...love at first sight...

MEET SOPHIE!

we made a new addition to our family! sophie is a 7 week old yellow lab. she is perfect, hysterical, sweet, calm, loving, attentive, sleepy....i could go on and on.

the girls love her and them being 10 & 14 they will be the perfect ages to take on the 'molding' of sophie's personality! i have a feeling she will become our dream doggie!

today she spent the afternoon with us on the pontoon!

she loved it!

she slept...

the girls were worried she was too warm so they gave her an ice pack from the cooler to lay upon...she loved that! she also enjoyed licking ice cubes!

we love her...

we don't know what we did without her...

and, my family is happy that i now have something new to photograph ...

other than the chickens!

which...by the way...left us 14 beautiful eggs today!!!

....life is sooooo good....

...my head is spinning...

so many new ideas my head is spinning. let's just say i sat at the machine so much today that i broke my last needle. so spent the rest of my time cutting and preparing for when i have that new package of needles! :)

"reuseable snack baggies" - fashioned like the 'flap top' baggies. perfect for dry snacks ... nuts, dried fruit, cookies, cherrios, candy treats ... also great for organize your bag or anywhere for that matter! i think (and hope) they will be a hit at this weekends des moines market day!!!

then, owls...who doesn't love owls???

big owls, little owls...they're all so adorable!

then our afternoon was finished with hay baling! usually done on the hottest day of the summer. not today! it was a beautiful afternoon. now we have lots of good winter feed for the 3 calves that reside in our barn!

...fabric scraps...

***new item***

i have all these fabric scraps...what to do with them? so i sat in my work studio & came up with these super adorable fabric rosettes. attached 3 together and added a large pinback and 'voila'! darling added to a scraf, fall sweater or jacket or the front of a pillow! these will be available at the next des moines market day on august 28th! moral of the story...never, never throw anything away! it has the opportunity to be something beautiful!

how exciting...do it yourself magazine!!!

now, this is truly exciting! iowa crafter, angie lambert, hey, that's me!!! got her cupcake pincushion & name in the do it yourself better homes and gardens magazine! WOW! i was shocked, amazed, humbled and honored!

whoda' thunk???

it's been awhile!

it has been quite some time since my last post. the end of summer school break has been busy for the lambert's! we're trying to squeeze everything into the last few weeks. including vacation! which, it's also been awhile for that! 4 years since we've gone away for more than 2 days! we loaded up the boat and headed to central minnesota - planted ourselves in a very comfortable little cabin on a beautiful lake - we un-wound, reconnected and just plain enjoyed ourselves. an old drive-in movie theatre, wonderful fish suppers, shopping, sleeping, a box of twinkies, a pool, no mosquitoes, lovely resort hosts & neighbors and the best dock-boys around!

now? well, now it's time to organize the school supplies for a 5th grader and high school freshman! time to practice the clarinet & get up before lunch! we're ready...i'm ready! i will get so much work done once the girls are back at school! and i need to!

tonight i am vending at the farmer's market in valley junction (west des moines). i'm looking forward to it, but wishing the heat would, well, go away! i'm all packed up and ready to leave the house at 1! i have not done a show for awhile now and am anticipating a fun evening! i'm ready for fall tho, i'm itchin to sew up pumpkins and christmas stockings! :)

...sewing room...

so, angie's sewing room (aka..the landing at the top of the stairs) got a new wardrobe! well, new to that space! it came out of our master bedroom...thanks to my parents shopping skills!

mom and dad recently visited a fantastic fabric store in way northeren minnesota. this shop specializes in custom pieces and has beautiful heavier weight fabrics which is what i really love! well, when mom ventured down to the basement she discovered that they sell 'scrap bags'. all the pieces left over from custom drapes, comforters, slip-covers, etc! pieces that the normal establishment would sadly throw out! they shove as much as they can into see-through huge garbage bags. needless to say - my parents came home with 14 bags!!! plus 2 huge bags full of way discounted remenents! i was so tickled.

so now i am in the process of going through some of these bags...hence the need for the big beautiful wardrobe! which in our bedroom just held photos that collected way too much dust! :)

there are little pieces, big pieces, pieces in strange shapes and some small enough for my bird nesting balls. it is a prize poccession for recycks! still, recycled materials...saved from the land fill! can't wait to start sewing

------> remember i said i now have 14 bags!!!! **WOW**
thanks mom and dad....you rock!

...project bag...

when maggie at prairieland herbs messaged me and asked for a knitting/project bag using my fused plastic i immediately accepted the challange! i tossed around a few ideas for a few days and then decided to incorporate vintage fabric & plastic. i cool combination i think!

i stopped by with 3 in hand and she loved 'em! i sold some at the last market day in des moines and fully intend to make more!

i'm thinkin' they would be great for marbles, legos, toting around barbie and all her accessories, the 'needs' for a day trip, knitting project....it's endless really! take it to the park, plop it down in dewey grass and don't worry~the plastic on the bottom will protect it all!

i love it when a friend sends me an idea and i can accomplish it! it's good all the way around!

so this bags official name.....the maggie bag!!! :)