Oh, BOY!

You'll forgive me if I have a reeeeeeeallly good reason for being away from my little blog for a bit, right?

How about a new BABY? Okay, he's not here yet...but baby BOY #3 is due in early August. So, where've you been, Ariel? I'm one of those lucky folks who experienced hyperemesis gravidarum with all three of my pregnancies. With my first two, I was in and out of the E.R. with severe vomiting and dehydration. Blech. I got lucky this time and some wonderful friends took turns caring for my boys while I rested, and I was able to avoid the ER altogether. Good news is that I've been feeling better since February, and can hopefully start making some goodies for our new little man.

Cloth Diapers...WHAT?

Okay...I NEVER thought I'd do it. You know...use CLOTH DIAPERS. Read all about my 'jump' in my guest post on The Cloth Diaper Whisperer blog. And enter today's Fluffy Friday giveaway while you're there.

what did I choose?

Peace To All Religious Christmas Card

Create Christmas cards for the 2011 holiday season.

View the entire collection of cards.

Thanks, Shutterfly, for making my Christmas card crazies disappear this year :) Here's the design we went with this year. Have a great Thanksgiving next week, and enjoy the Season! xo

Sew To Swap, Blog Tour

It's my pleasure to announce that Sew To Swap: Quilting Projects to Exchange Online and by Mail, by Chrissie Grace, hit bookshelves last week.

What a joy it was to illustrate this project. It's my first published illustrative work, and it's exciting to see it available at Amazon and Walmart.com. The book highlights, step-by-step, how to create a quilted piece and participate in a swap as part of the newest, modern quilting community. You're maybe familiar with Flickr, home of many fabulous quilting and misc. stitched swaps. You'll be tickled to see MANY familiar quilting bloggers featured in the book, such as Allison from Cluck Cluck Sew, Kerri from Lovely Little Handmades, and John from Quilt Dad. Published by F+W Media, you can find it for a great price here. Use code SEW2SWAP for $10 off the retail price until Nov. 30th.

Here is a bitty peek at some of the images in Sew To Swap...(photo courtesy of F+W Media)

(photo courtesy of F+W Media)

Here is a list of bloggers contributing to the book, along with their blog hop dates...

November 7 Lovely Little Handmades
November 8 Stitches & Scissors
November 9 Cluck Cluck Sew
November 10 My Three Sons
November 11 Twin Fibers
November 12 Stitchy Quilt Stuff
November 13 The Creative Juices of Ariel
November 14 Texas Freckles
November 15 Quilt Dad
November 16 Artsy-Craftsy Babe
November 17 Little Miss Shabby
November 18 A Cuppa and a Catch Up
November 19 A Quilt is Nice
November 20 A Little Sweetness
November 21 House of A La Mode
November 22 I’m Just a Guy Who Quilts
November 23 Little Bit Funky
November 27 In His Grace

Robot Craft Time

In my former life as an Art Teacher, I was so good about lesson planning...making sure I had all the supplies needed for a much-scheduled, and thought-out art lesson. These days, it's survival. Today, T and I squeezed in a craft while baby brother was asleep. Totally on the fly...

For the folks who want to try this at home, you'll need: -magazines (we used Car and Driver, simply because it's full of machines)
-aluminum foil
-scissors and tape
-misc. markers, optional
-items from the recycling bin (we used cardboard boxes and paper towel rolls)





Titus' robot is named KOOL. Child made that up all on his own. He's kool, if you ask me :)

Doodling with my buddy...

Titus turned FOUR two weeks ago, and he's currently THE biggest space nut I know. Here's what we doodled today....

Happy Thursday!

Giveaway Winners!

Congrats to Cheree, Jennifer, and Rachel!!! Winners of 25 FREE Shutterfly cards each! Look for an email from me with your Shutterfly codes. Enjoy!

Remember, if you're a blogger and would like 25 FREE cards from Shutterfly, go HERE to sign up before Nov. 11th.

*P.S....all former card design ideas are scrapped. Who is a chronic 'can't-make-up-her-mind-on-ANYTHING, including body wash scents and picking out her Christmas cards' silly girl? Me.