sweater

Work In Progress -(Finished - 01/29/11)

Red Heart.com has come up with some really great new patterns that I've been itching to try! The first one is the adorable Child's Flower Sweater. You can find the free pattern here. I just love bright colors so I'm trying to add my own flare to this darling sweater for my Calleigh.

I've usually only made items that are one piece so this is my first attempt at piecing together a garment.

This first picture is of the back which is all I have done right now. It'll lay a little better when it's put together.  I have 2 sleaves, the front pieces and a super cute collar to add to it. I thought it might be fun to follow the progress of this sweater. I'm using I Love this yarn acrylic but I think it would be a great summer sweater in cotton yarn in a solid color like white or cream.

1/29 - 12:31 pm - I just finished the 1st sleeve and then I realized I did double crochet and not triples on the sleeve. It makes a big difference in the length and the look of the sleeve. so starting back over on next step....LOL (hate I when I do that)

1/29/11 - it is finished

Front View

Back View

It's not perfect and there are a few mistakes but over all I like the way it turned out and it fits Calleigh great! I'll try to get a picture of her wearing it soon!  :) 

What do you think? 

I really think I want to make her an white or off white cotton on for the spring. 

I also found this sweater today : Child's Friendship knot sweater - the texture is great and I love the knot detail if I can do it. I bet you could even make it longer in length for a cute dress and even use cotton yarn with shorter sleaves for a lighter spring dress.

Meet our newest addition - Tank!

Many of you from facebook noticed I was looking into getting a puppy for my now 3 year old Ayden! We couldn't have one in the old house but we can in our new home so we began to look. We really like labradors and huskies so we looked on Craisglist and checked to local shelters to see what they had. I didn't really want a new puppy because I don't have the time to train him even though itty bitty puppies are ad-or-ab-le! My hubby found a really sweet puppy in the Moore, OK Shelter. We went to take a look at him and he was just perfect and I really liked that he was a year old and already trained very well. He'd only been there about a week was already neutered so he was only $5.00. Can't really beat that.

He took right to my husband and our family. He needs no training and is super great with kids.

His name is Tank and he is an American Staffordshire Terrier also known as an Amstaff.

I have to admit I've never heard of these and we did do alot of research on them before we bought him.

They are great family dogs and do really well with children and are very tolerant of there pestering. They love to be part of the family! They are very playful and need lots of exercise so good thing we have a nice size back yard he can play in. They are very protective but super friendly too, loyal, intelligent and strong. He is a medium sized dog and won't get any bigger than he already is.

The history of this breed is quite interesting. If you'd like to read more you can on this offical web site for Amstaffs.

We love our new puppy and he couldn't be a more perfect pet for our family!

Calleigh's Accident

What a crazy week! Started back to teaching Piano Lessons at the College Monday. I'm excited about each of my students this semester.  I also packed up my entire house and moved across town with help from family! We managed to do it in a day and I'm happy to say almost everything has been put away in the new house already. I love our new home and am so glad to be done moving!

On top of this crazy week on Thursday when we went to pick up the kiddos at Gee-Gee's (grandma), Ayden and Calleigh were playing around chasing each other as brothers and sister do and Ayden accidentally knocked Calliegh down on the tile floor in the kitchen a little to hard. I didn't even notice at first but she chipped both her front top teeth really good.



OUcH! They were chipped pretty high so we called a emergency line for the dentist and got her an appointment for the next day since it was late in the evening. I knew they were chipped more than half way up and there was nerve damage so something would have to be done. We had a few options but we decided that best would just to remove the teeth completely. We could have put on the silver caps but there was high possibility of infection and that her teeth would discolor and more work would have to be donet. I didn't want the metal in her mouth anyway and it was like $350 a tooth for the white. So after discussing it we did just have her teeth removed. I was really sad at first but I know that she'll get her big girl teeth in about 6 years....:( 

Poor thing after her surgery. She was pretty comical waking up from sedation. 

She took a really good nap with momma when she got home!

this is Calleigh a few days after. She's is great spirits and doing really well . We just think she's as adorable as before. She reminds me of Goofy and it fits her personality! 

