Silly Boys...

I had to share this pic of our family photo shoot this year. Fin was being a tiger. Apparently this is the facial expression of a tiger in between roaring during a photo session. We were laughing so hard. I'm sure by this time next year he will have grown out of pretending to be a tiger, so it makes this picture even more special. Today, our neighbor, Bella came over to get some help with her knitting. Right when she sat down Fin was at it. I tried to explain roaring at her means he likes her. He was crawling on all fours like he does...she had the most puzzled look on her face. Priceless.

Mandy took our pictures, of course. :)

Brand New

I know I've said this before...when I see brand new human beings wearing something I made it makes me melt. What a compliment! Can you even stand how perfect these two sisters are? They are identical...and even get to have 2 older brothers. Thanks to Momma, Bethany, for sharing the picture!

Karsen's 8th Birthday

This is Karsen. She was lucky enough to go to Mary Poppins on her 8th Birthday. I smile every time I see this picture! It's fun for me to see one of my hats part of her big day. She looks perfect in that color, doesn't she? Her flower is the new jersey type I've been doing. I love how the less it matches the better it looks. A red or brown button would work great too.
What a lucky girl.

It's really me!

Hi! Wow, it's been too long. So much has been going on. My poor blog has been neglected. First, I wanted to let you know that I've been getting reports that my susieknits@comcast.net e-mail is not working properly. You can e-mail me @ smacu2@aol.com instead.

I have been working away on many, many hat orders. Thank you for keeping my hands and mind busy! It's been crazy & fun.

Soon, I will have all sorts of hats and flower pins for sale at Mandy Birdwell's studio. You are welcome to purchase my things there. I am also doing at-home parties now. If you are interested in hosting a party send me an e-mail at smacu2@aol.com. Turn around time for all orders is 4 weeks.

I am also participating in a gift boutique in Edina on November 12th from 5-9 p.m. There will be only hand-made items for sale. Come get your holiday shopping done and see all the amazing things local women create!

November 12th, 5-9 p.m.
Centennial Lakes Centrum Bldg.
7499 France Ave. S.
Edina, MN

OK. Enough housekeeping. On to the fun stuff.

Gavin, our oldest, has been begging to be an actor. It's unclear if he even grasps what that means. However, he wore me down. I put together some of Mandy's photos and today we were off to an agency I'm familiar with in downtown Mpls. The owner of the agency seemed to like him right away. She asked him if he would want to be in a TV commercial. He said, "Well, I'd rather be in a movie." Then, she went on to explain to me she thought Gavin could be very busy and wanted to know if I was up for all the driving around the city. Before I could answer Gavin piped in, "Will I get my own office?" I just about died laughing. You could hear my Mother-in-law snickering outside the door. What a silly boy! Love it.... Here's some of the Mandy pics we shared. Of course they LOVED her work!

Some great new Mandy photos....

Does God make cuter kids?!??! I love how blond they are. That's very foreign in our house.

Jayden's wearing one of the fabric flower pins I did the other day. It's from an old shirt of mine that I shrunk. I was playing on my sewing machine and came up with a pattern. It took a couple tries to get it just right.
This hat and flower was made from some scraps I had lying around. I bought the fabric 50% off at Mill End. I wish I would have bought the whole bolt!
I love how Mandy thought to put all these colors together. It's a gift she has. She's not only a photographer but a stylist as well.

Matilda Jane Clothing and Susie Knits

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a good first day of school with all your kids!

We are having an open house at Mandy Birdwell's new Northeast Mpls. Studio this Sunday, September 13 from 3-7 p.m. Come join us if you can! Kids are welcome, of course.

Matilda Jane Clothing will be on hand as well as my hats. It's a great excuse to make your way to Northeast Mpls. to check out Crafty Planet too, if you haven't already.

If you can't make it and still want to place an order or be part of Mandy's special offer contact Beckie at ralilly@hotmail.com or call her at 651-605-5944.

Thomas

This is Thomas brand new! Thanks Momma Leah for the cute pic.

I'm am off to the lake tomorrow with the boys. My hubby has a very busy stint at the State Fair coming up. After many years experience with this time of year we get out of town...out of the way. Hopefully A will be able to come home to a nice, clean, quiet house. A beer and some channel changing will gear him up for his next shift. I've gotten so nice in my old age. :)

All sorts of stuff.

Here's our dog, Chloe, in all her glory. She sits by my Mom's garden at the lake and waits for the chipmunks to make an appearance. Almost 13 and she's still kickin' it.
I've been noticing a lot of purples, pinks, and oranges together lately. I love it! This will be one of the flowers I offer this season. I found a glue I really like that helps the fabric stay firm. It gives the flower pin a little more integrity...always a good thing.
This is my new favorite craft tool! I found this bobbin holder at Gruber's in St. Cloud. I wish I would have picked up a couple more. I carry it around with me when I'm sewing and knitting. It's compact and perfect for on the go. I keep it with all my knitting tools now. Whomever created this BobbinSaver is a GENIUS!
I've been doing some sketching this summer. I like the idea of combining knitting with sewing. After being inspired by Matilda Jane Clothing, I thought it would be fun to create a layered ruffled hat with all sorts of different fabrics. I came up with this sketch...as you can see I never got to the colored pencils part! Life interrupted my process. :) My sketch book has peanut butter smudges, coffee spills and spots of watermelon juice on it. There's evidence of what I was eating and drinking on each page. :)

Some very cute kids!

