Confessions of a Domestic Goddess

The aftermath

2008-09-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Who knew one little grape vine could produce so many grapes? Not me, that's for sure. Prior to this summer my grape knowledge was some-what limited. I knew they grew on vines. I certainly didn't sign on for grapes. When we realized that the vine on our fence was a concord grape vine I thought "Oh fun, we'll have a few fresh grapes to eat."
Fast forward to harvest time, and we spend 2 days picking grapes off that one little vine and end up with 6 huge paper bags full of grapes.
It took me 4 days to work through them all but I finally wrapped it up last night.14 pints of juice, 14 various sized jars of grape jelly.

Do you want to know something interesting about grapes? They stain.
Which is pretty frustrating if you have 50 year old white countertops.

Although as I was scrubbing my countertops one more time with bleach I couldn't help but think of how many other women throughout the history of my little house have done that same thing. Picked the grapes from that same vine, which is as old as the house, 64 years, and worked their way through them. Then cleaned up the aftermath and spent weeks hoping the purple would eventually come out. At that moment, wearing my favorite vintage inspired apron, dancing around my kitchen to the musical stylings of The Streets my nose burning with the smell of bleach, I was overcome with such joy. I love my life. This, right here, right now is all I have ever wanted. To be a mom and a wife. To have a house and a family to take care of. I am so blessed. It's rare to get exactly what you want out of life and I got that very thing and more.

Now onto the white grape vine.......

Trips and Projects or what I did on my summer vacation

2008-08-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

First a confession.
I suffer from debilitating motion sickness. This makes things like roller coasters and those swings that fly around in circles out of the question for me. It also means road trips are something straight out of a Stephen King novel in my mind. Needless to say, I don't much enjoy traveling, and I wish I did. The open road, endless possibilities, it all seems so romantic.
I've learned a few tricks to help keep my head from spinning and my stomach from flip flopping around. I have to be well fed and hydrated and I must stay cool. It also helps if I have something else to focus on. Also certain cars tend to make me sicker than others. For instance I cannot ride in a Jeep Liberty for any length of time without wanting to die.
I have also found knitting to be a good thing to occupy my mind with while riding in the car, as well as hand sewing.
Summer of '08 will probably go down in history as the most boring summer ever for our family. Ben didn't have much time off work and since we just bought a house in April all spare change has gone into remodeling and updating it, with very little left over for family trips. I dare say we've enjoyed ourselves despite these things. The kids and I have had Sponge Bob Monopoly tournements and they have been such good sports as I've tried to find different ways to dress up sandwiches, their lunch of choice. However we felt the need to do something summerish. So we packed the Durango and headed South to our home town. We spent a few days with Ben's family. Playing in the water, watching the Olympics, and eating. Oh boy do we eat down there.
Good times were had all around.
Of course, we couldn't leave Nephi without another project. Apricots, which within a few days we had turned into 4 batches of jam and 6 pints of apricots in nectar. These will certainly make the winter months more enjoyable.
Stay tuned as next week we dive into Homeschooling! :)

I'd like to introduce you....

2008-08-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

To my lovely Sister in law, April.

http://jakeandapril.blogspot.com/

April is married to Ben's younger (but not littler) brother Jacob and they have 2 adorable kids. Brenden is just a month younger than Sophia and Tijah is coming up on a year in November. This is a picture I took of Sophia and Brenden a week or so ago.

Oh the adventures we've had together. I have to admit, I really love watching Ben and Jacob together. It's very easy to imagine them as little boys, chasing each other around playing, taking things apart and risking their lives every chance they got. Recently we went to an amusement park together and watching those two men racing each other up the stairs to the water slide sent my mind spinning with images of what it must have been like growing up in the Menlove house.

I only wish they lived closer.

Necessitae, New camera, New Family member

2008-06-14T21:53:00.001-07:00

Not necessarily in that order, mind you. First let me introduce the newest member of the M family, Delilah. I have been wanting a kitten for quite some time. 9 years to be exact but it was never the right time, never the right place, never the right price. But that has changed. My niece's friend's family had kittens and this sweet little girl spoke to us. K, she mewed at us but it was like music and the rest is history. We've been spoiling her and loving on her and making her feel right at home. With impromptu photo shoots and everything. I asked Kileah to pose with her for me, she did such a good job, she even got Delilah to look at the camera. And the smile. Just like any good big sister. You can see how hard she's concentrating on getting the pose just right.

