BRRRRR!!!!

Hello! It has been a FREEZING, FRIGID couple of days here in Kansas! Temperatures tonight are supposed to get down to 30 below 0!!!! That is the wind chill temp. not the actual temp. but still! It has snowed so much. I can't remember when it has snowed this much. I remember a few winter's when I was a kid of really high snow but this is really yucky. I hate feeling trapped at home. While the snow is really pretty to look at-it is a huge pain to drive and get around in. I hate carting a baby around in this weather so I just tend to stay home. We are all starting to go a little stir crazy. We have had 2 snow days with 1 more tomorrow.

I love having "at home" days when I can just stay in my cozy clothes and not wear any makeup but after a day or two I am done! I need to get out! We will see what "errand" we can run tomorrow.

I have been staying busy trying some new things to sew. I have been making things for spring/summer which seems weird with it being so cold out. Spring and summer will be upon us before we know it and for the first time I will be prepared. This pink dress I was going to sell but I screwed it up big time. You can't see from the picture but there is a tiny hole on the seam of the tshirt. The tshirt got a little bunched up while sewing and when I tried to fix it I totally jacked it up. I was really mad. I decided to just give it to one of my friends daughter's. I would rather give it to someone instead of throw it away. What do you think of the fabric combo here? I was really on the fence. I do like how it turned out though.

This next dress still needs an embellishment but I just can't figure out what yet. I was thinking maybe a fabric flower? I will post some pictures when I am done with this one. This dress turned out really good. This was the first one that I did so I just used scrap fabric and an inexpensive tshirt because I didn't know if it would turn out okay. I really like these little dresses and I have so many cute fabric combinations in my head.



I really, really don't like doing the ruffle butt onesies but they are such big sellers. I decided I am just going to make up a bunch of these and see what happens. This is the same fabric I used for that apron I made last month. I have alot of scraps that I am going to use up. I love the fabric combo! Whatcha think?
Well that is all I have for today. I need to think of something crafty to do with the kiddos tomorrow as they are getting a little stir crazy being trapped in the house. Hopefully I will have some more time for sewing.
Jules

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't believe it is 2010! 2009 really was a great year for me. It was the year my baby Nick was born! I have several New Years Resolutions but let's be serious......they probably won't last past Jan. 10. I usually NEVER have New Year's Resolutions because I just know that I will never stick to it. Isn't that awful? This year though, I do have several. They include going to the gym at least 3x/week (I am sure everyone in America is saying the same thing), taking a photography class, growing Just Jules Boutique Creations (which is really hard with a baby), being more patient, living more in the moment, being a better wife and mother. These are just a few. Ask me on Jan. 10th and see if I am still singing the same tune. We did have a wonderful Christmas spent with family and friends. My husband took the last 2 weeks of the year off and we did lots of fun family things together. I couldn't have asked for a better end of 2009. I am ready to move on though. My decorations are down, my house is clean and it feels so good to start off the new year with a more (semi) organized, clean home. It just feels like a fresh start.

I really don't have many sewing projects going on right now. My son has been begging me to make him a pair of KU PJ pants and I finally feel like I have some time to do it for him. He picked out his fleece several weeks ago. I am going to try to do it today. We will see how far I get. It is also snowing AGAIN outside and I just went out and will surprise my husband by shoveling for him. He will be really excited. I feel bad b/c he has had to shovel 3 times this past week because we have literally been dumped on with snow. He is at the movies with the older boys and he was DREADING shoveling today. I can't remember the last time that I had to shovel snow. He always just does it. I hope I did it good enough for him! He is pretty anal. I posted some before and after pictures. It was deep but really powdery so not very heavy. I don't think I pulled anything. I will probably be sore tomorrow though. I have some new projects in mind for the weeks ahead so stay tuned!

Jules

ARE YOU READY?

Are you ready? For Christmas that is. I am so not ready. It is already December 21st and I don't even feel close to ready. Leave it to me to wait until the very last second to take on a sewing project to give away as a gift. I just finished the apron that you see pictures of. What I thought would be an hour or maybe two hour project was much longer than anticipated. I bet I logged about 6 hours on this one! I sometimes forget that I am still such a novice. I got everything done fine until the last step. I just couldn't figure out the darn waist band/ties. The instructions were SUPER confusing to me! I was so frustrated. I just kept reading and rereading the instructions and FINALLY a light bulb went off and I figured it out! I do like a good challenge but not when I am on a time crunch. My poor husband kept asking "are you almost done?" He was in charge of the kids yesterday as I sewed and pondered yesterday. Thanks babe!

Anyway....I think it turned out super cute. I have had my eye on this fabric for a very long time. I kept trying to figure out what to make with this fabric. The green bird fabric is called bird seed by Alexander Henry and the orange polkadot fabric is an Amy Butler fabric. I think it makes a perfect apron. I love the combination of the two fabrics. I may make one for myself because I like it so much. It is a gift for my sister in law who is a fantastic cook/baker. I am also going to try to tackle a matching hot pad and a tea towel. I don't know how I will find time because I still haven't finished shopping, wrapping, cooking or cleaning before my 5 house guests arrive on Wednesday! Wish me luck and have a fantastic Christmas!

