Fantasy book review

I recieved a copy of The Ale Boy's Feast  by Jeffrey Overstreet for review from Waterbrook Multnomah Press. I love the idea of this book; Several different peoples, including both humans and Beastmen struggle to find a place of freedom from the opression of the Seers (magicians) who control them. I love fantasy and definitely see the potential of this series.  However, I did not realize when requesting this book that it was part of a series and definitely would not recommend starting with this one! I was confused through most of the book, and while i enjoyed it, it was not a satisfying read due to the confusion. I felt like there must have been a lot one misses in the first few books that help oen understand the world the author creates and what is going on. There were several different story lines that eventually came together, but it was confusing to jump back and forth between them. I did really like the concept of the book, and would be interested in reading the first books of the series and then re-reading this one. I think its worth one's time, but definitely read them in order!

Jammy Pants

I found some cute jammies at a yard sale last summer, and even was given a few shirts that the woman couldn't find the pants for.

I finally got around to sewing up some pants using some of hubby's old tee shirts! I put it off due to the knit and then since the walking foot I had been waiting for didn't work anyway, tried it without; it worked perfectly of course!  So now that Eli is almost outgrowing them, he finally has some pants for these cute tops!

Making your own pattern for things is not as difficult as it sounds, especially for something as simple as these pants, so give it a try! There are loads of sites that will explain how (click here to sign up for swagbucks and earn prizes for searching!), I love the blog MADE and she posts on how to draw your own (the shirts she explains briefly here are on my to-try list!).  I love that I saved so much money on his Jammies! First getting so many of the shirts for FREE and then adding free pants by reusing some tee shirts!

Messenger Bag

I sewed up a messenger bag from a pattern by Aivilo Charlotte Designs.  The great thing about this pattern is that she gives you three different size options.  I made the large size which is about 17 by 12 1/2 by 4 inches.

It has a magnetic snap closure.

A great full pocket in the front, great to keep you planner, a notebook, or some folders separate.

Lots of great customizable pockets inside: pencils/pens/highlighters, calculator, phone, planner, ipod, makeup, etc...

and 2 pockets on the back.

And, I just realized, I forgot to snap a picture of the key clip hidden down in the big pocket! Clip your keys on and never go searching in your bag again!

A great bag for any age student, or a cute purse or mom bag in a smaller size (i'm anxious to try one of the smaller ones now!). This one hopefully already has a home, but i might have to make one for our laptop...

These are available to be ordered on a custom made basis at $45 each for the larger size.  Contact me! Smaller bags will be priced soon.

book reviews!

The intro to this devotional book, Voices of the Faithful book 2 by Beth Moore is great as the author shares the purpose for the book. I was drawn to the book because I have been involved in missions, but loved that she stresses that one of the goals is to connect Christians everywhere and "ditch the 'us and them' mentality." another goal is to motivate others to serve missions if one feels a call, but also reminds us that as christians, some are called to other areas of service. wherever we serve, we need the support of other Christians and that is offered in the book! Both introductions note that the book is a great place to begin to pray for missionaries serving now, to have a specific person and place to pray for each day as one reads the devotion. Imagine if all of us reading this book would pray for each author as we read! What an amount of prayer for these amazing missionaries! The devotions are short, less than a page each, with a scripture verse and a simple guide to prayer. They are separated by month into themes, such as prayer, God our loving Father, divine appointments, etc. devotions bring you into the lives of missionaries for a tiny taste of their service. This is a great devotional guide for those with a heart for missions, whether you have served or not, and those who want to focus your prayer life on missions and make a difference in the lives of missionaries today! I would definitely recommend this book, whether you are just beginning to attempt daily devotions, or just want to add a missions focus to your current devotional time.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathon Rogers was a funny, sweet story of an "ugly" boy and his journey through life as an orphan found by a showman trying to make money off a gullible public. It has a great ending I didn't expect at all! And Grady is a wonderful character, with a sweet, friendly heart yet lonely and wondering where he fits in and being betrayed by his only "family". I would recommend this book to any age reader! I enjoyed it as an adult, and think even younger readers would enjoy it as a read-aloud. I agree with other reviewers that though published through a Christian publisher, it's not an overtly Christian book and I think could be popular among secular readers as well, though I think if you read it with a faith perspective there are parallels that could be drawn. Overall an enjoyable book.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
 
