Sewing projects #2, 3, & 4! :)

I have been having way too much fun sewing lately and have neglected to take pictures of my projects once they're done.  I finally rounded up the pieces I've made to show off to all of you!

Ta da!!!!

Project #2 was a present for my youngest sister, Jade.  She loves owls almost as much as I do and I was super, super excited to make this tote bag for her birthday.  

Project #3 was also a present.  When my bestie saw the tote bag I made for my sister, she had to have one too.  :)  I decided to make her one for her birthday as well.  She loves Tinkerbell and her favorite color is green.  Don't you just love those green polka dots peeking out from the inside??  They are my favorite part about this bag.  :)

Project #4 was sort of a present to myself. :)  My amazing, sweetheart, husband bought me an iPad for my birthday and I needed a case for it.  Not too shabby, right?  Check out that zipper!  (My first one!)  I love having the pocket for my headphones and charger cord.  And the fabric - super LOVE it!  I want to make a whole closet full of adorable items with this fabric.  Soooo so cute.  :)

*Since drafting this post I have been quite busy sewing up a storm.  I just can't get enough.  :)  Stay tuned for more sewing project posts soon.... and maybe a chance to get your hands on one of these beauties!  :)

Well that's all for now, friends!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Mani Monday: Pink and Brown

Like my post title?  :)  

The creative juices are running slowly today!  That's the best I had... sorry.

A while back I got a super awesome deal on some E.L.F. cosmetics products thanks to this lovely little website here.  Awesone = I paid $1 + shipping and that's all!  :)  I got tons of goodies including six nail polishes.  I most definitely did a happy dance when this package came!

I used three of the E.L.F nail polishes on today's manicure along with some gold striping tape.  I'm definitely not an art major or anything of the sort so I wasn't sure how well the pink and brown were working together.  I think adding the gold glitter on top of the pink nails and the gold stripes on the brown helped tie it together a little better.  What do you think?

What I used:

Champagne by E.L.F. Cosmetics
Smoky Brown by E.L.F. Cosmetics
Golden Goddess by E.L.F. Cosmetics
Gold Nail Tape Stripes from Amazon



Linking up:


Happy Monday, everyone!  Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Slowly Slowing Down

So far this week, I have been sticking better to slowing down mentally than I have been slowing down physically.  It has been a full past few days, but I have felt like I actually enjoyed it more and stressed less because I was mindful about slowing my thoughts down and being engaged in the present.  

Normally my mind is whirring and on to the next five things I want or need to do - just ask my husband.  :)  I ALWAYS have a plan for EVERYTHING.  And probably a couple of back-up plans.  And I can get pretty bent out of shape if someone or something messes with that plan without my permission.

I think that part of slowing down for me is letting go of some of that need to control "the plan" all the time.  Instead of being distracted by trying to make sure things go exactly as I planned in my mind, I am learning/trying to engage more in what is actually happening.  I am savoring the "flavor" of the moment instead of rushing through it to get on to the next check point.  

It helped a lot that we had a mini vacation this weekend for Doad's birthday.  We "unplugged" almost completely and spent our time just soaking up the weekend of rest and celebration.  We napped, we read, we walked, and we enjoyed each other's company immensely.  I still found myself planning out our time in my head, but with that vacation mentality it was a lot easier to let go of the need for plans to go exactly as I had mapped it out in my mind and just soak up the fun time that we were having regardless of what we were doing.  

The trick will be if I can keep this mindset in the everyday normal stuff when I have real responsibilities and chores on my check-off list.  I really enjoy the peace that comes with this kind of flexibility and slowness.  I also think I'm more productive when I'm actually focusing on what  I'm doing instead of trying to map out the next couple of hours in my head.  Shocker!  My natural tendency is to try to cram too many activities into one day and I end up disappointed and frustrated when certain things take longer than I allotted for in my plan.   As you can guess, I've often ended up frustrated and disappointed.  :/ 

I'm still figuring out the balance between prioritizing and getting all the day-to-day responsibilities done while minimizing the stress and disappointment of not being... well, super-human, I guess.  It's tricky, that's for sure.  But there's something to this whole slowing down, being mindful and aware thingy.  It's good for my spirit and I'm hoping I can make this a mindset that sticks.

How is the balancing/slowing going for everyone else?  What moments have you "savored" lately?

Time to Slow Down

Well, life has just been speeding on by.  I don't even know where its all speeding off too, but it's easy to get into this "hurry" mentality and let everything happen around you in a blur.  I feel like that's what I've been doing the past few weeks.  And ya know what?

It's time to slow down.

My sister-in-law, Ellie, has been writing some awesome posts about slowing down and they have struck a chord with me.  Despite my lack of online presence here lately, I'm usually always "plugged in" in some way or another.  My phone and iPad come with me just about everywhere I go and if I'm not texting or facebooking on them, then I am probably on a computer working, chatting, or emailing away.  I love my tech gadgets.  But I think it's getting to be too much.  I'm feeling a little out of balance.

So this week, I'm really trying to be mindful of slowing down.  I'm gonna unplug a little bit.  I'm gonna make my bed ;)  And I'm gonna try to savor the moments and silence instead of rushing through them.

How about you?  What are your tricks to balancing fast-paced responsibilities with a slower, more mindful lifestyle?