So I'm sick. That was a terrific Mother's Day gift, but my wonderful guys let me take a 4 hour nap and that helped a lot.

You know what doesn't help? Sounding like Minnie Mouse. No one takes you seriously when you sound like Minnie Mouse.

It's worse that when you try to get loud, or god forbid - yell. There's no sound, and the sound that does escape are squeaks.

Your 5-year-old will tell you that we don't whine. Whining is not allowed, Mommy.

When you tell him that you're not whining that you're just talking, he will laugh at you. Loudly. And in your face.

You may frown, and the uppity brat will come over and give you hugs, all the while still laughing at your expense. You will eventually join him, because - let's face it - you do sound ridiculous.

So enough about my hoarseness, lets get on with what I've been doing!

There are some new additions to the shop! I still have a couple take photographs of, but for right now here are the two that are good to go!
 What do you guys think? I almost don't want to sell them. They're so very sweet and precious, but they don't match a thing in my house.
 Can't you just see them resting in a lovely parlor? Or a sun room? How about a little girl's room, or a sweet garden nursery? Here are the links: Hydrangea & Rose

Oh the possibilities.

And in other news -

I have sponsor spots open! It's $4 a month, or if you want, and because you love this little 'ole blog of mine so much you can do 3 months for the low, low price of $10. :)

Alright guys - I've got some hot cocoa calling my name. :) I'll chat with ya later

~Heather

I was expecting to see a Friday Food Frenzy post today. I was looking forward to my weekly recipe fix, but there's not one here.

Have any of you seen my sister? She seems to have disappeared.

I have posts I could share, but I don't want to yet. :) They're for next week.

So instead I'll share things that have been going on around here.

Dev has three loose teeth! These are his first, so I'm really excited about making a tooth fairy box for him. :)

I haven't been to the dentist in 6 years...I know, I know. I'm already castigating myself over it. I have cavities...a lot of them, and I need to loose a few teeth, but I also found out that I inherited my mother's gum disease. Yay for that. Dana has it too (I'm sure she'll love me sharing that, but she's not here today, is she?). Luckily its not too bad yet, so after some smile fixing, I get to tackle that hurdle. You guys wanted to know all of this didn't you? :)

Let's see - what else has been going on? Oh yea, I added a couple of new pillows to the shop.

See the rest of the pictures {HERE}

I have two of these little beauts. I have more planned, but I'm waiting on some of the set to dry, and then I'll get them added this weekend.

Oh I wanted to make banana bread this AM, but I had no sour cream and the butter wasn't softened. Sadness. I guess I'll have to make the bread later. :(

Ok guys - well hopefully Dana shows up, but if not I may have to come up with another post. :)

BTW - HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

So in continuing with celebrating of Straight Stitches turning 1, I figured I'd revisit my very first post ever, and I'd also be offering my favorite post.

This is Dev at his third birthday. Yay for black icing!

Ok, nevermind. We won't be revisiting that first post. In all honesty I find it kind of repetitive. :) Maybe I should do my first project. Yes, that's what I'll do. :)  Nevermind. You know what I'll do? I'll share some of the things I've learned.

First I want to share that the shop is having a sale in honor of the birthday celebrations. Just type in Birthday15 and you'll receive 15% your order! And in other news! Over at Leslie's blog, Night Owl Crafting, I'm hosting a giveaway! It starts at 8 am PST so be sure to fly on over there and check that out!
Ok now its time for the things I learned. :)

1) A fuzzy picture is better than no picture at all. Yes, its true a wonderfully perfect picture is amazing and will make your post look professional and snazzy, but we've all had those moments and instances when our 'perfect' shot doesn't come out so perfect because you're holding something that really needs both hands, but one hand in holding the camera, you've got kids running around like wolves and you're just trying to get the shot you want, and it ends up blurry. Go with it. Apologize for the quality, explain the situation, but still include it. Not everyone can follow written directions, some are visual , not everyone can write well-written directions {sometimes I fall in that category}, but the effort of what you're trying to explain will show through. Even if its a blurry picture. :) See...you can see that the cookie good and being devoured even with the blurry picture. :) I was not about to give my imp another cookie for breakfast just for the sake of the blog....that was his 2nd or 3rd cookie as it was. ;-)

2) Don't try to be someone you're not. I write like I talk. You may now feel sorry for my husband. You may feel even sorrier for my father, because my mother, both my sisters and I are all this way and yes, we're capable of having 4 different conversations with 5 different people all at once. Please don't interrupt...you'll wreck our train. :)  Oh, and yes, in real life I do change between subjects at rapid fire pace. I also cross talk and go back to previously discussed items. Apparently my brain is not as well organized as I like my house to be, but maybe that's why my house is more organized than others because I am a scatterbrain and I need some structure somewhere. :) Oooooh. Look at me...getting deep and stuff. :) I also use a lot of smiley faces because you cannot convey tone through typed text. No matter how hard you try, so I add :) so everyone knows that I'm happy/joking about whatever it is I'm talking about, and sometimes a :) is all  that is needed.

