This is how I am coping

I spent the morning playing with AJ and wearing him in the sling as I killed the waiting time by preparing for Saturday's backyard sale. Tonight I pulled out all the jewelry from days of old... (4 years ago!) and set it up too... (pics tomorrow)... Then Tif came over and we engaged in some Mod Podge Therapy (thanks, Amy!) and laughed and dished about Twilight like two teenagers while J medicated himself with some "so you think you can dance"... I'm glad this weekend's sale
is happening. It's keeping me moving.

Yardsale Invitations

I sent this out to the friends that are on the evite for this weekend's event. If you are interested in coming to the First Ever Upscale Backyard Sale... let me know and I'll pass on the details...

and yes, I am paying the sales tax (9.75%) and there's no shipping, so this is a great deal!

like the graphic above says, bring a friend, and you'll get a little thank you treat from me!

Keeping busy... Upscale yardsale prep

This week is my backyard sale! That means that I'm working every spare minute on fun little stuff for it! Today's project was lots of my favorite "scrap-books"... I love mine so much, everyone needs to have these! Now about 16 more people get to enjoy them now too...

Did you see this too?

The most recent anthropologie catalog about sent me into cardiac arrest when I saw this page...(oh, and many others!)... My new crafty, knotty, quilty, designy neighbor mommy pal, icole, emailed me... "have you seen page 17 yet???" and sent me a link.

I believe a red/brown/pink/orange/green version is in my future. (as soo nas I build up the nerve and catch up a little on sleep... Maybe it's a project for January, my favorite month)

Nicole's email was so funny that I had to post it here. (my points exactly)

"Didn't get past that page last night. The syncronicity of it short circuted my brain:) just looking through it now and there are more quilts and knit chevron throws and crocheted amiguri ornimemts. Not to mention all the pretty clothes, shoes and bags. Damn recession."

The patch has grown

He must love me

J came home the other night with these two mags for me, saying that now I didn't have to go through the embarrassment of wanting to buy the Vanity Fair... (I never would have, too embarrassed)... But (sigh), Rob does bring Edward to life... And um, it's for the articles, man!
:)
The quilt mag is awesome, too. I think J was wanting to get me one with projects in it that he actually approved of and could envision in our house/life.
Nicely done, J!

Yoyos on parade

Told you I had been busy making these.

Yoyo barrette

Been making a bunch of these yoyo barrettes for the Upscale Backyard Sale... And found a new use for them today...

This is my quiet time

I've been itching to feel normal. Wanting to blog, sew, read, meditate...
But my new life with foster care appointments, social worker visits, sleepless nights and a week of half days for Mimi- along with an adorable, but sick baby who is happy as long as he is being held... (thank you, sling) .... Has left me with minimal time to be Libby. So today, this is my moment of peace... Walking Z home from preschool before hopping onto the 10 freeway off to get Mimi. Note: the lump in my shadow is a happily snug slung baby.

International Sanctuary - aw, shucks.

I was peeking in on Tori's blog the other day and saw that she'd helped International Sanctuary get their new website up and running. Which of course I had to check out - because I love the whole "purchase with purpose" concept that they have.

If you've been a long time reader of mine, you'll know that I had lunch with the founders of International Sanctuary a while ago whose mission is:

"iSanctuary is a new and growing non-profit organization that was formed to develop social enterprises for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.

Currently we are training 40 rescued girls, from the ages of 13 to 18 in Mumbai India, in the skill of jewelry making. Once the girls are trained, their products are brought to the US and UK to be sold to fund their futures."Anyhow, I figured, even though I would be seeing them soon at an event I am hosting for MOPS - a mini-boutique in December, that I needed to make a little purchase in support of them. For a while I've been eyeing their "Ring of Fire" bracelet - it's kind of a signature piece for them and when I have noticed it on other women it's something I immediately recognize as an International Sanctuary piece. So I dropped one of those into my cart. Then I went over to the necklaces page and saw something that was so sweet! They have a necklace named the Liberty Necklace and is fashioned after a design that I made with Stephanie that day last December. We had such a fun time talking about clustering colors and shapes in the variety that would create a rich look... and I'd made some earrings and a necklace for her and off to our lunch we went. I knew we'd had fun together, but I'd never dreamed that they'd use my design and name it after our work-session. What an honor.
I bought one. And wore it proudly yesterday. I may need to buy a few more as gifts. At a mere $20, they are a lot of fun to pick up for thoughtful gifts this winter. (and they're cute!)