Cupcakes!

In celebration of my 3rd birthday with Funky*Monkey, I have designed a set that screams celebration! Bright confetti polka dots, ruffles, buttons and of course yummy cupcakes! I had fun with this one!

Click here to see my auction.

Happy Anniversay to Me!

This week marks the 3rd Anniversary of Funky*Monkey!

Time has flown by and we have had a blast!

I cannot thank those of you enough for allowing me to stay home with my girls and do what I love for a living. It is you who have made this dream possible and I am thankful for it!


As a way of saying "thanks" to those of you that have made the last 3 years such a success, I am giving away 2 custom sets! You get to pick 2 items from capris, twirlskirt, applique tank or tee, or a peasant top! I will work with you on theme, fabric and colors.





I am also celebrating with some new and very special designs as well. Here is the first, an all time favorite for me! I will only be offering this one time as it was a lot of work! Click here to see the auction.




How do you enter to win?



Bid on one of my auctions and get an entry. You can get a max of 10 entries per auction. Also, sign up for my mailing list here or on my ME page and get another entry. Pretty easy and who doesn't love things for Free?

Dear God......

I came across these letters to God from some school children. Here are some of my personal favs - Enjoy!

Venice in Spring

Today I have 3 new sets up for auction.

I originally had 2 and late yesterday decided to pop out a 3rd - lets just say caffeine was my friend!

Here they are and you can see all of them on Ebay by clicking here.

See all of VendeMia's listings along with special guests by clicking here.

It was a good idea at the time.......

The other day as I was in the midst of creating a new set for VendeMia's upcoming launch I had an idea. I had this brilliant idea to create a frog that would match my set I was working on. Now I have only sewn little stuffies or dolls from patterns so this one I would have to "wing".

All I can say is "disaster". I wasted an hour of my free sewing time on something that resembles the Grinch or better yet a UFO. I should have stopped when I turned him inside out and gasped at the green little guy. But, I thought maybe the stuffing might make him a bit more like able - little did I know it was a waste of time. I did not even further waste my time and stitch the bottom opening. where I attempted to bring the poor thing to life

So for giggles, (I am sorry if I give you any nightmares) here is a picture of my green frog inspired creation........warning image not suitable for children under the age of 13.

And for a sneak peak of what the lovely creature was supposed to match here is a peak at the fabric swatch.

Stay tuned and check back on Tuesday to see the completed set!

It's a Beautiful Life

I just listed 2 new sets this week, a bit late posting!

My first is "Beautiful Life" with a whimsical imported bear fabric! So colorful and fun with cute little sayings all over it. I teamed up with my friend Lesa and we each did a set with this fabric.

You can view my auction here or visit Lesa's by clicking here.

My second set is made with a new Euro pattern and tons of color "Euro Wish". I just love how this one turned out! Savannah loved modeling it too. I did not have to do too much bribing for pictures even though it was in the 40's that day! Click here to check it out.

A little plug....

I have never been one to "plug" products but I have been given an awesome birthday gift - a pair of Uggs!

I never thought of myself as the Ugg type. I do not really consider myself that casual of a dresser, though lately I love my tennies and track pants! As I have gotten older, don't remind me, I am now becoming more and more accustomed to comfort rather than style, though these are stylish! I am trading min my black high heeled leather boots for these Uggs when my outfit allows or there is snow on the ground.

These are heaven for your feet and if you don't believe me try on a pair at the department store! Uggs - Where have you been all my life?

What's mine is mine

My 5 yr old latley likes to point out the obvious to me.

"Mommy you're speeding"

"Mommy you are not paying attention to me"

"Mommy you need to do the laundry"

And today she pointed out something that I always say and it made me laugh.

Me "Malaina don't push that on my floor or you will scratch it!"

Malaina "Mom, why is everything in this house yours?"

Me "What do you mean?"

Malaina "You always say "my carpets" or "my floors" or "my bathroom" and isn't it all of ours and not just yours?"

Made me think....yes again she was pointing out the obvious. I have a habit of stating "my" in front of certain objects in this house. As in "Don't get food on my counters I just cleaned!" or "Don't take drinks in the family room you will spill on my carpet!"

So maybe I should make a resolution to be more thoughtful when I am complaining to my kids about what they are doing to my ... er "our" house.

Resolution #1

My #1 resolution, just like millions of other Americans, is to get in shape and loose some lbs. I have slacked immensly in the "bod" department. Eating just about, well actually whatever the heck I want. I have not excercised one bit in months. So as my jeans have begun to replicate a "muffin cup" as my lovely waistline pops out over the top and resembles the ever so loveley "muffin top", I have made it my #1 resolution to rid myself of my new found shape in an effort to not only look better, but to avoid the ever so popular "mom jeans".

I consider myself a woman of fashion and like to stay abreast of the new trends. Though I find myself struggling to find that perfect pair of jeans. Either ther is a huge gap in the back above my butt or my underwear peaks out in the back if I even dare move. Huge problem. I think I have given up on finding the perfect pair as I continue to wear my 6 yr old Old Navy jeans amongst 2 other "old faithful" pairs I love.