Plus She really loves to eat pudding :)

Moving along...

Things have been quiet here on the blog this week. I was so excited about all the organizing I got done but had to stop because of our quick decision to move to a new home! It's all working out so great and even though I hate moving I know this is a great change for our family. We've been having lots of family time packing, cleaning and going through old things. We've gotten rid of so much stuff and I'm very determined to be super organized in our new bigger house. I was going to save a lot and have a garage sale but that won't happen for months so we've really just trashed a lot of items we don't need or having used in the past year.

The plan is to be complete moved across town by Thursday night. We took our first load down yesterday and help our friend who owns it move out the rest of her big items. We'll take all the little stuff down a day at a time and all the big stuff in the truck Thursday. So things we'll still be pretty quiet online for me the next week and I'll probably be without internet a couple of days. Plus I start teaching piano next week too so it's going to be a crazy week!

I've got so many ideas, new patterns to come and fun surprises that I can't wait to share. This year is already off to a great start and I've met so many sweet people and excited for all the changes and new things to come this year. So thanks for being a follower, and fan! You surely make me smile and enjoy what I do!

Have a great weekend!

Elisabeth

21 days of getting organized- day 8

Day - 8 the coat closest

Well I have a little issue now! I found out this weekend we'll be moving to a bigger place so I thought I'd still try to follow along as I clean things out and show you what thing were like before and show you what I did with it all after at our new house. 

On the good side the day I skipped our dresser I actually went back and did this weekend with the hubs. We went through all our clothes and shoes and threw out to large trash bags full. If I didn't were it in the past year or so I pretty much got rid of it! 

I've been tackling the rooms to get rid of so much and it feels great! I'm so excited to move into a bigger place. We're still renting and only moving across town but we'll have a 3 bedrooms in stead of two so the kiddos can have there own space. I must say that now my house is a mess of boxes but it'll be really clean when were done! 

Here are some before pics of my neglected closest Full of coats, suitcases, and other odds and ends that wouldn't fit any where else. It's pretty bad. I couldn't fit it all in a pic because it's a small hallway. 

See how I have stuff crammed in the bottom! I took it all out and got rid of a bunch of  misc. items. The sad part is there is a small shelf in there off to the side that I could have used but it's in a really hard to get to space when there is stuff in front of it. That area in the bottom is empty now but not because it's organized but because it got moved to another room to get packed up for the move. ;)

The top actually isn't bad, I store gift bags, paper and bows in the big gift bag and then there a few boxes of random things from my childhood that I need to go through but don't want to get rid of just yet. I'm sure they'll just stay in the boxes and get move into another closet.

New new house doesn't have a hall coat closet because when they remodeled the house they knocked it out the make the bathroom bigger and I think it was a wise decision after seen how small it was before. With the extra room we'll just put some in one of the rooms I'm sure and donate some of these coats to make some space. 

This should be a whir wind of two week while we move so I don't know if I'll keep up since I might lose internet access for a few days but I'll do what I can because I've enjoyed it so far! 

Keep up the good work everyone! 

21 days of getting organized- day 7

Day 7 - The Pantry

I don't have an actual pantry but when we had organize a cabinet in the kitchen last week I'd already organized it these two cabinets as well. I still want to get some containers to store my baking supplies. 

I don't have before pics because I did this on a whim so here is what it looks like now!

Since this is done I think I might make an attempt to put away the Christmas decor today! 

Happy 3rd B-day Ayden

Today is my Adyen's 3rd birthday! It's hard to believe it's already been that long. He was such a little baby weighing in at 6 pounds when he was born. I loved that I seem to have tiny babies.

Here is one of his first pictures from the hospital. My hubby and I had some fun with photoshop. I just Love this photo. 

This is another favorite of mine. Daddy put ayden in the tiny side pocket of his motorcycle. (no they didn't go for a ride. Just used as a prop) He thought he was a cool kid! He was about 6-9 mo here.

Ayden's 1st birthday!

Ayden's 2nd birthday!  Only good photo I had from the day :)

And today! Ayden's 3rd b-day! 

