codys 1st day of school

so this is it.. my son had his first day of preschool. he wore his special new shirt ( from the smiling octopus on HC), his new sneakers, and his favortie backpack. he was so excited. we brought him over to the teacher and he jumped and was ready. didnt even want to look back, just ran.. i cant wait til he gets home so he can tell me all about it..

today is my bday

so today i turn 29. which isnt a big number to me, i guess we'll see how i feel when i turn 30. anyway, to celebrate im offering a free shipping sale on all items instock on MAinstreet. so i would take me up on this offer while its there. just email me at merandus@gmail.com with your choice, i will take off shipping so you can pay through HC.

i woke up to chocolate chip pancakes this morning, a sweet card from my husband ( who gave me a Paula Deen cookbook too!) and big kisses from my kids. great way to start the day. this afternoon we are doing lunch in town at my new favorite lunch spot, then maybe a little antiquing. my mother gave me a gift card to woolworks, so im going to buy some kickass yarn today too!! yay! nothing like the gift of yarn :)

anyway, lots to do. finnishing up lastminute items for KS grandopening. getting ready for codys big day tomarrow. and i also became and aunt as of Thursday. Little Lily was born, and i will be seeing her sometime this week. very very good month here!

Muddy Buddies recipe

ok, so back to school season got me thinking.. what was my favorite snackwhen i was a kid? it was chex muddy buddies! i know i still love this snack, and so do my kids. so if you have made them before, and forgot all about them, or havent made them, heres a refresher recipe. for those of you on WIC, its a great way to use up cereal and the peanut butter.
ingredients:
1 cp semisweet choc chips
1/2cp peanut butter
1/4 cp butter
1 tsp vanilla
9 cps chex (we use corn chex)
1 1/2cps powdered sugar

1.) in a large microwavable bowl mix choc chips,pb & butter ( i prechop the butter). microwave for 1 min on high. mix it up, if its not smooth after mixing put it back in for 30 secs. stir in vanilla
2.) put the cereal in a large bowl, pour choc mixture over the chex. with a rubber spatula mix it gently til all of the cereal is coated. put 4 cups of this cereal mix into a large bag ( we use freezer bags)
3.) pour in 1/2 cp of the powdered sugar over the mix. close bag and shake. add another 4 cps of mix and 1/2 cp of sugar, shake. repeat til all mixture is in the bag and shoke.
4.) refridgerate!

this is the easies thing to make. its great over icecream too!

i finnished the doll for Brandilyn! yay! she is a blond haired doll, with a pretty pink dress with lollypops on it. Brandilyn told me that her daughter is into all things pink, so i figured this dress would be perfect, plus its one of my favs! she is being shipped out this afternoon.
im getting some more crocheting done today, trying to get ready for the big craft fair. i have about 8 bunnies made, i just have to sew their eyes on. then im going to make a massive stock of play food! i really enjoy making the playfood, im hoping its a big hit at the fair. im doing alot of sets with Dena of Lulubird designs, so i think they will fly off the table!
anyway, not alot going on this week. New England is still in a heat wave. which is killing me. we have the AC on every day! the kids havent been playing outside unless theyre swimming. and to top it off, my veggie plants got some funky bug on them thats wiping them out :( not too happy about that!
did get some sewing done this weekend. made a bunch of lunch bags to sell on KS. theyre super cute and insulated as well. ill take pics when ive finnished the whole lot. i started off making one for cody, for his first day of school, then found that i really enjoy making them.

so i have a custom doll i have to work on today/this weekend. its for a really nice momma on DS, and she requested blond hair. so i hope to get her done by sunday. i do have more sewing to do, and i have some more crocheting i want to get done for the upcoming craft fair.
so far today i made a batch of peanut butter cookies, which my kids managed to eat half of already. this is why i dont like to make cookies when theyre awake. they stand there and beg for the beaters, then they steal cookies when im not looking..evil little cookie thieves.