3) Stay true to why you started to blog. You can't please everyone, not everyone will love what you've created, and some may even think that's completely redonkulous and wonder why you wasted your time. Ignore them. Who cares. You created something that you like and that will work with your life, family and home. Screw the rest of the nay-sayers.

I feel like there are probably more than 3 things that I've learned, but honest to god my husband's snoring is keeping me from thinking of them {love ya babe!} Ok that's not really true, but I am having a hard time concentrating and I have no idea why. Maybe its because I'm writing this post on Saturday, and I'm really looking forward to frying up the beignets tomorrow. I think with my stomach {a lot}

I want to thank my top referrers for the last year!

1. Thrifty Decor Chick
2. Tatertots & Jello
3. The Graphics Fairy
4. Domestically Speaking
5. Remodelaholic
6. Shanty 2 Chic
7. Under the Table and Dreaming

I also want to thank all of you, my 300 wonderful readers! I will probably do this several times this week if I haven't already started doing so. Don't forget -  now through March 1 everything in my etsy shop will be 15% off. Just type use coupon code Birthday15 at check out!

Oh for those that are interested, my all time favorite post is HERE. Its the first and last time that Stephen has actively tried being involved in one of my craft adventures. I love him for the effort, but I think I will keep him away from glitter from now on. :)




Have a great day guys!

Can you believe that Black Friday is 4 days away?!?!? Cyber Monday is a week away! Eeeek! Are you guys already behind on your Christmas lists? I know I am! I have a list a mile long of things that need to be made for people, and we've only gone shopping for a few people. You'd think we'd be better planners than this. Its not like Christmas is at the same time of year every year. ;-)


Well if you guys are anything like most of my family then you're going to love what I'm about to share. Gina over at The Shabby Chic Cottage is hosting a Christmas Carnival and a day of giveaways! How amazingly awesome is that? Who doesn't like free stuff.....especially at this time of year?!?!

Well the news gets even better.....I'm participating in Gina's carnival, which means that the shop wares are up for grabs, but if you're impatient (and I sincerely hope that one of you is!) I have decided to give everyone a little bonus. I know that I rarely ever win giveaways and I know that a lot of you feel that way so I'm going to try and give everyone something. :) For the next week, from today, 11/22, to Cyber Monday, 11/29, I am offering a 10% discount to all of you, my faithful readers!


Etsy has come out with coupon codes, and I am taking advantage! If you purchase anything from my shop, including the sale items, just enter CYBERWEEK10 and it will automatically apply a 10% discount to your order. How easy is that? I am in love. :)

In other news. I have done away with all domestic shipping charges. Enough of that hoopla. The price you see is the price you pay. If its international there is still a small shipping fee, but I am now shipping internationally so thats good news too!

You will notice that there are some new designs in the shop and more will be added this week. Nothing like pressure to get a multitude of gifts made and keep the designs rolling in for the shop! No pressure. :)

I hope all of you guys have a great day and enjoy the start to the shopping season! Personally, I can't wait for Black Friday, because  that's the day that Dev and I have been looking forward to for a month. :) I'm so excited to decorate!

Have a great day guys and enjoy!!!

Saturday was my very first gift fair, and it was a learning experience. I met a lot of nice ladies, and chatted with them throughout the day. There was not a lot of traffic, but for the traffic we got I'm quite happy with what we sold. I got a lot of ideas about where to head with the etsy shop and what changes to make to what I sell.

I want to share with you guys what the booth looked like. It did change a couple of time during the day as I rotated the pillowcases around and what not, but I am quite happy with how our space turned out.

I need send out a big thank you to Marian for all of her help and advice on setting up the booth. She answered all of my questions, because I was quite apprehensive about how it was all going to come together. :)

So without further ado, here is what the space looked like Friday night.





So here is what the booth looked like Saturday morning after we stocked it up with the rest of the goodies!

Like I said, the day was very educational and entertaining. Everything will be back up in the shop tomorrow {sometime} and I just want to remind everyone that we do like special orders. If you see something you like, but need it in a different color then shoot me an email {haboyajian at gmail dot com} and tell me what you'd like to see.

I will be sharing some tutorials this week about some of the pillows up there, especially the pleated ones. So I hope you all have a great day today and enjoy yourselves!