So Happy Birthday Little man! We sure love you! 

21 days of getting organized- day 6

Day 6 - dresser drawers

Today I'm cheating a little! Earlier in the week I cleaned out the kids closet and dresser. So I'm going to count that. It's my son's third b-day and I won't have time to tackle my dressers today!

 My Hubby and I's room is the most neglected in the house. I'll be the first to admit we have way more clothes and shoes than needed and a tiny house with little storage space. I've never been a skinny girl but a healthy girl. After college I did Weight Watchers with my mom and got really skinny. I was a size 4-6 when we got married and after having two kids back to back, I gained all my weight back and then some,  growing through maternity clothes and not losing baby weight. I'm having a hard time parting with clothes that I should have been able to get back into. I got rid of a lot of skinny clothes this summer in a garage sale because I know I won't be getting into them anytime soon. I want to lose weight but I know I can't do it alone. All that to say I'm not ready to tackle getting rid of clothes that don't fit because honestly I don't fit into much I own and I refuse to buy new clothes because I should lose weight to fit into the clothes I have. I did buy some large storage tubs so I plan on packing up some clothes to put away for now and that might help. We'll come back to this! - Honestly I'm embarrassed to even share a photo. If anyone has advice or encouragement! This would be the project I need help with since it's more of an emotional one than just an organizational one.

My room and things in it will have to wait for another day that I can tackle it with my hubby.

21 days of getting organized- day 5

Day 5 - Under the kitchen sink

This wasn't to bad today :)

BEFORE: 

I took everything out and cleaned out all the dust, grim and yuck out!

I threw out some old towels and organized  it all up! 

YEAH! Easy peasy! ---now to get to those pesky dishes in the sink! 

On a whim.....

On a whim we had some family photo's taken. Jerry Palmer a good photographer friend of ours was in OKC for a wedding a few weeks ago so we planned a little photo session.  He also did our engagement and wedding photos. 

We on a quick 5 minute photo shoot took a few family pics at Lake Hefner by the lighthouse. It was supposed to be a warmer than usual and a  sunny day but if you know the weather in Oklahoma it changes all to quick. It ended up being very cold and windy. So he took a lot of quick shots with his fabulous camera and here is a few of what we got! I have to say I love how they turned out in this short moment! 

My darling guys! 

Me and Calliegh (sporting Calleigh's Clips Items of course) 

Spivey Family Jan 2011


*Images are copyrighted - used by permission of Jerry Palmer Images

On a side note check out almost all of the owl hats and a hammock I've had to make for orders this week! I thought things would slow down in January and I'm glad they didn't! 

Owls in the nest!

21 Days of getting organized- day 4

Day 4- Linen Closet

Todays challenge wasn't too bad. 

Here is what I started with. I really high cabinet and 4 drawers. (we'll save the drawers for another day)

Here is a closer look of the mess! Let just say I have no organization going on in there....LOL! 

It's a place for linens, games and puzzles. When my hubby and I first got married we loved doing puzzles together but with little fingers around they don't get done! I'm sure it'll be fun when they get older. :)

I took everything and I mean everything! I cleaned and dusted out the closet which needed to be done! (Ah- ah-choo-- I'm still sneezing) 

I moved the kiddos linens into their closet (which I cleaned the other day anyway) ! Got rid of some older items. I have several special crochet items in here! 3 crochet Blankets from my grandmother who passed away a few years ago. a couple of Crochet Blankets from my mother and some I did myself! 

The games and puzzle are all now on one shelf and look - look there is room for more in there! 

This project didn't take long! Maybe 20-30 minutes! - aside from trying to get the kiddos out of the way. They thought it was a game when I was throwing all the blankets on the floor. Hope I'm inspiring you to clean up and organize too! 

Photographers Policies

I've gotten many emails, convo's and contacts from Photographers about trading crochet props for high resolution photos. 
I would love to trade with you but I do have guidelines and I don't giveaway my products for free. 


With all the orders I have and and the time is takes me to make them I just can't giveaway my products. I know it takes time to get photo shoots together from getting clients, to setting up sessions and editing photos but in the end you'll still get paid for your photo shoot. It takes me a couple hrs to make each item plus or minus depending on the item on top of materials and shipping costs. 


