Its been awahile peeps..

Its been a while.
I got a lot of blog hits after posting a tut on a foot soak..that is exciting for me :)

So..I wanted to share a little tid bit as to what i've been up to and what nots..

Sewers out there: Have you heard to the sew along (SAL) going on was at LR Stitched with Lindsey now its over at A Quilters Table  with Debbie for the remainder of the SAL .

I have successfully completed all of the up to date projects..including a quilt! only my second one.. and my second time paper piecing which, its not as hard as I though. I am learning how to make sure my points are on and correct. I was so relived to have finished this quilt and overjoyed with my results.

I have a sweet affection for grey. Grey is the color of the clouds here in Oregon in the Fall. Fall is my favorite season and I am so blessed to live in a state that has all the seasons and so dramatically different.

I have had some cooking adventures in the past few weeks.

From scratch enchiladas ... to die for. I cook using a lot of recipes from The Pioneer Woman  who also is a Food Network host of her own show. I just adore her. Her recipes and delish and many of which you already have the ingredients in your cupboard if you are a usual cook like myself. Even though my husband and I do not have children I cook for the two of us and I dont know how to only cook for the two of us.... so really, we end up with left overs for days which,is a money saver and time saver for both of us as we both work full time. (Thank the Lord in this recession!).

Tonight I made a cake from a tutorial I found while cruising Pinterest.

 
You can find her recipe here Live Craft Eat Blog shes got some great tips and nummy looking recipes.
The cake above is my results. Not to swell in appearance as I didn't grease my bunt well enough but.... its her recipe and totally DELISH! I made it particularly for my hubby. He loves his chocolate!

I spent a lot of the day sewing and picking up the house...and watching my house bunn...

This weeks Patchwork Please project is a Mail pocket holder (not the name of the pattern .. )
here is what I have so far... 

I am going to go with a white background to sew the pockets to rather than the yellow... just washes the colors out too much..
I will post a finished product when im done :) Hopefully tomorrow!

Working and sewing, cooking, working and sewing..that's what i've been up to...
Take care!

Sunshine Nellie on Etsy Lots of new goodness!

Yep!
Thats right folks in denile!!!
A lot of things have happned over the past week and i'd like to just rush this along and reboot on a different kind of path. Wish we could do that, life would be so much easier! Seriously.....
So, I have been busy working (pssh part time) and creating new items for the Etsy Shop! Find me here Sunshine Nellie on Etsy!  I have been trying really hard to get some things made.

I am relying on my Etsy again. Unfortunately some rocks have hit the perpetual blender and its time to try to make this into a smoothie!

Check my shop out if you haven't. I take a lot of pride in what I create and I really enjoy selling something that was made from my own two hands to someone that enjoys the feature and look of it as much as I did. There is so little made in the US of A it seems anymore that we are consumers of other parts of the world when we are hurting so bad here.

Imagine a world where people buy handmade and homegrown ONLY.. yes,the cost may be a little more but,what if these things were made from home grown fabric fibers and a small band of people created those wickedly adorable jeans your wearing? I would pay extra for a pair of jeans that helps our economy. I know of people that ONLY buy American made items..NO JOKE really..there are FEW and far in between of those folks in America  because, its hard to find stuff made here..

SO, Visist my shop you won't be let down

Coming to an end of the month...

...and i've been very busy!
Life is great and I've tried to so very hard to live each day better than the last.
This months highlights:

50's Day at work was one of my favorites for the week of "Spirit" and I broke out of my shell a little by wearing some leggings- i've never been able to show myself in public with those things. Don't get me wrong I LOVE my legs they are very muscular but, the thought of having a perma weggie all day was not my cup of tea, unfortunately for this day..I had nothing to wear for britches and surely..I wasn't going to go work with no pants on ;-) Worked out in the end.

I began to make new things for my shop and made a stack of these ^^ for a rummage sale in which, I came home with only 2 left.

Early mornings with my wascally house rabbit Gypsee...Always a good start to my morning. Until I have to chase her around the house to get her to go to "Bed" in her kennel. (I don't call it a cage) it fits a med. dog. I'd rather have her out 24-7 but it doesn't work like that.

