Free February Download

I don't have any photos of this download in a frame but seeing how we have been receiving quite a few requests about our February download I thought I would get it up here for you all before the month was half over. Just click here to download it for free.  It has been a really long week or so and I have to admit I was tempted to use this one below:

Also,this month we will be giving a portion of all of our sales to Team Ashley of Lil Blue Boo! I was planning on recapping everything that Ashley has been going through, but Amy over at Evy's Tree has already written a post that perfectly explains Ashley and her beautiful spirit so I will just link to that. I couldn't possibly write it any better than she already has. If you have not ever been to Ashley's blog I HIGHLY recommend it. She is such an incredible inspiration! And make sure you have some tissues ready...


Also, I ask for your continued prayers for our extended family. I will be back tomorrow to share what happened last weekend and how God has been using it.

Violette Field Threads and Bartimaeus Project

We've been quite busy these past few days! I finally finished up several different projects I've been working on but the biggest one was part one of building Lola a little toddler bed. She loves it. It's so cute seeing how excited she is about it but a little sad too. =(  I took some photos of it in her room yesterday and also took photos as I was building it so I will have a tutorial for it at some point once I get the photos onto my computer and edited. 

Anyway, I wanted to pop in this weekend to let you know about a couple of things. First, I wanted to introduce our newest sponsor, Violette Field Threads. They make patterns and tutorials for the most darling children's clothing and accessories. Violette Field Threads is the creation of two best friends, Ericka and Jessica, who have a passion for design and sewing. They orginally each created their own boutique clothing line and the demand quickly outgrew what they could supply on our own. Because their real passion was in the design and creative side of their work, they joined forces and Violette Field Threads PDF Patterns and Tutorials was born. Their patterns are thoughtfully written down to smallest detail. This allows for even beginning sewers to create designer looks. Here are a few of my favorite patterns from their website:

The Emmaline Dress Pattern:

The Josephine Blouse and Dress Pattern:

They also have accessory patterns like this Felicity Flower Pattern:

Be sure to visit their shop, blog and facebook page!

And second, we wanted to share with you what we are choosing for our January Donation. A portion of each sale during the month of January will go to the Bartimaeus Project.

"The Bartimaeus Project is a collaborative effort between doctors, host parents, field missionaries in The Philippines, donors and our board of directors. The project seeks to glorify God by serving visually impaired orphans.  We are not an adoption agency but we work in close connection with an agency accredited to place Filipino children into permanent homes. We provide opportunities for visually impaired orphans to receive sight-restoring surgery in the United States and to be hosted by families who feel drawn toward adoption. We also provide hands-on therapy to children in orphanage care at no cost to the orphanage."

You can read more about the Bartimaeus Project by clicking here.

I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

A Magazine Shoot and our January Family

As I mentioned last week, we have some exciting news. A couple of months ago we received an e-mail from an editor about photographing our home for their Christmas issue! It was a magazine I have purchased and read in the past so I was absolutely thrilled and so excited, to say the least! They will be coming later this month to shoot everything so our Christmas stuff will remain up for another two to three weeks. In fact, I still have several projects that I still need to finish. So, the posts I do over the next few weeks will still be kind of "Christmasy" or there will probably at least still be Christmas lights in the background. =) I didn't want you all to think I was that crazy person, though, that never takes down their Christmas lights.  I will share more about it once it gets a little closer and will definitely give all of the details after they come and shoot everything. I am going crazy trying to finish all sorts of projects now - ahhhh!!!!!

We also have another new thing we are excited about. This year, each month we are going to choose a different family/organization/cause to donate a percentage of EVERY sale made that month. At the beginning of each month we will share where it will be going.

I had already planned in my head who we were going to donate a portion of all of January's sales to when I saw a Facebook post on my friend, Ashley's wall about a little boy that she had recently photographed that completely touched me. I couldn't get it out of my head all day yesterday and seeing how we hadn't announced it yet on our blog or our facebook page we decided to switch it. So, this month a portion of all our sales will be going to Ethan and his family.  Little Ethan had surgery to remove a tumor above his eye on December 22 and was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), a rare cancer-like disease that affects 1:200,000 children. Ethan will most likely be starting chemo on Friday, which is his 3rd birthday. My heart just breaks for him and his family. If you would like to know more about Ethan and his family click here. Please keep him in your prayers.

Also, we have restocked some of our Briar Hats in black:

I can't believe how young Lillie looks in these pictures. She's grown up so much!

I am finishing up a free download for January and hope to have it available tomorrow.

I hope you all have had a wonderful start to 2012!