Mom Jeans - Funny video clips are a click away

I think whoever invented "mom jeans" was in a desperate attempt to hide not only her muffin top, but her lower "FUP" as I call it. That lovely lower abdominal section where after having babies just never seemed to recover. She thought why not cover it up with more jean and maybe it will hold it all in and at the same time I will support my now sagging breasts with this firm waistline of jeans! She thought she had it all figured out.

For now I will stick to my 3 pair of jeans that have been good to me and try not to buy any new ones until I find my new shape.....that is after I find myself in the gym for a few months if I don't give up on my resolution.

Residing from Afghanistan

I recently discovered that my blogger profile showed me as a resident of Afghanistan and that I was in the industry of Accounting. I was laughing my @ss off as this is hardly not true for 2 reasons...

#1 I am not an "Afghan" as they may call it. I am so white that I am pale as a ghost. In fact people run on the beaches when I disrobe as my skin reflects the sun like tinfoil. I am pale and freckled as can be! I do not consider myself to be the cave dwelling type either LOL, though some may appreciate it in the summer - the reflection thing again.

#2 I am horrible when it comes to numbers. Ask my husband it is true. My worst subject is math. I had to take Algebra 2x in college - don't remind me please. I despise anything having the deal with fractions, dividing or accounting in general. Steve is the CFO in this household and I am proud to hand that off!

So now I have updated my profile - as if anyone reads it anyhow - to properly state that I am a proud citizen of the USA!

Can you guess....

how old I am today? Try counting the candles on this cake! I thought it looked like there were more candles on there than my "years" on this planet but after slowing counting 2x and then another because I obsess about counting certain things, it is correct!

It has been a great day so far as my youngest decided to sleep in until 7:50 am instead of her usual 6am, so I will take that! That is considered sleeping in in my book!

I have got my big cup of coffee and a big day planned. I will have to get back to you on the results of that but if I know my Husband, I am sure it will be great.

It is a bit tough having a birthday this time of year. Not the most desirable time of year to be born LOL. Though it is pretty cool if you are sharing a birthday with Jesus I must say. Christmas is done, New Year's is over and the last thing people have on their mind is another celebration or party to go to. They are still recovering from the shock of overeating and might still be dealing with a hangover. Most people are staring at their decorations planning to take them down, which I hate doing by the way, compiling their resolution lists or just plain blank in the brain from the over stimulation of the holidays in general. It sucks. Though I thought the older you got the easier it would be. After all, I am &% years old so birthdays are no big deal after 21 right? Nope. I think no matter who old you are it is a wonderful thing to be "special" for just that one day! I am not one to turn down the pampering and the daunting over for 1 day per year, and that's 2 if you count Mother's Day.

One other reason to not be born close to the Holidays (like you can help it) is the great idea of the combination gift. "Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday" gotta love that one. It is almost like "Hey I forgot your birthday so here's hoping you forgive me by accepting this lovely combo gift" or "I will be comatose after New Year's so I might as well just give you your birthday gift now". That happened a lot when I was younger, though not so much now as most of us draw names for Christmas gifts in my family leaving no change for the Happy Christmas gift. It is not always such a bad deal as you can get some larger gifts that you may have not received had your birthday been in March. I remember the oak waterbed I got back in 1986 and the based out stereo system that I got to go with my "vintage" VW bug complete with bright turquoise paint job, that was birthday #16.

I am giving myself today to do eat or drink whatever I like without guilt as tomorrow begins the "road to a better body". Yep, like millions of other Americans I too will be jumping on the weight loss and get in-to-shape bandwagon. Though I might extend my guilt free eating through the weekend and start on Monday.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe time ringing in the New Year 2008! Can you believe it is here already? The holidays are finished and now I stare at all of my decorations we all worked so hard putting up - they have to come down at some point!

We had a very eventful New Year's weekend! Our good friends from Ireland were vacationing in Breckenridge, a ski resort about 1.5 hours from us. We decided to go up for the weekend and stay a night and visit! Little did we know there was a blizzard and 100 mph winds on the way!

We ended up getting stuck in Frisco just outside of Breckenridge as they closed down the major interstate I-70 - the only way in and out of town. The winds were so bad they created such an avalanche danger that the highway was closed for 60 miles both ways! We could not see the car 15 ft in front of us - a complete white out.

We heard that the hwy would open up again around 2pm so we naturally checked out of our hotel room and just an hour later they announced that the highway was closed indefinitely! That term indefinitely" made me very nervous as it seems so final! Not a room was to be found in town. They all booked up faster than I could dial. Luckily our friends were in Breckenridge still and had their condo. We dropped in to the jam packed Walmart to stock up on supplies and headed back up the mountain to spend New Year's Eve with our friends - 8 adults and 8 kids (6 of them age 5 and under LOL).

5pm rolled around and they now announced the highway was open and they would let people drive through in a controlled release to not cause jams. We decided to wait, ordered in some great (but expensive$ - gotta love those resort prices) Chinese and drank some wine for a couple hours before venturing home.

All in all it was a fun, cold, frustrating, scary and crazy weekend! What a way to end 2007!

The funny thing is we only were around our "Irish" friends for about 38 hours, but we happened to pick up a bit of the Irish accent! I could not stop accentuating my words at the end of my sentences and even my 5 yr old sounded a wee bit Irish!