Today, my boys and I played with our puppy, drew some lovely pictures to post on our fridge, and built a couple of blood-thirsty killing machines programmed to enslave humanity. =^_^=

Don't let their size and mediocrity fool you... these robots are vicious.

These cool kits are designed by a fleet of smarty-pants over at Middlesex University in the UK.  Robot Duck and Tin-Can Robot are easy to build and even easier to start a Robot Fight Club! with.  (You can’t build robots and not make them fight each other, sheesh.)

Robots are cool.

I <3 Robots.  Rest assured that a Robot Fuzzi is high on my to-make list.

ann:)

… a warm place to live and sleep, healthy children who are smart and smiling, clean clothes to wear, food in my stomach, clean water to drink, cool tunes to jam out to, talented hands, eyes to see the good and the bad, tears to shed for those I’ve lost, a heart full of love for those I still have, blank canvases to fill, bolts of fabric to touch, electricity, a toilet that flushes, a 4.0 GPA, neighbors who are quiet, rain to water my plants, and brave police officers, firefighters, medical workers, and troops who risk their lives every day so that my family and I can enjoy ours.

Tomorrow, I could lose them all. Or I could be blessed some more. Only God knows. But today, I *have*.

I started out this morning ready to feel sorry for myself because this year hasn’t exactly been what anyone would call “stellar.”  I made the active decision to write this post instead.  And do you know what?  I feel fantastic now!  Try it!

Love,

ann

My monkeys went back to school last week – reluctantly.  There was a lot of whining and a little screaming involved.  We also celebrated a milestone birthday over the weekend.  My oldest son turned 13.  Thirteen!  I NOW HAVE A TEENAGER LIVING IN MY HOUSE.  I’m praying that karma really isn’t a bitch because I was the worst. teenager. ever.

Anyway, back to school time also means it’s time to get ready for holiday sales.  I’ve been making Christmas stockings, felt & silk ornaments, large flower pins, and new fall & winter Felt Fuzzies.  I’ll post the pics soon!

+ann

Summer vacation is not only in T-minus 1.5 days and counting… it’s also an oxymoronic term for stay-at-home & work-at-home mommies and daddies across the country. On the plus side, I can sleep in an extra hour and I won’t have to do those awful “get ready for school” and “do your frakkin’ homework” breakdances. On the other hand… my kids will be home

all

day

and

night.

I know I said this at the beginning of last summer break but this time I mean it… I’m ready. No really, I am ready. I was obviously never a Boy Scout but I have taken the Be Prepared motto to heart. Have a looksie: (more…)

This gal has had an insane couple of days!  Lots to report and lots to brag about…

First, I got my 95 pounds-o-felt yesterday!  Hooray!  However, ‘Hunky UPS Guy‘ failed to be the one to deliver it.  Boo!  No offense meant towards the UPS guy who did deliver it, of course.  There ought to be a UPS Drivers’ calender…  hmmm, I’ll be sure to mention it at our next Bored WAHM’s meeting.  

I nearly fainted at the sight of all this GORGEOUS felt.  Three large, kid-sized cartons were stuffed almost to bursting point with this:

A feast for the eyes!  Most of these colors have been nearly impossible to find and now they are discontinued.  Lucky me, I stumbled upon an awesome eBay seller (quiltershusband) who went out of his way and really hooked this fabric junkie up.

In other news, my brilliant monkeys brought home their fabulous works of art from school yesterday.  So what’s a momma to do?  Scan them and show them off, that’s what!  And because I think they are good enough to sell, I’ve uploaded some high-res pics of them to my CafePress shop to have them printed on lots of goodies.  They now have their own section in my shop and the commissions earned from each sale will go directly into their respective college savings funds.  Monkey 2 wants to go to MIT for goodness sakes!  Monkey 1 is looking at either UT Austin or get this… Yale.  *_*  Either they bust their tails to earn full scholarships or I’d better win the lottery.

Here’s my oldest son’s work.  He didn’t have a name for it so I named it ‘Abstract Cat’.  Squint, tilt, lift your right arm… I promise there is a cat in there. 

I absolutely loved his use of such fiery colors.  This masterpiece was made with crayons.  He usually gets frustrated by paint because he likes to put so much detail in his drawings which doesn’t translate well when he uses brushes.  He really enjoyed making this though so I’m hoping to encourage him to try painting abstract works on canvas.

And here is my little one’s work.  He calls it, ‘Robot Cat’.

Can you believe how amazing it is?  I was (and still am) very impressed and surprised when he showed this to me.  He used mixed media (crayons, paint, and markers).  I’m sending their art teacher a friggin’ huge gift basket after seeing these two masterpieces. 

Let’s see, what else have I been up to…  Besides wearing myself out writing HTML, CSS, and PHP & Java scripts for my various sites… listing tons of inventory in my eBay /Etsy / CafePress / KarmaBox stores… answering 90-150 emails a day… Fuzzing gobs of Fuzzies… drumming up Ron Paul support in my neighborhood… and writing this little ditty… I guess not much.

Okay, I’m going to take a nap while you buy some of my genius children’s artwork. 

Blessings,
+ann
(An unbiased mommy.  Ha!)

Today was supposed to be one of my “Bumper Days.” A day where I get my more mundane business tasks done, like filling orders, packing & shipping, listing, and replying to the flood of emails I get daily. Oh but when have planned “days” ever worked out?

My two boys (affectionately known as The Monkeys) are grade schoolers with a penchant for laziness and procrastination. They get that from both parents – I’m okay with admitting to that. So when the dreaded Science Fair season comes around… (more…)

Google is now our splendoriffic new Magic 8 Ball. But instead of droll Yes/No/Maybe answers, it spews forth everything my kids and I need to know from ADD moment to ADHD moment. A quick look at our search queries reveals that my kids and I have asked Google the following over the past 7 days: (more…)

It’s only 2 pm and I am ready to throw up my hands and call it a day.

- Today is a Teacher Work Day/Student Holiday and Monday is of course MLK Jr Day so my two monkeys get to have a 4 day weekend. Hooray for them, not so much cheering from me. I get to juggle work with cooking extra meals and referee duties.

I’ve made a few Fuzzies, shipped some packages, (more…)

Call me weird but I love the ingenuity that goes into RVs. Things pop up, slide out, there are storage compartments EVERYWHERE, and everything pulls double duty. It’s a table / dresser, or it’s a seat / closet. Since I can’t quite afford my dream RV… and I shudder at how much it would cost to fuel one, I’d love to get one of these: (more…)

Dear Friends,

2007 has been absolutely amazing for my family, business, and me. God has blessed us with an abundance of laughter, love, friends, many tears of joy and a few tears of sadness, lots of spiritual and emotional growth, and oodles of miracles – both big and small.

Count your blessings and you’d be surprised how many more will come to you in 2008. We can easily get caught up fighting and fretting over what’s going “wrong” in our lives (or other people’s lives…) that sometimes we forget all the wonderful things that are “right” all around and within us. It’s incredible how by just changing your mindset, you can change your entire life.

This year I will be designing a collection of one of a kind handbags. I was blessed enough to acquire a TON of beautiful designer fabric samples a while back. Now I’m putting an end to my procrastinating and putting these gorgeous fabrics to good use! I have a few listed in my store right now and will be doing my very best to make at least 5 purses a week (give or take a few ^_~) until all my lovely fabric is used up… ambitious but hopefully worthwhile. Here are a couple new purses I just listed in my eBay store:

(more…)