congrats to....

Sarah B. from Yes, Teacher Crafts!!

You are the winner of my latest giveaway!

(I'll be contacting you shortly)

Thanks to those who entered.

Thanks to those who read and followed.

I'll still be coming on every once in a while to comment on the lovely blogs that have inspired me.

Much love to you all!

♥

giveaway and a message

Hello friends!

I decided to go ahead and have my giveaway before I hit the hundred mark. This giveaway is for followers only (overseas followers too!). All you have to do is leave me a comment with a way to contact you and let me know that you follow. The giveaway will end on Saturday October 30th at midnight. I will randomly pick the winner and announce it on Sunday. The winner will receive a daily devotions book, cute novelty stickers, a travel notebook, box of blank note cards, and a lovely smelling soap bar. Thanks to all who enter!

I also have an announcement that I wanted to make. I will no longer be posting on my blog, other than the occasional post if I make new pouches for my shop. I decided that keeping up with posting is just too time consuming and taking my attention away from more fulfilling things, like serving others and spending time with God in prayer and reading the Bible. God deserves all the glory for any talent He's blessed me with or anything I've made.

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. Phillippians 3:7-9

altered skirt

Some clothes just can't help it...they're awkward, nerdy, and sometimes just too big.

This skirt was given to me by my sister and I originally intended on just using the fabric for pouches but since I'm desperate for some new skirts... I kept it and made it a whole lot better.

The skirt was actually extremely well made, I couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship before I took it apart.

But as you can see from the before pictures, this skirt wasn't going to be worn anywhere no matter how well it was made.

So I took apart the seams and cut off the excess fabric from the top.

Having a long zipper in the middle front of a skirt just doesn't look flattering on me. So I carefully removed the zipper and opened the seam in the middle back where I'd move it to.

pinned the zipper in place and the spot for two new darts

I also realized that having a seam go straight down the middle front would be kind of boring. So I decided to have the seam off a little more on one side and go down in a slight angle.

and like that the skirt was no longer just a pile of fabric!



So now I have one less skirt to buy!

one hundred

I'm eagerly waiting to hit 100 followers and then I'm going to have a really awesome giveaway...think Anthropologie items and a bunch of other really great goodies. You want that giveaway to come faster? Show me some love and tell your friends about my blog! Please and thank you.

♥

nothing to wear

I came to the very sad realization Sunday night that I really need to go shopping. When I went to my closet to find a nice skirt or dress to wear to church, there was not a single thing I was happy with. Most of my dressy clothes were passed down from my sisters or bought by me about 5 years ago. And unfortunately, my 17 year old clothes are not looking so cool on my 22 year old self. I usually run to a simple black skirt every time this happens and Sunday night was no different. I have a decent amount of new tops, it's just the skirt and dresses that are really needing the help. So I did some searching on a couple of my favorite sites and found some beautiful choices. I think I'll be dropping some serious money some time soon!

sequins of events asymmetrical dress from shopruche

lead me back to you floral skirt from shopruche



sound of music gray skirt from shopruche

layers of chocolate skirt from shopruche

tiers of the sunskirt from shopruche

forever intertwined heather gray skirt by Ark & Co. from shopruche

glowing leaf skirt from anthropologie

harbingers of fall dress from anthropologie

vapor rise dress from anthropologie

ascending aspirations skirt from modcloth

black by popular demand dress from modcloth

grecian gray dress from modcloth

rose menagerie dress from modcloth

the princess and the peach dress from modcloth

looking dovely dress from modcloth

neon forest dress from modcloth

mesh-aboom dress from modcloth

one and only dress from modcloth



I'm hoping not to have anymore frustrated with my wardrobe moments once I buy some new pieces. Hurray for pretty and stylish clothes! :)

[just wanted to reinforce that these photographs are from the corresponding websites]

illustrator

I have a bunch of Adobe programs that have been sitting very patiently for two years now on my laptop for me to mess around with. Well last night (because that seems to be when the most creativity comes out) I finally opened Illustrator just to see what it's all about. Made this little design, nothing great, but hopefully I'll get better with practice.

walnut, watercolor, and embroidery

I recently went to a craft store and immediately searched for my favorite aisle, the one stocked with clearance items. I found a bunch of great stuff: 4 trays for hot dogs (my guy has a thing for Vienna Beef and making the perfect hot dog), pack of 42 pretty scrapbooking sheets, 10 small watercolor paper cards, and a couple of other things. I love deals, and I spent just $11 on all of that. Stocking up on craft things makes me eager to actually put them to use. So last night I pulled out my watercolors and just played around for a little bit, making cute little paintings. I like how they turned out, and they're perfect for leaving small notes to my loves.

This walnut caught my eye while I was taking photographs. I truly never knew that a walnut has a heart inside. Love it!

This painting was practice from a watercolors technique book I have.

And lastly, the autumn embroidery I made for my room. I plan to have all four seasons finished soon, spring is already done.

I thank God that there are so many things we can make with our hands. The weather is gorgeous and life is good. I couldn't ask God for more.

dreamy

Took these on a recent trip to the Botanic Garden.

Makes me just want to lie down in a field

somewhere and float off to dreamland.