The second "new" thing around here is my new camera. I had to invest in a new camera, not by choice, but by force of nature. Or maybe force of kitchen floor meeting my old Kodak one too many times. May she rest in peace. I took the advice of many others and bought a canon. I'm very happy with it so far. The picture clarity is really improved, especially when taking pictures of people. Taking pictures of bags is another story. There is quite the learning curve, the lighting, the pose, the shadow. It all has to be perfect, so I'm still working on that with the new camera. For now though I'm very happy with my forced investment. I told both my husband and my best friend my first project now is a padded case for said camera. Really padded.

Necessitae is stocking tomorrow! I've been on hiatus there for such a long time I feel as if it's my first time stocking with these talented artisans all over again and I have butterflies in my stomach. I actually had these 4 yarn pods all done up and ready to stock on May 30, but a case of the flu confined me to bed and delayed the stocking. I'm really happy with them all, these little bags have been a huge hit with my customers. They're just perfect for any knitter. I have a confession to make, I don't knit socks. The skinny yarn, the teeny needles it's just not for me. So when looking for a compact knitting bag that wasn't exclusively for socks the market turned out to be pretty bleak. Never one to settle for a bleak market I set to work drafting up a small pouch type knitting bag that would work for knitting things like sweaters and longies. After a little fine tuning and a search for a name the yarn pod was born! Of course the other Necessitae artisans never cease to amaze me with their talents and I have one thing to say to Carina of Sweet Mama Small Sugar, thank you. Thank you for making this too small for Sophia. I thank you and my paypal thanks you.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty!

2008-02-16T11:17:00.000-08:00

Carina of two14 design did the most amazingly perfect job on my website and also my blog. I'm so thrilled I can't stop looking at it!
Thank you so very much Carina.

Valentines Day

2008-02-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day my friends.
I hope everyone feels loved today.

Snow, glorious snow!

2008-01-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

I can call snow glorious now that we don't deal with it for 9 months out of the year. You wouldn't really think snow would differer. Snow is snow, right? But Utah snow is incomparable to Alaska snow. Utah snow is wet and you can build a snow man. Alaska snow is powdery and you can't even shape it into a snow ball.
I have to admit that even as an adult when I see fresh fallen snow I have a strong need to grab a handful and eat it. Mmmm. I ate my weight in snow every winter, easily. My best friend Tasha and I would lead expeditions and play outside in the snow all day long. One winter we had this grape, remember those huge glass grapes that were all the rage in the 70's? If you twisted just right they'd pop right off. If you chose the right grape that was in the back your mom or grandma, would most likely never noticed. We spent an entire winter hiding that grade and then finding it. Sometime in January we lost the grape. We hid it and never found it, well we did, but not until spring.
The real star of winter was icicles. If you could get an icicle off the house (not the car, those where too dirty) you were golden and could suck on the icicle all day long. We would watch the icicles on the sides of our houses grow until they were long enough for us to reach, then they were ours.
I hope my children build memories like that. Maybe that's why I go against all parenting intuition and let them pack a snow ball and munch on it for an hour?

Inspiration

2008-01-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

You never know when it's going to hit you.
You could be walking into the grocery store and bam, that girl has the most beautiful bag I've ever seen, look quick, how is it make? Is that pleated? Mental note made.
I've had the bug to sew some clothing lately. I blame the Project Runway Marathons I've been watching. It always gets me itchy to sew and design garments. Of course being a mom, my children are the likely models. I found this site a few days ago and haven't been able to get my mind off the beautiful dresses. It's almost more than I can stand. I want to lock myself in my sewing room and create for days, until each of my girls has a dress in each of the styles.
Since I don't have time to recreated every dress, I'm going to pacify my needs by whiping up a few felt clips, inspired by these.