I accidentally made this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I thought it was wicked adorable. Haven't yet making any other Monster Sniffle Pouches.... YET..

I finished a project that I really wasn't going to make because I didn't feel a use for it. I can't stand making things I don't have a use for. . . I did it anyways because I don't want to be a soar winy baby during the Zakka Sew Along... week..can't remember ;-) I think Month 4? Turned out cute. I'm going to use it to mark my sewing books.

Began avidly looking for this Vintage Pyrex Print- Spring Blossom- I scored these 3 bowls for $20 on Ebay... nicest person i've ever bought from on Ebay too might  I add... it was a "or best offer" deal... very sweet guy. I've used them quit a bit... shockingly...
I've began baking and cooking more than I use to. I find myself swamped in things i want to do but leaving the "need to do!" things.... well.... in the dark and waiting to still be taken care of ...

I made my first Strawberry Rhubarb Pie... and it was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!! My brother Dustin and I use to eat wild Rhubarb behind a garage when we lived in a farm house in Amboy,Washington. I will never forget the tart and bitter taste but..we ate it anyways because it was good..then paid for it later while sick to our tummies..we were 5 and 6 (?) maybe 4 and 5.

Tried Moonshine for the first time... let me tell ya.... OMG..if you want to drink rubbing alcohol then just go by a bottle for 99 cents instead of getting this stuff!..my husband loves it though... (gag!) (My tattoo says "Love" in an abstract way- my own drawing and creation-Copyrighted.

 I saw this (im SURE vintage) miniature rocking chair- its cream colored. For my Christmas Cactus. .. because I couldn't find a gnome I liked ..YET

 I painted my toes a dark turquoise because I saw a girls toes in Tiffany Blue and just HAD TO paint mine too! Color inspiration=Epically awesomeness!

 My bestie and I went to the grocery store- I wanted to make her a cake for her 31st Birthday (I LOVE YOU BESTIE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DARLING!) but knew she liked pie much better... This was my 2nd!!! time i've EVER made a pie FROM SCRATCH (okay so the dough was store bought so what?!) She choose Cherry... Boiling the cherries and making them syrupy was a little finicky but..the pie was PERFECT. Served warm with Tilamook Vanilla Bean Ice Cream ..YUMM!

 The makings of my besties Birthday Pie. Pitting and slicing those cherries was a LABOR OF LOVE ;-)

The middle of the month my mother in law had gotten a booth a few months ago (reserved) at the Clark County Fair Grounds. She sold her "rummage" and I sold my handmade goodies-and attempted to get rid of a few things of clutter-which later on I donated to the Arc. I sold about 60% of what was on that 6 foot table..I was over joyed! I received a LOVELY email from a buyer and had a lot of inspiration and "you are so talented" comments...which has done a lot of good for me since I have been feeling discouraged lately. Again, my Etsy Shop is for my hobby- it supports the cost of buying more fabric and things to make- It keeps me busy. So when someone buys from my shop it supports my arts and I get the warm tingley feeling that someone loved something that much to buy it. :)  75% (if not more) of my shop is Eco Friendly- Upcycled items and repourposed things. I use scraps as much as possible. I am also a part of Team Eco Etsy which-has been SO inspirational! I was raised in the era of RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE .... thus.. i'm 25 and still live by that! I have two bins-one of garbage that I can not recycle and one for only recycling- which gets filled quickly unfortunately. I have used ONLY reusable bags since 2010 and recycle plastic bags when I forget to bring reusable with me. I repurpose wrapping papers from folks I buy from on Etsy and reuse boxes and things as much as possible. - its a responsibility of all people in the world- OKAY i'm off my soapbox now!

I made one last bag for purse Palooza 2012 .. a bag in Flea Market Fancy for my bestest ... Turned out WONDERFULLY!
.......................................So any hoot..thats only maybe... a quarter of what i've been up to this month... its been CRAZY! I hope everyone has been in good health and have had a fantastic month!

