Inevitable...

Isn't this little piggy adorable?

Swine flu...not so much!

Especially when my children now have it!!

This has become my best friend.

I do this about 50 times a day and I'm not kidding.

My kids came down with it the same day a letter was sent home from school saying there had been a confirmed case.
Nice!
Things have been pretty scary around here and this is a flu unlike any I have ever seen.
I have not gotten it yet and fingers crossed I won't.
Keep my little ones in your prayers if you wouldn't mind.
I think we have gotten through the worst.

I'll be back with good creative posts real soon. I promise!
And I have 4 commissions to get done too. I promise they will be on their way shortly!!

xo Emily xo

Tulips and Cheese

Is there anything better?

I was looking through my pictures and found these photos that I hadn't shared with y'all.
My sweet father came to visit months ago from England. He had touched down from a business trip to Holland and then directly boarded a plane to see us here in America.

He managed to have the most delicious cheese vacuum packed in Holland and brought to us here in the Carolina's in all it's stinky, delicious glory.

The gift wasn't complete without picking up some beautiful tulips upon his arrival.

I guess there is something better than tulips and the most delicious cheese you've ever tasted...and that is good fathers.
Thanks pops!!

Close your eyes and imagine you are here with me. Can you almost smell these beautiful flowers?

What a beautiful sight. One day I hope to see these fields in person.

Go treat yourself to some fresh flowers.

xo Emily xo

Feature Friday

Hey Everyone! I recently found the cutest lady with an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G blog!! I want you to meet Becca from Blue Cricket Design.
Give her a warm welcome and go check out her wicked awesome blog. You will get lost looking through all her amazing posts. She featured me on her blog and I am featuring her. I love this blog swap idea so much that I am going to do it here on Art-n-Sewl too.
Email me if you want to be featured at: leylands@gmail.com.

Now let's meet the lady of the hour...well day ;-)

Hey soon to be new friends!!! I'm Becca! The sassy pants creator behind Blue Cricket Design!

Thanks for rolling out the red carpet and allowing me to invade this totally adorable blog!!!! Emily is sooo my kind of girl!!! She had me at"LETTERS! LETTERS!!"

(my fav project of her's that yes I am going to have to do myself!!!)

So here's the run down on Me, Myself and I....

I most often answer to "Mom!" Three little girls will do that to ya! I also answer to "Babe" and "Hey You!" They seem to do the trick as well! My family is a pretty cool group of endless inspiration! I'm living the dream!

I'm a lucky stay at home cook, maid, decorator, therapist, ref and mom! To keep from going crazy I CREATE!!! I'm forever knee deep in a project! You should see my to do list!! Anything that reminds me that I am more then just a mom with spit up on my shirt

brings a smile to my face!

I'd love for you to come and see what my mind comes up with as I lay awake each night! My blog is where my projects come to life! It's my collection of sewing how to's , kids projects, recipes, photoshop tutorials, Holiday fun, decorating and more!

Here are a few of my favorite resent projects...

Revampt Adult skirt

I turned an Adult skirt into this adorable dress!

Junk food sushi !!

and my latest creation:

Shopping Car Caddy!!

(Be sure to enter to win my latest GIVEAWAY!!! I am giving away TWO of my Shopping Cart Caddy's!!! You know you want one!!! )

So consider yourself invited!!!!! Jump on over and come join in on the fun over at Blue Cricket Design!!! Trust me!!! It's more fun then giving yourself a home perm and the results are way more socially acceptable!!!!!!! See ya soon!!!!

See- isn't she inspiring, sassy, and darn right creative? Thanks for the bloggy swappy fun Becca!

Now hurry and go enter her giveaway.

xo Emily xo

A project that is SEW easy!

I made this shirt for my little girl Chloe. I found this plain white shirt on sale last year for $2.50!
I then simply made 7 yo-yo's and hand stitched them on, in the shape of a C.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!

I am making a head band that has a few yo-yo's in a bunch to wear with it.
If you are like "what are yo-yo's" then let me show you.

I learned how to make yo-yo's from the fabulous Heather Bailey here
They were extremely popular in the 1940's, especially for making yo-yo quilts like this one.

Yo-Yo's take no time at all to make and you can use them on so many things.

Look at these cute necklaces I found made out of yo-yo's on Etsy.


LOVE them!!

PEACHES AND CREAM

August...how I love thee.
You bring about the most delicious peaches.

Cream... you are the perfect match for the mighty peach.

To top off this match made in heaven, I made a shortbread crisp.
Oh my...

So delicious!!


Now to the Cream...I mean off white part. I have been looking for off white plates and saucers to make a collage on my wall. I have had some awesome finds at Goodwill this week.

All this cost me $7.50!!

The little shelf was $3.99 and will be painted and distressed shortly.
The handmade plate was 49 cents.
The bottle was a buck.
The little container was $1.99.
It was all bought on a tax free weekend too.
Cha-ching!!

Stay tuned for some awesome transformations of some of my other finds next week.

It's the last week of summer for us here in the Carolina's and I am off to visit my nieces and I can't wait.

Toot-a- loo folks.

Have a fab week!!

xo Emily xo

Design Star Sundays!!

If you have not tuned in Sunday nights on HGTV at 10 9c then...
DO IT!!

I am addicted to watching the fun and interesting challenges. Seeing what supposedly "the top designers in the USA" are creating, can be somewhat of a let down at times though.

That's what makes it fun. You sit and scratch your head and go "are you serious, I could do a better job than that". It makes me feel awesome for a minute, but then I am sooo glad that I am not competing in such a stressful competition, and I can sit and watch the chaos from the comfort of my couch.

This is David Bromstad.
He was the season 2 winner of Design Star and is one of my favorite designers on HGTV.
His show "Color Splash" has been a huge hit.



Here is a sneak peek of tonight's episode:

http://www.hgtv.com/videos/ep.-4-sneak-peek/41726.html

Tune in every Sunday with me & tell me what you think of the designs.

*****I'll bring the popcorn *****

x Em x

Good for the "Sewl"

Turn your speakers on and get ready to boogie!!!!!

This is Abba. I get happy just looking at their 70's goodness.
Look at those jumpsuits! You know, there is nothing that does it more for me than puffed sleeves on a man. :-)

Abba was a phenomenon for those of you that have no idea who they are. Their music is AWESOME and inspired the Broadway musical Mamma Mia.

I saw the movie first and fell in love with the upbeat music and acting.
I recently had the opportunity to see the off Broadway show here in Charlotte.
HOLY COW!
If you need to feel uplifted and have a good time, take some girlfriends and go see this movie or musical if it comes to your town.

Just sit and listen to the fun Abba music on my playlist and get away for a brief moment.
I hope it brightens your "sewl" today.

xo Emily xo

LOVE LETTER

Dear felted wool,

I HEART you big time!!

You are the most fun thing to play with.

You are the easiest thing in the world to work with.
I mean, not having to sew any cut edges is the BOMB!!

You are always forgiving.

Everything I make with you turns out so darn cute...like these cute brooches.

You are soft, scrumptious and so fun to cuddle with.

If I wasn't already married, I might just marry you.

Thanks for all the good times. I look forward to all the future ones.

Your #1 fan...

xo Emily xo




I wish I still lived in England where the wool was plentiful. *sigh*

Seriously people...this is the coolest material to work with. Plus, recycling old sweaters is just plain old fun and good for the environment. Throw them in your washer on the highest heat, add some soap and watch how tight and soft the fibers get.

If you are looking for an easy material to start crafting with, this is it.
If you are wanting to throw out your old sweaters and not bother felting it, I am always on the lookout for wool. I'll pay the postage!!