EXCITING NEWS!

I am happy to announce that Just Jules Boutique Creations will now be carried at Madi's Closet in Leawood! Madi's Closet is where you go to find all of the super cute boutique baby and children's items. They just relocated from Stanley, Ks. to Leawood. The new spot is a GREAT location that gets tons of traffic. It is located at 119th and Roe in Hawthorne Plaza. I am hoping Just Jules will become even more popular! To see more about Madi's Closet visit www.madiscloset.com. I am finally finishing up all of my holiday orders so I can start on sewing some of my own gifts to give away. Stay tuned for some cute items.....

Jules

5 AND ALL BOY!

5 years ago today I had the pleasure of becoming a Mom for the second time. This post today is dedicated to my son, Brady, who turns 5 today! I know it is cliche but time on this earth is really just a blink of an eye. 5 really is a huge milestone in my opinion. As a stay at home mom-5 really is a bittersweet number. It marks the year when your child enters Kindergarten. I know it is only December but I only have about 8 more months with him home with me everyday. No more will he ever be with me EVERYDAY ALL DAY which I will say again is so very bittersweet. Sure I will have more free time on my hands but oh how I will miss our quite lunches together everyday, our occasional games, our outings and our hanging out. He is so ready though. I would say I am partially ready but not totally ready.

At 5 he is very stubborn and hard headed. He is very sensitive and sweet too. He is extremely competitive and isn't the best loser. We are working on that. Lately he is obsessed with football. He really is getting good at catching and throwing. I am actually really impressed at how well he is doing. He is a follower at times and a leader at times. I secretly love how he still says "mom-I throwed the ball" or "mom-look how hard I hitted the bat" even though I correct him everytime. I also secretly love that everytime and I mean EVERYTIME he takes off his pants at night to put on his PJ's he flicks them in the air as high as he can and then laughs. I love that any day of the week he prefers to be outside rather that sitting watching tv or playing video games. He is such a good big brother. He kisses his baby brother all day and it really is priceless. He is not a touchy feely person with anyone but his baby brother. He doesn't like it when I try to hug and kiss him. I usually have to trick him by saying I have to tell him a secret and when he gets close-I get my kiss. It makes him so mad but I will never ever stop. Even when he is 50 and I am 80 I will still be pulling that trick on him. He probably will never know how much he has taught me throughout his 5 years. Here's to you Brady! I love you so very much!

TGIF!

Happy Friday! Why is putting up a Christmas tree so hard? It never just goes smoothly. I am really proud of myself for not only putting up our Christmas tree but putting the lights on as well. Sure there was a few F bombs (in my head of course), a few fights w/ the boys about where to put ornaments and of course the yearly trip to Target right in the middle of assembly because with out fail one strand of lights is burnt out. Well there she is in all her glory. I understand that the ribbon that I decided to wrap around the tree is just a tad short but I really don't care at this point. The tree is up and it looks decent. I love how excited the kids get when decorating the house. We are taking our yearly trip to Halls tomorrow night where the kids get to pick out a new ornament for the tree. They are giddy with excitement.

Anyway...a few more pictures of my sewing projects. I don't know what it is about animal print lately but I am really drawn to it. Anything animal print and I LOVE it and it shows in things that I have been making lately. Let's just hope other people like it too! I was so close to buying a pair of leopard high heel shoes the other day. I refrained but I keep thinking about them. Do you think that would be a bit much? I am kind of a gaudy person. I just don't know. The last picture is of this beautiful blanket. In the picture you really can't see it's beauty. It is a satin brocade fabric that is so soft, luxurious and gorgeous. It would be so soft against a baby's skin. I am going to be making more of these soon! That's enough for now. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Jules

BUSY BEE

I have been a total blog slacker! I have just been super busy making new things and of course there was Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a great holiday. We had a good low key (which is rare) Thanksgiving. It felt weird to not have Thanksgiving at my house for millions of people like we usually do. We did, however, host a mini-Thanksgiving for 6 on Saturday. My husband cooked everything! He really wanted to do it all and he did a FABULOUS job. I love that he likes to cook and try new things. It makes life interesting.
This time of year forces me to think about how fortunate and blessed I am. I will never know why God decided to bless me so much but I am forever grateful. I really try to not take things for granted and to feel grateful and thankful all year but it is this time of year especially that I really take time out to think about all of my blessings!
What are you thankful for?
As you can see from my pictures I have been busy. For some reason this blog site will only let me post 5 pictures. I have a TON more to post. I have my first Just Jules show this weekend so I have been scurrying and sewing and pinning and cutting for weeks. It still is proving to be a bit tricky with a 5 month old in the house. I can only really get alot done on the days he takes good naps and that is totally unpredictable. It is a little frusterating but I think I have still accomplished alot. Wish me luck!

Jules