Knickerdoodies sale tomarrow!

well, my friend Nancy has decided to close down Knickerdoodies,and merge her name onto KS! which is very exciting. so she is having an inventory clearance, clear out tomarrow at 3:00pm. her trainers are as low as $4, which is amazing! i have several of her trainers,and loved them. so the sale is definatly worth checking out.
i think the new adventure of Kindred Spirits is going to be great. i cant wait to showcase my sewn items, and to see what Nancy comes up with next. having a sewn item shop that sells trainers, diapers, and clothes is so convenient. cause i cant make diapers and trainers, so having nancy do that is alot easier. Plus, with her opening this shop with me, it makes more sense for her to close down knickerdoodies. kwim?
www.hyenacart.com/knickerdoodies

got a dress made for KS. its a really pretty pink knit with purple butterflies. its a 12/18 month size, lap tee style playdress.
i finnished the longies for KJ, so those are wrapped and ready to mail in the morning.
not alot going on here today. its pretty muggy out, so i think im staying in with the AC.
i hope to get some more sewing done today, and possibly some crocheting as well.

got another outfit done for KS, this one is a gnome lap tee and obv pants. im in love with this gnome print. i would like to make a bunch of stuff for cody in this print, if i ever get around to it. but anyway, i love how it came out.
im working in finnishing up some longies for a custom. i just need to do a waistband and hem ties and its done! yay!!

fish outa bags set

Kindred Spirits grand opening is Sept 1st, and i just started sewing for it.lol.. this set took me all day yesturday. its 0-3 month pants and kimino top, made with obv in pale blue with Heather Ross fish outa bags cuffs. its soo soft, if my son was still tiny i would keep it for sure :) but hopefully it goes to a lucky baby! im a huge fan of the fish line of fabric, and i couldnt resist pairing these two together.

im working on some longies right now for a custom, then i have to do a bunny and dalmation for another. i want to do some more sewing in between these orders, but we will see what happens.

goblin hat

so this is what i have been hard at work on. its my crochet version on the earflap hat, but im calling it the goblin hat. i did this with stripes of solids, with the ear flaps and braided ends. i need to add a pom pom to it, and iron the brim flat. but its made from 100% wool yarn, and johanna loves it. im thinking im going to enter this in the Woodstock Fair this year, cause its really cute in person. i have to make one for my son now, as requested by my husband. im going to adjust the pattern a little with my sons, cause i ran into a few hard spots while creating this. and it is my own design. i hope to make a few more to sell this year as well.

On Facebook

well, its offical, i gave into facebooks temptations..yes, my facebook boycott is oficially over. LOL. Nancy set up a facebook page for Kindred Spirits, so i kinda had to sign up. i dont know if that was her sneaky way of getting me over there, cause she was sure excited when i signed up...sneaky sneaky.. so i have my page with nancy, and my own personal page under Jody Blanchette. it shows tons more pics of my children, and my crochet items. its odd though, within an hour of signing up i had 12 friends, then this morning im up to 21. kinda scary! but neat at the same time. I hope my followers on this blog make their way over to my facebook pages and check it out... i keep saying it, but i seem to be everywhere!

so here is my first skirty. its made with a yarn that my friend Summer dyed for her first time. she sent it to me, in hopes i could make something beautiful out of it for her little girl. and this is what i came up with, it wasnt the original plan, but i couldnt stop myself. i made large ruffles and scallop trimmed shorties. they really are pretty. im going to attempt to make one for johanna, but minus the shorts cause we're potty training :)

nectars grand opening

Nectar congo stocks today, i hope everyone checks it out at 8:00pm. i cant wait to see what sells, and how many shoppers we have, i think thats one of the most exciting things, checking out how many people are shopping. at Mainstreet at one point we had like 32 shoppers, and it made my heart pound!! so, i hope i sell atleast one thing. Nancy did a great job with the graphics, and vendor choices. i think its going tobe a fun congo.

www.hyenacart.com/nectar