While the World Watched by Carolyn Maull McKinstry is a great book to learn about racial injustice in the south through the story of a young girl who witnessed the bombing of her church and the deaths of 4 of her friends. This is a very readable history of this woman's life and how she was personally affected by the treatment of blacks in the south. I did not feel like the author wanted me to feel guilty for being white, but more like she wanted to get readers thinking about what we do now to love others around us (of any race!). I would recommend this book to anyone interested in stepping into the shoes of someone who lived these injustices; it is simply written and appropriate, I believe, for even younger readers to use as an introduction to the subject.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review 

Foldable Grocery Bags and Produce Bags!

So everyone has seen the re-usable grocery bags at all the grocery stores... ok, really ANY store sells them now! And you've all heard the hype about how we should all use re-usable bags and help save the environment... have you also heard of how those bags probably have all kinds of bacteria in them?  As cheap as they are, I don't imagine they are easily washable- I have a collection of my own and haven't tried that yet, though they get sprayed with Lysol occasionally... Anyway, I stumbled upon this tutorial from Yarnkgeek (promise, no knitting or yarn involved in this one!) for folding grocery bags.  There are a few other tutorials around too, but this seemed to be among the simplest for me (and plus she doesn't mind if one sells things made from her tutorial... hint hint... let me know if you are interested!).

Here's how mine turned out:

From the tutorial, you can get 2 bags from 1/2 yard!  And they fold up nice and small!

They fold up nice and small (see, about 5 1/2 inches). I have grand plans to make myself more and get rid of my old germy ones. Since these are just cotton, you can chuck them in the washer!  I also plan to make up some kind of little pouch to store them all in. Handy dandy!

I used fabric I had for these (from my Grandma!) but you could buy cheap amazing fabric and make it gorgeous! 

I also thought these produce bags were so cute, so I tried out another tutorial from Daisy Janie.

The 2 sizes of loops allow you to cinch it closed!

And til I make my little pouch, i just folded up the produce bag and tucked it inside the grocery bag! 

So go GREEN and sew up some cute bags!

New Purses!

I made a few purses over the last week or two...
First up is my ABSOLUTE favorite bag EVER (sorry runarounds... love you too!).  Its the No.22 Pleats Shoulder Bag designed by ithinkisew.com.  It's HUGE!

I added 2 inside pockets to mine, and am completely LOVING it!



Sparkly buttons!




See how teensy tiny my diaper clutch (on left) looks in there?!

 Since you can't really appreciate how big it is in these photos, check out the link to her etsy shop here; she has great pics that really show off how gorgeous and humongous it is!

Next up is the Aivilo Charlotte Designs Gathered Purse, which is another favorite after seeing it in person!

Its for my lovely cousin who actually picked out the fabric!



It has pockets running the entire length which can be customized to fit cell phone, diapers, wallet, pencils, etc.  (I'll do this one differently next time around... I didn't really like the big diaper pocket, though I didn't test it out...), and....





a matching button closure (my first experience with covering buttons... LOVE IT!).



It's a pretty large bag too!

 And also by the same designer, Aivilo Charlotte Designs, a convertible wristlet!

Zipper pocket

Cash and credit card pockets

If you look closely, you can see the little wristlet strap sticking out on the right. With this one, you also have the option to change the strap to make a mini purse (one strap to each side). Great size to grab and go with enough room for money, cell, and more.  It's bigger than I thought it would be! I think I personally will whip one up to stash my wallet, checkbook, etc in to help organize my larger bag or make it easier to sneak out the door when I finally get a trip out alone!

And of course, just for fun...







Mini Runaround!

Mini Runaround 2!

And 2 more full-size Runarounds for the portfolio...

Stay tuned for the smaller version of the Pleats Shoulder Bag, as well as pricing in case anyone wants one of anything shown!

The Diaper Drive (and the Amazing women that made it happen!)

My facebook friends are probably aware I ran a little diaper drive a little while back. In a previous post, I wrote about my time in Honduras, mostly spent at an orphanage called Emanuel Children's Home. When I was there, the Home's policy was not to accept infants and toddlers as the amount of staffing was just not appropriate for such young children (and to be completely honest, was not adequate for older children either!) and there were no extra funds to provide such staff.

