31 August 2009

fabric and thread

It seems like today's theme is fabric and thread. I have recieved four quilt squares for my Blog quilt and I loooooove them. They really mean so much to me!
Thank you to:

*Tracy

*Jamie

*Erica

* and Janet!
I literally get giddy walking to the mailbox these days in anticipation to find these squares in there!!!
Next, i made a little embroidery gift myself, for my dad :) My dad totally complains that he doesn't get to see Catalina, my puppy, as much, now that I am married. He is really cute about it. Cat and him are BFF. Sooooo, I stiched him up a little sketch that I did of Catalina:

I think he will love it, even though it's kind of girly. Dads have to love gifts from their daughters no matter what!!
And, I received this GORGEOUS necklace from this cute Etsy shop.

It is soooo pretty <3 You should go and check them out :)
Finally, I want to give a shout out to Rachel on her Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday lovely lady :)
Have a great week!!! Be inspired. xoxo

30 August 2009

Did You Hear??

That I am giving away a quilt??

I thought that since I have posted a million posts since the last one about it, that I should re-post it :)
I will include all comments from this post into the give-a-way with the other 50 something comments:)
Here we go!

That is right!! I am going to create a quilt to give-a-way to one lucky blog reader!! Here is the fabrics that I will be using in my quilt:




It is so gorgeous, one of my favorite fabric collections that I have right now. I am loving and appreciating all of you who are following my blog and leaving me feedback and comments and emails. You have no idea how much all of you mean to me. I am hoping that pouring my heart into this quilt will be a good way for me to show you how much you mean to me :)

In return though, I want something :) HA!! I would like to make a quilt for myself that has a little part of all of you too! Something that I can look at and be inspired by it every time. Jaime, one of my most favorite people in the world, just did something like this and I was able to participate in it for her.

**What I would like is for you to send me an 8" x8" square of any fabric (your choice). I would really really love it if you would embroider something on it too, including your name :) Those are my only specifications. You have no idea (again) how much this would mean to me. A Blogger BFF quilt !! So, if you want to do this (which I would loooooove all 125 of you followers out there to join in) please email me at janel (dot) maclean (at) gmail (dot) com, and I will send you my mailing address. Then, leave me a comment in this post if you are in!!! I am soooo excited and I am really hoping for a huge response.
(Even if you don't think that you can embroider something, I encourage you to just send a piece of fabric for the square and I can embroider your name on it. I want everyone to be part of it!!)
** You will get entered in again if you mention this give-a-way on your blog (leave another comment after you do)
** You will get another entry if you are a "follower" of my blog so leave that in your comment too!
*** Finally, tweet about this give-a-way and you will have another chance.

That is FOUR enteries that you can have in this AWESOME give-a-way. You will have 1 week to email me if you are interested and to leave your comments.

My To-Do List


That is a lot!! I better get cracking :)

29 August 2009

happiness=photobooths

If you know me, you know that I am a HUGE fan of photobooths :) Tonight we had a wedding reception to go to for a family friend. This friend enjoyed the photobooth at my reception so much, she decided to book one for hers!! It was a blast :) It's always neat to see what a hit a photobooth can be at a reception!
My poor sweet husband just isn't kicking his sickness. He was feeling really yuck so I went with my sister (a very lovely date :D)
I didn't stay too long (about 2 hours) and I caught a ride home with my dad. It was a nice reception and everyone looked beautfiul.
Here are the awesome photobooth pics that me and my family took tonight :)







Did you see the special guest appearance that was made in the pic of my parents kissing??? That is my favorite. I also love the one of my mom and sister with the back of their heads. I literally laughed hysterically when I saw that.
Favorite quote from the night: My dad says, "Wow the gangster and the fish-face, those are new faces Janel."
HA! Apparently, I need to get a new go to look for pictures :) The gangster and the fish-face, it's what I do :) What can I say??
A fun night. Came home and snuggled with Adam and worked on some fun things in my new "space."
My eyes can barely stay open......soooooooooo tired.
night
xoxo

feeling productive <3

Man oh man, I have gotten sooooo much cleaning, organizing, and re-decorating done today :) My focus today has been my craft space. I wanted to have an area to sew at. I have been dragging my sewing machine out to the living room, onto the coffee table, each time I have wanted to make something. Now, I have a table, chair, and an inspiring space to do all of my sewing work :) Here, is my new space:





