YOURS FOR THE TAKING!!

Ok save me from myself,its spring cleaning time. I have 4 flat rate boxes of unfinished projects.I thought about doing a ufo swap but then I got to thinking,why do I need more stuff to feel guilty about not finishing?The boxes will include doll parts,softie parts,embroidery,wood pieces,buttons,and fabric. If i have more than 4 people leave me a comment I will just put names in a bowl next Thursday and draw. happy crafting!

Little pink houses for you and me!

pink house, originally uploaded by annieoakleaves.

Ive been kind of discouraged lately with all that is going on with our house. We still havent heard if we are going ot have to replace all of the floors in the house yet or not. Im not sure why I was surprised that we have lead and asbestos but I was.Our house basically hasnt been touched since the 50s which is why I love it but it is also why its a big pain in my patoootie.Anyway Ive kind of let it get me down and Ive been a slacker of a swapper and a daughter lately.I apologize.I was outside today and seen the daffodils are in bloom,I have to say the weather here couldnt be anymore perfect and Im terribly lucky on that count.Anyway this photos isnt my house but it is what I keep in my head while Im doing my yard.Only my house is going to be white with pink and aqua trim,next summer is the goal.I plan on doing the picket fence in the next month if the bathroom problems get solved. I really like how there are flowers in front of the fence too.Ive been looking for a nice archway (trellis?) with a gate and still havent found one yet,although I keep seeing them in other peoples yards(the blue house has one!) Dont you just love the pink topiaries?topiarys?lol i dunno but I do love them to death.I was told that they are stepping out of the 50s look and going to more of an english garden look but
I dont reallly care I just know I want them!Everytime I work in my yard which is ALOT lately I think about when my future grandkids come to visit and how great it would be for them to come to a mother goose type cottage.Surely my grandkids will be more into mother goose than Xbox......................LOL Hope everyone is well,that you for all of the nice comments and good thoughts about our bathrooms. xoxo

guest bathroom

guest bathroom, originally uploaded by annieoakleaves.

As you probably know,we have had some flooding problems in our house.Our bathroom has been completely gutted and this is the guest bathroom.We also have the floors ripped up in our bedroom and part of the walls.It sucks because that is my sewing area,but it will be nice to have it all fixed and looking good.We spent a week at the hotel which was nice because the rooms were like apartments with kitchens ect. The girls had a great time pretending they had their own place.Today we decided we need a break and went to Coronado (pictures soon) If you are working on your yard (which I have been obsessively since I cant reallly sew) Coronado is a great place for inspiration,so many beautiful homes.I have received some fantastic things in the mail I cant wait to show you.In the next few days I think if its not raining. Night all!!

i'll be back

The damage from the water is worse than we thought,everything is getting gutted. If i havent mailed it out I will soon and I will be back with a great new creation! miss ya!

It's a BEAUTIFUL day!!!

This past weekend went rather fast for me but I think it went well and I accomplished alot.Yesterday we planted some bulbs and herb seeds and transplanted some things.There was a small tree growing up against the garage so we decided to try to move it and see if it would make it.so after much debate we found the perfect spot for the tree and begun to dig.Not 6 inches under the ground I hit pipe,At first I thought it was a root and tired to pull it up.It did not give,thank goodness!So then we found a less than perfect spot for the tree and begun to dig again,ok 6 " and no pipes we're doing good,it has a big root ball so we need to dig a deep hole,ok just about one inch deeper....guess what? pipe! We did get the tree planted but I would have preferred the original spot. Lol Im so glad I didnt bust the pipe.Last week our bathroom flooded and now we need to replace that whole bedroom floor and possibly out into the hall and the next bedroom.Just a month before our guest bathroom flooded and we had to rip walls out for that.Ah old houses,you gotta love them. Ive been told this house is a money pit but I think it hasnt quite hit money pit status yet (fingers crossed)(or no wait knock on wood) (wait dont knock on wood with our luck it would knock a wall down)
So Ive been tagged by the extremely talented Jillian I need to post 5 random things about myself.. hmm here we go... :)
1.)Iam an obsessive sewer (sewer?) Ok how about I sew obsessively.:) If I start something I have a hard time going back to finish it because I have so many ideas going around in my head so alot of times once I start something I wont stop until its done EXCEPT to feed my family and things I need to do but if Im by myself I wont even stop to eat or anything else really.
2.)I have only lived here for less than a year and I still havent made any friends and its starting to worry me!I realize I need to leave the house more to make friends but Im too busy sewing!Its a vicious cycle! lol I love the friends Ive made online and hopefully we will meet in person someday!
3.)I have 2 adult children and 2 still at home :)
4.)I was raised around my grandparents farm and love to get my hands and feet in the dirt. now that Im in the city I really appreciate the way I was raised and the kind of person it made me.
5.)I have lived in 7 differant states in the last 7 years and California is my final stop!
Ok that was harder than I thought,Im kind of boring! I tag Lori Ari and Elizabeth
YOU'RE IT!

Which comes first?

mother acorn gives birth to a mighty oak, originally uploaded by annieoakleaves.

Finally done!Theres been much debate around here as to whether or not the acorn came before the oak and who should give birth to who(much like the chicken and the egg)This has been my obsession all week.I've been really inspired lately to try new things and have received good advice from two people I really admire,Tricia and Elizabeth.I had intended on using paper clay but that isnt going quite well for me :) so I took my first shot at needle sculpting and painting fabric. I like her alot. I wonder about the crease in her neck though. Theres no way that its going to give because I have it wired but I would have been much happier if her neck had been smooth.Her acorn cap is made from a lambs wool sweater,dress is vintage fabric and if you look closely at her she has little strands of roots hanging on her legs and arms. The baby is made from wool felt with button eyes.I thought about sculpting and painting him also but decided to go with felt in the end. I have a mushroom girl similar to this sketched out,this time Im going to use some paperclay somewhere even if I have to hold in on there the entire time! lol thank you T and E! You will never know how much you have changed the way I look at things!

I've been tagged!

Ive been tagged by Ari.
I still havent been able to do the first tag because I still dont have my computer but this one I can do.
1. What was your first swap?
It was a blog exchange swap.I will admit it,I was trying to score points so I could do other swaps. :)


2. What has been your favourite swap so far and why?
Hmm I havent been in many swaps yet.I really loved the christmas card swap,it was great having tons of christmas cards to put up and the handmade ones were fantastic.I also liked the button fairys..oo I dont know I guess they are all my favorites. Ive been doing alot of really fantastic one on one swaps that I could go on about forever too.

3. What has been your least favourite and why?
The crazy embroidery block swap because I sent it out and it came back and it stresses me because Im late.

4. What have you tried for the first time as part of a swap?.
doll quilts

5. What would be your fantasy swap?
Ive been thinknig about a unfinished project swap because I think it would be fantastic to see all of my unfinished dolls finished in a way I hadnt thought of.

Thank you for tagging me Ari!Since I dont know many people on swapbot yet Im tagging everyone!