 

There have been amazing changes recently, in great part due to a wonderful woman Vivian who donates her time to act as director of the Home, as well as to people here in the states, especially Bill and Rona who spend so much time raising funds, planning, coordinating and organizing trips and work projects, writing newsletters and doing sooooooo many awesome things to help the Home. I have, unfortunately, not made it back for several years now, and am pretty sure I will barely recognize the place with all its new buildings, programs and children! 

One of the biggest changes, and the one that inspired the Diaper Drive, was the construction of the Sala Cuna, the building that houses the infants! Thanks to the aforementioned hard workers and wonderful donations from both the US and Honduras, there is now space for 10 babies, but only enough funds for staffing for 4. This is such an amazing accomplishment and a blessing for these babies; though there are excellent children's homes in Honduras, there are also many with very poor conditions.  How wonderful to be able to give babies an amazing home before they suffer through more years of poverty!

The Home currently has 3 babies in the Sala Cuna; disposable diapers in Honduras are expensive and the Home is unable to purchase them for daily use.  As many mothers in Honduras do, they buy (by our standards) inexpensive flat fold diapers and pins for at home use, with NO covers.  I know that many of you cloth diaper-ers do this at home, but I honestly cannot imagine having to be continually changing diapers as soon as they wet to avoid wet bouncers, exersaucers, swings and carpet!

So I put out a call on my yahoo co-op for diaper fabrics, as well as a few other co-ops I'm a part of as well as on facebook for used cloth diapers to send to those beautiful babies! And to my great surprise, I very quickly got responses!  And even greater suprise: I got boxes in the mail! I was honestly flabbergasted that these women would be willing to send hundreds of dollars worth of cloth diapers to a person they'd NEVER EVEN MET! Thank God for their willingness to trust a stranger because those diapers were AMAZING! And while the vast majority were used in excellent condition, some were (or at least appeared to me!) to be new!  And one woman sent something that hadn't even crossed my mind (though I use them myself and love them), a HUGE stack of fabulous cloth wipes! Yummy luxurious sherpa, cotton velour and flannel ones that made me want to run out and buy new fabric for my own set! I wish I'd taken some photos before I shipped them away so you could appreciate this wonderful gift, but alas, I didn't. 

Rona, however, has sent me a few photos of these beauties in use on the beautiful camara-shy babes! 



Lauren (2 year volunteer) and one of the baby girls.



The 2 little girls with Lizzeth Thomas (whose husband is one of the founders of the Home) and Lauren (2 year volunteer).

So much much much thanks to you, lovely ladies, for your wonderful generosity!

And once again, to see more pictures of the beautiful kids at Hogar Emanuel and of the home itself, to support the Home financially (you can make a one time donation, or choose to support a child or staff member monthly), or to find out more information about joining a work group or recieving the monthly newsletter, click here go to the Hogar Emanuel website.

Several of the women have etsy shoppes where you can check out their beautiful handmade items! Click on the shoppe names to check them out! (they did not know when donating that they'd be getting a smidgen of free advertising!) If you make a purchase (or even if you don't) let them know how you heard about them and how much you appreciate their wonderful gift!

Stefanie's shop is called Itty Bitty Bums and she sells wonderful cloth all-in-two diapers and diaper covers, in adorable prints!

Sharon's shop Junktique offers gorgeous handmade Cutie-Patootie diapers as well as patterns and diaper making supplies. (I've seen her seconds and they are fabulous so I can only imagine...)

Gretchen's website is Small Wonders Wipes and she sells the fabulous reusable cloth wipes she donated to the Home along with her diapers (FOUR boxes full!), as well as flannel recieving blankets, and bibs!

Karen does not have a home biz, but was gracious enough to send EIGHTEEN!!! washed but UNUSED Fuzzibuns! I seriously swooned when I opened the box! (Ok, that happened with everyone's donations, but...)

Her daughter does have her own shop called Panhandle Girl for handmade soaps, cremes and lip balm!  You can get 3oz soaps in ten yummy scents like  Cowgirl Love Patchouli and Hard Candy Peppermint, or purchase it in a slab (12 bars worth!) She also has 2 scents of body creme, lip balm, and 2 options for easy gift giving like the Vinyl Fever Gift Basket below.





So thanks again ladies and the rest of you, feel free to go check out their shops!