The other issue I have is people saying they're photographers and clearly are not or Photographers getting free hats and me ending up with no photos! It's happened and I was very disappointed. 


So I'd like to know more about you and you business before I send out free items! 


I've not had a policy set in stone but I've been researching and think I've got a great solution that will also create great business relationships that will in turn give you some extra support. All Photographers that are used will get shout outs, reviews and credits  on my blog, credit on all postings that I use your photos and mentions in my social networks. 


Here is a policy I think I would love to implement! I really think this will help us both!  








Photographers - Please read the details below to see how to earn free hats and discounts.
Purchase a hat (or headband) and send me 4-5 photos that I can use in my shop*. Then choose one of the following options:
•A free custom newborn sized hat (or headband) OR
*25% off Photography Props -cacoons, nesting bowls, hammock, kangaroo pouches OR
•50% off any size custom hat
Then send me photos of THAT hat and choose again! Be sure to let me know your website so I can credit you in that listing.
*Colors in the photos should represent the colors in the hat as much as possible. Please choose hat colors that do not already have professional photos in my shop.
*If you purchase a headband you will receive a free headband, not a free hat.


*Ultimately you'll be getting your money back in product ;) Plus it will guarantee I have photos :) and encourages you to continue ! 


-updated -Jan 4, 2011




I've got some great photographers that I will continue to use but please make note of this new policy change.  I would love to get some more photographers. If you are Local to OKC and we can work together I would love it! 


Let me know what you think! 






*Photography by Rebecca M. of  rmphotographyonline.com/

21- Days of Getting Organized - Day 3

Day 3 - Tupperware Cabinets

I actually don't have that many Tupperware containers and several of the ones I have were being use so I didn't have that to organize. I usually stack the small set I have together in one of the cabinets and have a drawer designated to lids.

 I decided to tackle another cabinet area in the kitchen but instead of one I worked on 3. :) If I had more time today I probably would have done the whole kitchen but I have three crochet orders that came in over the past few days that I need to tend too! Which I'm excited to work on as I usually am!

Here is the before picture:

This particular cabinet is my catch all for my baking and cooking items. It's been pretty neglected and I'm been pretty lazy about how I even stack things.

Here is the after picture! 

I took everything out, cleaned and scrubbed the cabinet out!

Then I organized everything! I have a few more pots to put in but I have to do the dishes ...LOL!  

I kept on going through the next cabinet because there inner connected in the corner. 

I keep the meds up high out of the reach of the kiddos. I can't even reach them with out a step stool. 

This is where I also keep my baking and cooking supplies I should really get some containers for the flour, sugar and such. 

Then I went on to cabinet #3 

I keep my baking pans and sheets in here along with boxed foods and cans. 

So far so good . OH and I almost forgot I did get to a pesky junk drawer too !!! I didn't get all the before picks because I'd only planned on doing one thing but I just kept going. So I hope you work the same way. I think when it comes to starting anything the hard part is just getting the motivation to get started! Now if I could just get vamped up to exercise and lose weight too! Keep up the good work everyone! 

21 Days of Getting Organized

I've seen several "bloggers" hopping on this challenge and well it motivated me to get things organized too. I am a clutter queen. I like to say I have organized messes...LOL! I'm naturally an organized person and a planner, but after having a couple of kids and living in a small house with little storage space the past three years that went down the drain. I know we just have to much stuff. I tend to be a packrat and have a hard time getting rid of sentimental stuff. I keep cards and notes. Now don't get me wrong. My house is clean and I'm not a hoarder type person. That show just makes me sad and every time I see it I feel the need to clean something right away! 

Day 1 - was the junk drawer and I really don't have "one" I have several.....

I have this large built in desk area and well I don't think any of the 7 drawers have unique storage area designated. I missed this day so I'll have to catch up which I did slightly today because....

Day 2 - Computer Desk - 

My Computer is a laptop so generally I'm sitting in my big chair when I'm on it. It's usually close on our big ottoman when I'm working on crochet patterns. I suppose I could print patterns out but I don't like to waste the paper. 