Trading

2007-12-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

Trading is such a fabulous thing. In the wahm world it can get you items you'd never be able to afford otherwise, like a snazzy new web design, or beautiful cloth diapers. I have gotten a great deal of my children's Christmas gifts through trades this year, helping to make our Christmas even more handmade.
I was talking with my mom a while back about all the trades I do and she commented on how neat she thinks it is that we all trade, "Just like in the old days!" She said, and she's old so she knows (Love ya mom!). It's true. It is instinctual to trade, the world has worked that way for a very, very long time. I feel so blessed to have the talents that I've been given and to be able to share those with others, and enjoy their talents as well is just wonderful! My dad ran an appliance repair business when I was growing up, he very often would trade his time fixing washers or ovens for something handmade. I always thought it was the neatest thing, especially since many of these trades resulted in items that benefited me, like beautiful dolls or yummy things to eat. I never really connected what I do now with the way I was raised until recently. Now I feel even more pride in my trades. It's like a connection I have to my dad, and I'm so grateful for that.
Okay, enough with the sappy and onto the good stuff.
I just finished up this trade with Genevieve of the Cloth Canoe, we've traded in the past, and it's always just wonderful to work with her. She is so talented and full of wonderful ideas. I'm glad to call her not only a business associate, but also a friend. She sent me 2 lovely diapers, and in exchange I made her 1 Mama cloth wet bag (this is my design, with pockets on the front), 3 card holders, a full sized wallet, and a key fob. She has such great taste and chose mostly fabrics from the new Joel Dewberry line, Aviary. Stunning!
I really hope she loves them!

I will leave you with a little video of my baby prodigy, playing the piano.

Happy Birthday...

2007-09-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

A little taste of what's to come on the 21st.
Yum!

Anything can be crafty.

2007-09-10T18:29:00.001-07:00

I call this proof that I can turn anything into a craft project.
It started with me deciding to go through the toys in the play room and get rid of a bunch of Made In China stuff they never play with.

Soon I realized Leah's Littlest Pet Shop pets didn't have adequate storage. Of course the Ponies followed suit and before I knew it I had made 5 fabric covered boxes with labels and sacrificed one finger to the hot glue gun. Crafting is pain baby, crafting is pain.

I'm really pleased with the way the bookcase looks now! These boxes are much more attractive than the rubbermaid boxes the kids' toys used to reside in.

In case you're wondering LPS has a lid because Kileah likes to drag this box with her everywhere, mostly to the neighbor's house. The rest don't have lids because in my experience, it's easier for little ones, and husbands, to put things in them if they don't have the added step of taking off a lid.

Is there a tactful way of asking family and friends to not give our children toys for Christmas. Or for handmade toys?

Bump

2007-09-10T16:56:00.001-07:00

Today I woke up to the crisp cool feeling of Fall. It hit me hard. I love fall and this time of year makes me feel cozy and loved. I missed fall so very much when we lived in Alaska, we had 2 seasons there, hot and cold. The leaves would change in the morning one day and fall off that night. I am glad to be able to enjoy a crisp, cool fall.

This time of year brings so much excitement. Back to School for instance. My 2 big kids started school last week. It's been bittersweet, I think I may have been the only mommy around not really ready to send them back. We had a nice summer. But I also see how much more I enjoy the time we spend together in the evenings. Kyler is in the second grade and doing fabulously. He got 100% on his spelling test last Friday and aced his Accelerated Reader test today. Kileah has adjusted so well to kindergarten. I was very apprehensive about this all-day class but she's loving it. She is so proud of herself and comes home full of stories and experiences to share with me. As I suspected school time has left me with even less time for my business. For I have become Sophia's entertainment Comittee! I love me some patty cakes, but if I have to throw it in the oven one more time today I just might cry.

Now onto some businessy news, since that's what this blog is suposed to be for anyway.

I am excited to announce that Made By Maria is gaining an employee. My sister Chris is going to start sewing for me this week. She is a fabulous seamstress and I have been after her for a good year now to quit her 9 to 5 and sew with me. I look forward to seeing what we can create together. This also opens me up to a lot more customs and designing, my favorite things.

My website and HC are in the process of a face-lift. I don't want to say too much yet, but it's going to be really fabulous!

I am really excited about Sept. 21, It's Wonderful World's 1 year Birthday Celebration! I just love birthdays and I have so much cooking it's not even funny! Those ladies are outragiously talented and they have some great stuff in the works. Of course I will be doing a collab with Diane of Bugsnugger, among other things. :)

Hello There!

2007-02-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new business/crafting blog.
The point of this blog is to showcase my work without flooding my personal journal and annoying all my friends.
So, here you'll find pictures of my bags and anything else I decide to try my hand at.
Descriptions and ideas, sketches and probably a few sewing machine rants.
I have a cart on hyena cart: www.hyenacart.com/madebymaria, and I also stock at Wonderful World: www.hyenacart.com/wonderfulworld

Most of my business comes from custom orders. I have the best customers in the world and they really inspire me.