This is Brekka. Her Mom told me she's been using this hat all summer. Didn't mean for her to have to do that! :) Glad she got good use out of it though....
This is Peyton and Kinsley. Their Mom makes great earrings, so we traded. It was like a shopping spree. I rarely buy jewelry these days...it seems to be an expense I forgo. I had so much fun looking through her creations and picking out the ones I wanted to take home. Thanks Kate!

This and that...

This is Graham the other day. We were going into the YMCA and I couldn't resist snapping a photo of him. I had an outfit laid out for him (the same shirt with the shorts that go with it). He wanted to wear his soccer shorts instead. I gently (ok, maybe not that gently) told him the brown shorts work better with the shirt. He yelled, "YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF MY SHIRT!!!"
This is Fin the other day. We have been going to the doctor a lot lately and so Fin's nap usually suffers. I've started leaving blankets in my car and this one came in handy. He slept the whole time.

Can't believe it's already August...

Keenan! He was born Tuesday. Isn't he sweet?!? Look at how crisp and clean that onesie is! They never stayed like that for long in my house.
Mandy's latest...love these. She just gets better and better.

Feeling a bit of "technology overload"...

Hi Everyone! I'm letting technology stress me out a bit. Doing my website, Ravelry, Twitter, my Blog, Facebook, texting...I've gotten out of control. I'm in the in-between generation where we didn't grow up with computers, but are adjusting quite nicely. It's not natural for me to constantly be figuring out how to do this and how to do that on the computer, Blackberry, T.V., ...blaa, blaa, blaa. I do it because it gets me to where I want to go. Except I'm still sitting here in my P.J.'s and really haven't gone anywhere today.

These little guys know how to live! I'm going to take some pointers from them and turn everything off today. Join me?

Happy Travels

The gardener and his tree from seed. He started it on a school field trip this spring. We decided to take a pic of it every spring. I love how he's hugging it. That's him to a tee. Oh, and sorry about the messy kitchen. That's me to a tee.

I was cleaning out my computer the other day and came across this pic of him when he was 2. Oh my goodness...it all happens too fast. Love that curly hair...

I will be on vacation until Monday, July 6th. Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Gus

Hello sweet, beautiful, fresh, baby boy! You are too cute for words.

Rebeckah's Hat

This is Rebeckah. Her Friend, Rachel, ordered this hat for her for her birthday. I made 2 flower pins so she can mix and match depending on what she's wearing. This style hat is great for Moms since it's loose enough not to flatten our neatly done hair. :)

Thanks for the great picture, Rachel! She's the perfect model. :)

Friends

Then...
...and now.


These two have always been buds. They really don't have much in common, but they seem to have a really cute connection with one another. Graham still says they are going to get married and live next door to each other. :)

Some more...

Some more Mandy shots...

These pics will never get old! Check out Mandy's blog for the entire video to music.

Have you seen these?

My new favorite furniture...wow! I love seeing how others express themselves. Amazing! Check them out at: squint limited.

Coming out of the fog...

Hi Everyone! I'm playing catch-up after a back injury. Thank you to all my friends and family who have saved me, yet again! I am always very grateful for the people in my life that are generous and kind. It's hard for me to ask for help. It's been such a growing experience for me to accept help (love) from others. Thanks to all for helping me deal with this ongoing ailment. I am grateful that I have grown enough to appreciate my life and all the wonderful people in it. :)

Mandy and I went up stairs for a moment, came down and saw this. Chase was sitting in the sun. Soon all the kids and dog congregated around him. How cute!
Saw this on my counter this morning. Fin took a bite and decided he didn't want it.
Here's Brody on his first car ride. Welcome to our world, sweet boy.

A dream come true...

What a dream to have my hats part of this photo shoot. Everything was perfect. The clothes, the kids, the day, and of course the photographer. Mandy is a true artist. I love watching her get all her props ready. It's amazing how she finds things at rummage sales, antique stores, on-line...pretty much anywhere. Then she puts them together perfectly. That is a gift in itself! Thanks Miss Mandy for having my hats be a part of that great day.
This is KK. She's so independent and sassy. Can you tell? Those eyes!!! She is going to be something amazing when she goes up...definitely in a leadership role of some kind. I love watching her personality unfold.
Here's Preslee. She is so sweet. She's almost 3 and my 2 year old is much larger than she! She is the tiniest little thing...adorable. See the chair she's on? That's one of Mandy's finds.

I am working on my website currently. As a result, I am not taking any new orders until August 24th. If you have already placed an order, I will fulfill it. My hope is that my website makes it easier to order and to contact me. Thank you all for your support. What a compliment it is to have people wear what I make! Thank you.

Stay tuned....