This weekends schinanigan

A garage sale........ but not "junk" ...I will have a table of nearly everything in my Etsy shop PLUS some things that I do not have listed.
I have high hopes to come home with very little things to relist on Etsy after closing for the weekend.
Visit Here, shop closes Friday Night I have made up a bunch of reusable zip up snack bags. I plan to make a bunch of sandwich bags also! These are fun to make, I org. made them for myself for my lunches because i'm trying to be as Eco-friendly as possible and I really do dislike plastic bags! They are machine washable and reusable, and most of all..HANDMADE! WAHOO!
I made a bunch of new tissue cozys,recipe boxes,photo boxes,kindle cases,handbags, and I am bringing some up cycled goods.. so..we shall see.

I think I have high hopes for my sales. I'd like to be able to at least get my shops name out there a little bit more! it is always lovely to sell an item. I love the shipping process except, going to the post office :)
so...thats that....

Part 1 Starts soon.... The story of 3 contests/sew alongs!

The idea of what i'm going to do. I don't want to "leak" what im going to be creating with this wicked adorable fabrics but it has to do with coffee...

I was going to use ONLY text fabrics in my block but it will be extremely hard to sway away from the beans fabric for my blocks design. Haven't you heard??? Amy over at During Quiet Time  is having a contest and it will be FANTASTIC to see other ladies/gents 12 inch blocks. Swing over to find out more information and how you can partake in this fun!!
I have sewing projects galore lately, hardley enough time to start on one and finish another in a day..so i'm leaving that up for this weekend. My fav. girlfriend wants me to make her a bag from my design...... similar in style to this....

I don't have a name for my pattern,  I think I really need to think about that ... ;-) Head over to Sew Sweetness for Purse Palooza which ends the 11th of July! I have made 4 bags so far. Want to see the purses some very talanted gals have created??? Click here to visit the Flicker Groups Photos WHEW!

and the last sewing shindig i've been involved with for I think 14 weeks now? ive lost track is the Zakka Sew Along over at  LR Stitched  If you want to jump in you will need the Zakka Style Book Found here  Lots of great prizes at all of these places. I also highly recommend following there bloggies even if you do not sew..maybe it will inspire you to do something new and fun!

Have a great and safe weekend ya'll! 

Find yourself board? ...

..Sometimes. I get board. and when I get board. I eat,drink or lay around being lazy.
I have a backyard...that just so happens to be a huge park! I found myself taking a little walk yesterday and taking photos of  ducks swimming around in a flooded part of our park. The simple things that are around us make all the difference to some. I am pretty simple. Happiness to me is the simple things. A cup of coffee while listening to music on Pandora Radio. Or folding fabric..........
In which im turning to do right after I put this laptop down..
Folding fabric is soothing for me. Relaxing, so relaxing at times I fall asleep while folding it.
I found the cutest fabric today! and I am so excited to make it into a bag. Either a weekender bag like that from Amy Butler- Check out the pattern review at Sew Sweetness' bloggie It is adorable and I fairly certain i'm IN LOVE! during these times of economic issues for many, many folks going out of town for a night or two is a BIG deal! especially for my husband and I. My husband is a full time, unemployed student finishing up his Bachelors Degree. My family lives over a hundred miles away in Eastern Washington in a ruaral small farming community and his family is spread out all over the United States. His mother is getting ready to make a huge move to the East coast-Boston area and then it will feel a lot more empty.
My family is also spread out all over the place. I have family in Washington,Iowa,California, Idaho, Arkansas,Nebraska and Florida. Needless to say to go see my family it will take a couple hours. So, in this world its going to be a bit harder until my husband finishes up college and our finances will not be so hard as it has been for the past year.
My husband is leaving tomorrow morning to go on a very long road trip to 3 different states with his mother and youngest brother. So, my bed will be very empty for a week and I will be sewing a lot..so I hope I get more visits from new folks and you enjoy my up and coming posts!

This...WILL  be a bag!

My finished Zakka Project..hand warmers! :)

...................... :)