Creative Days to Put the Busy Days Behind....

Summer is always a unique time, isn't it?  A change of schedule, fun trips or outings, maybe a vacation, etc...

I think for mom's particularly, it can be a bit hard.  At least for me, I struggle with it.  All of those trips, events, visits, etc take a whole lot of planning and preparing.  The quote "I need a vacation from vacation" hits a little too close to the truth.  And in all honesty, I prefer everyday life.  I do look forward to vacation for the time we get to spend with my husband, because everyday life for him is crazy busy-and vacation time is so nessasary for him to recoup.  Vacation for us just means rest, each other, and catchup on some much needed repairs or projects around the house:)  I do hope we can take at least one vacation away before the kids start leaving home but we chuckle at the line in "cheaper by the dozen 2" when the mom is asked why they do not buy a lake house and she replies in a type of humor "oh, well, we need the money for things like food...water...hahha. "  Yep, we can relate:) and for now I find contentment in that!  We are quite blessed with camp, missions trips, family visits, and the like.  So much so, that I have become a tad overwhelmed at packing for 8 of us and then unpacking and doing it all again!  My mind just has felt like it got packed away in one of those suitcases and I think it got lost in transport:).  Between the 8 of us, we have traveled for a wedding, camp, a wilderness trip with the youth, a missions trip to CA with the youth group, had most involved in a week of VBS and a 2 day visit to a friends cabin for some time to rest as a family(thank you thank you thank you sweet friends-we were so blessed).  We are now back from it all and about to change direction to prepare for school.  But this week is kind of a bridge between the two.  A time to just kind of coast-whew-it has been nice.  The kids are simply playing and creating this week(except for my sr higher-he is hitting the books already).  So I have been resting my brain a bit with creating, starting new projects, finishing some old. Here they are...

 One of my favorite ways to work with t shirts, is to make them into throw pillows.  Quilting them first makes them so cuddly!  Sure brings those fun scenes to life again!

 I have been playing a lot with my reclaimed linens.  I finished a few quilts that have been waiting to be quilted for quite some time now, began making some new sets of napkins, and added some new bean bag sets and rice packs to the shop.

And...it is that time of year again!  I have been making a pair of mittens a day again to prepare for the winter months.  Last year I made and sold approx 120 pair!  One a day is a good pace for now.