I also looooved this idea that Leigh-Ann had for storing her buttons. When my grandpa passed away, I was able to get his old bubble gum machine. So when I saw Leigh Ann's, I was inspired :)

Yay!!! I am so excited about my progress and feeling really inspired to sew, sew, sew!!
BTW- last night's anniversary dinner was amazing!!! Like amazingly amazing. Look how beautiful it is:


He makes Eggplant Parmesean better than ANY restaraunt out there :)
My other favorite meal he makes me is this:

Triple Berry Cheerios with fresh blueberries :) Yum.
Tonight we have a wedding reception, fun!
Have a great rest of your weekend friends :)
xoxo
janel

28 August 2009

today...


(photo cred)
Today...
* is Adam and I's Match-a-versary (that is the day we were matched on E-harmony :D...dorky but that's how we roll).
* also means that it is our 6 month wedding anniversary
* is Friday which is great!!
* I am going to watch the first disk of the first season of MadMen since that show is apparently the best show ever (according to all of my bloggy friends)
* I am going to eat the most amazing meal that my husband can cook (it is soo soo good)
* I was blessed by EXTREME generosity from one of my favorite blog friends (you should all follow her blog btw!!)
* I recieved my first quilt block for my Blog BFF quilt today!! Thank you Erica (you are an amazing embroider by the way :D)
* I felt really happy to be Margot's friend for what she is doing for Jamie :) AMAZING!! Read about it here :)
* was picture day at school and I had forgotton about so it may not be a pretty picture :)
* I came home to pretty fresh flowers <3
* I am missing my xo5 girls
* I am counting all of my blessings and thanking God for each and every one of them! PTL!!!
Have a great weekend loves!
xoxo
janel

New RVA Loves <3

My most favorite shop, Red Velvet Art. had an update last night!!! I love when this happend :) More reasons to be sad about how poor I am though right?? Well, here are some things that I instantly fell in love with. A litte eye candy, to brighten your day. My day is cloudy and blah so eye candy is exactly what I need!!
Rachel's beautiful journal for the boys :) She's so sweet to think of them.
This pumpkin spice hairbow is absoutely darling and makes me think of autumn and pumpkin pie flavored everything!
I LOVE this LPS necklace. I do have a slight nautical obsession so I am loving this little octopus :)
This lovely fox would be a perfect addition to my home...he is precious!!
And a DIY planner!! I am a little bit psycho when it comes to my planners so being able to create my own with materials from my very favorite artists really is cool!!
Sigh :) I love it. Check it, buy some cuteness, support local artists!! Did anyone here shop the update last night? If so, let me live vicariously through you by telling me what you got! Love you! It's Friday...HOLLA!!
xoxo
janel

27 August 2009

Once upon a 2007...


In the summer of 2007 my sister and I took a wonderful adventure...
We headed to New Mexico to learn pottery from the Acoma Native Americans. It was surreal. Our group traveled through New Mexico and Arizona; hiking canyons, studying the culture of the Navajo and Acoma Native Americans, learned to cook, learned how to do pottery the way the ancient ones did, and we ate the most amazing green chile cheese fries. We also visited a ton of museums and walked the same trails of Georgia O'Keefe.
I stumbled upon my journal from this trip and it brought all of the memories back like a flood. Here are some of my favorite pages from this journal :
















I filled and ENTIRE sketch book on this trip. It was amazing. The picture at the top f this post is the pottery that we had worked on for over a week, everything was done EXACTLY the way "the ancient ones" had done it. Clay from the earth, pigments from the earth to paint with, stones to burnish, one single string from a Yucca leaf that we had to chew and suck before we could paint with it, and finally a kiln built out of cow poo. It was an insane process, but worth it. Here is a picture of what was left after a day of "baking"

I'm pretty sure that my sister's pottery were the only pieces that didn't blow up. Nice!
All in all this time was beyond amazing. I did so many things that I never thought I would do or could do.
The moral of this story is "When you see an adventure coming your way...do it, jump in, make some memories!"
Happy almost Friday!!! I am extending my give-a-way another week because I have had such a HUGE response.