*unique post cards

So, let me be honest with you, I have been wanting to get into my sewing room so I could start to work on a quilt but I life just has not allowed it.  Tonight after spending some time on Pinterest for some inspiration I got busy creating some Valentine cards for the some of the loved ones in my life.

I have been making these for several years now and  I do enjoy making them. I don't really begin with a finished product in mind - I sort of create it as I go.  What?! Doesn't everyone sew like that?

If you are interested in creating some fabric post cards to give at any time of the year whether it be Valentines, Christmas, Easter, Birthday, or JUST BECAUSE you will need a good working sewing machine. I love using my Janome 6600 because of the nice decorative stitches that is has.  You will also need an iron as well as the list things listed above.

This one is my favorite thus far, it was simple and quick to sew and I LOVE the way it turned out.  The stitching looks like lace around the edges of the fabric which plays well with the pink lace on the background!

 This fabric post card made for Valentines, says: Friends are the flowers in the garden of life, thanks for being my friend. ~Lynette

I made this one a week or so ago.. not a fan. I love the fabrics.. but just not really jazzed about the way this one turned out. I only have one person I could send this one to, because it says BEST friend and to be honest I just don't think it is good enough to send to my BEST friend.  So.. I will likely just give it to the our sweet postal clerk so she can give it to her daughter to use as some sort of inspiration.  When I went in to day to make sure that cloth cards could still be mailed through the postal system, she was oohing and aaahing over it.  She even asked if she could make a copy of it!
 

*chicken life at Erilyn

 This is what it looks like every morning when they are let out of the coop. They have water in their coop, but they rush around the corner and congregate here for a bit.

 Meet the Leghorns, Ms Trump and Rebel.  Ms Trump will NOT leave the nest. She has stopped laying eggs but leaves one nest to the next to sit on her fellow chickens eggs.  We did give her 6 or so to sit on and they stayed warm all day, but there was a time in the evening that she left them long enough to get cool.  I am not really ready to shut her in and help her along the way, but she is certainly broody.  (watch, next week I will post about how I have shut her in a crate and helping her along..) If you are a chicken keeper, what would you do?  She is currently sitting on a very popular nest, as you can see her 'sister' sits on her when she is ready to lay an egg if she can't get her to move.  This is a regular occurrence here at Erilyn. 

I love our chickens. I can't wait to get more! We currently sell 5 dozen eggs per week at $4 per dozen.   We will soon be selling some of "fertilizer" as well, since we have rabbit, goats and chickens readily producing!   Have a great weekend!

shared at:

Deborah Jean's Farm Girl Friday Blog Hop 

Homestead Revival's Barn Hop

*let the creativity begin

I do my best not to get caught up in the New Years resolution making habit. It just never works for me and I don't want to let myself down when I don't hold up to some lofty ideals that I would like to claim as mine attained.  Somehow as a new year rolls around I think we all get that feeling of a "fresh start", which in itself I think is odd.  If we were in a habit that we didn't think good, why would we wait until the end of a year, beginning of a new one to make a change? 

My sewing room is cleaned, and organized for a fresh start, not because it is a new year but because I had several projects that I worked on that eventually allowed it to get into the shape it was in before the purge.   It is like my rather large pantry, a few things put back in a convenient but not proper place a few times a week over a course of a year ends up looking like a huge mess. 

I currently have 7 unfinished projects in the works and many in my mind that I desire to see come to fruition.  I do want this year to be one where I sew more, but I do not have my heart set on a set number of projects I must finish.  Just today I was talking to my best friend and she mentioned that she too wants to sew more but will not allow herself to be pressured by "the finished quilt number for the year" but more importantly she is focusing on herself (health) and her commitment and responsibility to home educate their last daughter at home.   I know that in just a few  short months planting, weed, watering, picking, pickling, canning, freezing, milking, raising (meat chickens) will all be a real part of my reality.  I just know that this year I am going to be more purposeful in my sewing and how I can use that talent to bless others.  

This room does not always look like this, I am real, I live OUT LOUD and often VERY messy. But for now, it is worth marking down, the room is organized and ready.  Having a clean room and orderly allows my mind to function more freely and creatively! 

Here is a clever storage idea I would like to share with you, in fact I wish I had more sleds! If you have a wooden sled stand it up on its end, cut two pieces of board that will fit in over the metal hardware on the bottom of the sled and make shelves for storing your pretties, whatever they might be.

*sew much to do

As I mentioned before, I hope to get more than 3 quilts finished this year, God willing!  I sometimes do waste time and could be more disciplined and focused whether it is sewing or doing other things around Erilyn.  I decided to make me a focus board of sorts that I could write on, wipe off and write again.

I took a medium sized picture frame that we had in storage and then found a piece of fabric to use as a background under the glass. I could have left it like that, but to be more interesting to me, I  decided to look around and find a few things that hold meaning for me.  I chose a few cards given to me by dear friends and a recent birthday gift (vintage buttons and pattern card) to put under the glass.  Once it was all mounted and set in the frame I selected an overhead marker and dry erase marker to list the projects that I will work towards completing this year.  As they are completed I can wipe them off and add new ones (or not).

Today I spent some time cleaning my sewing room and rearranging some fabrics.  I even found some fabrics I forgot I had - ever done that?  It was like going to the quilting store all over again!  I am feeling encouraged, inspired and ready to sew - how about you?

*advocating for an orphan

Grab This!

This precious young man is in need of your undivided attention for just a few minutes. Once you read what is going on with Valentin you will be able to make a decision as to what part you play in his story.   Please take the time to read this family's story to their journey to Valentin and where they are at now, you can read by clicking HERE.

If you will, consider writing a post similar to mine or copy this one and post it to your blog to help advocate for this little man.  I am not going to try and play on your emotions here, but will you consider donating the cost of your fast food meal and Starbucks coffee this week to help Valentin?  DONATE HERE

*scenic Sunday

This is one of our favorite spots on the American soil.  This place holds so much history for my dear husbands family for many generations back. It is my desire to one day take our (future) grandchildren here, to tell the stories of their fathers jumping, climbing and hiding in the beautiful rocks at Devil's Den, Gettysburg PA. To tell them of the  days when their grand father led me up Little Round Top at 6 months pregnant. To have told to them the days of when their great grandfather covered the grounds of the Gettysburg Battlefield and to have shown to them the places where their great grandfather and great great grandfather once lived.  Have a great week!