portland(ia)

Michael and I (and little Gemma too) are headed to Portland, OR soon. Neither of us have never been anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. We are really excited to see what it is like and visit our friends there. Are any of you from the Portland area? Do you have any must-see suggestions? I already have a few things on my list; the tulip festival ,the japanese garden and a cute vintage shop.

To familiarize myself with Portland culture I have been re-watching my favorite Portlandia clips. :)

chore chart

I blogged about our chore charts last year. I found the chart at the now defunct ModEcoKids.com. Back in December, I updated my original post with a note offering to email the chart to anyone interested. I have had so many requests for the document I decided to save myself some time and make it available for download. The document must be opened in Adobe Acrobat to type the name and chores. It is edit only though- you can't save the names and chores you type on the document.

download here

Tip: on the left side of the screen under google docs there are two tabs: FILE and VIEW. Click on file and then select "download original". It will then download to your computer and should open in reader automatically (if you have adobe reader already installed on your computer).

To reiterate: I am not the creator of this chore chart. The chart has worked really well for us so I want to share it. I am offering it here because it is no longer available anywhere else.

thanks for your feedback!

I appreciate all of you who took the time to leave your thoughts and opinions about giveaways. You gave me much to think about. I have decided that I will continue to stay away from sponsored giveaways. I don't want my blog to be a business. I realize that may seem ironic given that there are ads over there on the right. The point of that is to sustain my crafting habit! What (little) money is made I am saving up for a big ticket item (except for this months check. it is going here). My goal? A new sewing machine! Plus it's kind of fun "earning" money again. It's been almost eight years since I had a paying job.

I started this blog a little over two years ago. I certainly never expected anyone to read it and I really think I would have gotten bored and given up blogging if it weren't for all of you. You guys make it fun! I love the awesome people I have met and developed friendships with. I love the inspiration I glean and hope that I am able to inspire you too.

Though I won't be doing sponsored giveaways I do want to do occasional giveaways of items I have made myself especially for you. You guys make blogging fun and I want to thank you for reading my blog. I don't know how often I'll do the giveaways, maybe twice a year, maybe once a quarter. It will be a surprise! Don't worry though they will be simple and painless; no liking, tweeting or any other shenanigans!

honest opinions needed

From time to time I have been approached about giveaways. I have always said no. I have only hosted one giveaway and it consisted of items I had made. I guess I have mixed feelings about giveaways. They seem fun but there are so many. Do you ever click on one of your favorite blogs and think "another giveaway?" I do. Maybe it's just because I never win, in fact I rarely even enter giveaways anymore.

I am now considering giveaways because some the items I have been asked to giveaway are cool, they are items that I would love to have. So while I would not receive the item also (or any compensation) one of you would. That would be fun for me. Like they say, giving is better than receiving!

So what do you think? Do you like giveaways? Hate 'em? Would you guys like to see some giveaways here at Sutton Grace?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions. I appreciate it.

I wish you all a lovely weekend, friends. I am not sure what our plans are but I know it will involve lots of snuggling with my little Gemma Bean who turns seven weeks (!) tomorrow.

braided

One of my goals last year was to learn how to french braid. I didn't accomplish it in 2010 but I have now. Better late than never!

My mom showed me some braiding tips when she was here and I have been practicing since. My braiding is far from perfect but I'm working on it. Next, I want to figure out how to do a crown braid. I loved wearing my hair in a crown braid when I was little. This is me in preschool with a crown braid. I sure wish my hair had stayed that color!!


It is (surprisingly) easier to braid my own hair than to braid Sutton's. She hates the process but she loves the result.

Here I did a braid on either side of her head. She called it a braid headband. I love not having hair hanging in her face.



Sutton especially loved this next one. Two french braids clipped together. I made the yellow rosette clip a couple of months ago. Too bad Sutton lost it in the backyard five minutes after we took this picture. :)


While we are on the subject of hair, today I am sporting the "three twisted buns" look I have seen popping up all over the blog world, seen first at cup of jo. My curls add to the messy look but it sure is comfortable to have the hair off my neck and a fun change from my usual ponytail.


It's very fitting I am posting about braids on a Wednesday. I just found a flickr group called braid wednesday- lots of great inspiration there! I think I should join to make sure I keep up on my new skill! Who's with me?