My desk however is a crazy crafty mess. In our rent house we have this corner desk area thats like an entire office space and catch all! Since I was already in process of cleaning it off I don't have a before picture. It was pretty bad! So yes this is the after pic. I think it still needs more love but mostly inside those drawers and the bookshelves above is for another day! 

This first picture is my desk/craft area. I have lots of ribbon, clips and supplies for making bows in all those storage containers. You can also see I have a sewing machine, printer and our doll model Paisley. I actually don't usually make bows here...LOL! I tend to bring the Items I need to the living room and work in front of the TV. (please ignore what you see under the desk- that will be organized another day) 

View two  - is the left side of the desk storage area - This is my hubby's area and it's usually his catch all. I did organize it today and threw lots away....hopefully nothing important. 

View 3 is the right side (there are those pesky junk drawers. I won't lie one drawer is organized with fabric and headbands, one has computer cds, two have office supplies, one is really a junk drawer, two are paperwork, cards and random electrical cords and one is full of writing utensils- wether it be pens, pencils, markers or hi-lighters. ) I sort of organized them today and threw away lots of things but if you notice on top of my large two drawer organizer I have bills/paperwork that need to be filled and a large bag full of ribbon my mom gave me !  ---and yes those are stocking still hanging on the bookshelves with care... I hope taking down christmas decorations is part of the organizing or it might get ignored.

I got a good portion organized but this is a bigger task to me than some. 

Well here was a peek in half my work space- the crochet side is well another story for another day I'm sure! 

I hope you'll join in the challenge or at least be inspired to clean up an area that needs a little love! 

I think the first week or two we'll be easy but when I get back to teaching piano in a few weeks the end part might get neglected but I'm going to try really hard! Good Luck! 

Holly Craft Originals

I'd like to introduce you all to Holly of Holly Craft Originals! She makes the cutest fabric appliques! I've admired her work for a while but hadn't had a chance to purchase any of her items. Back in Nov I excitedly won a giveaway for 1 applique! I received the cutest brown and pink Owl. I should have taken pictures of it because I've sadly lost it in the midst of all my ribbon and the rush of the Holiday season. I know it's buried in the storage box somewhere. So in the mean time I'll share some of her other darling works!

She got a little something for boys and girls in her shop too. She has pillowcase dresses, onesizes, hats, headbands and cards in her shop. 

Her appliques can be used in a number of ways. I use them on my crochet creations, but you can use them in cards, scrap booking, as embellishments on clothing and accessories.

Here are some words about Holly from Holly! :)

I am from West MI...been here my whole life. I love living close to Lake MI...especially during the summer! Not so much in winter...:(

I am a stay at home mom of 2 kids who loves to do crafts! I have been crafting since I was a tween! My Mom always sewed and did other crafts too. So as kids we always saw her doing crafty things, and I became interested in it. I think that is what got me into it...:) 

I started up on Etsy in 2007 selling cards and then went to hats made from a knifty knitter loom...and that just didn't really get much interest, so I just kept trying new things...bibs, more hats, etc. 
I really started doing the appliques because I had been scrapbooking and wanted some flowers to use on my pages...I looked around and found some on a scrapbooking website...but they seemed pricey and they looked like something that I could do! So I tried! Here I am now doing many different designs, mostly because of the customers and fans asking me if I could do something...from airplanes , tractors, bears, frogs...anything they think of I try! And if what I draw up meets my idea of cute :) then I put it into fabric!

My business name is HollyCraft Originals. I go by HollyCraft on Facebook...My husband helped me come up with the originals...because everything is handmade and original...by me.

I have a small room on our porch (built on) that I use now to craft. It isn't much, but it is better than where I was working...My kitchen table! LOL...I still end up there alot, but at least the dining room isn't covered with all my fabrics, and other craft supplies!!

you can find me on Etsy and Facebook 


Please check out Holly Craft originals! I know you'll just love her work. If you ever want me to add some of her darling appliques to my hats or headbands I would love to just ask and we'll work out the details!