This is my favorite time of year...the leaves are falling, the breeze is cool and crisp and it is sweater weather.  Time for closed toed shoes.

And time to get knitting.

Happy Wednesday!

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day.  I am not kidding - this is serious stuff in this house.  OK, well not really serious, more like silly serious, but we do commemorate it every year with lots of ahoys and arrr's. This year the girls and I are sporting the jolly roger.

Kate is wearing her beloved, girlie pirate shirt by Paul Frank.  Look at those red eyes - can you tell that she just finished one of her famous meltdowns?

Mine was made by my good friend Suzanne.  She made this for our local craft swap last spring or winter.  I love that she used an old pair of Nantucket reds to cut out the skull and cross bones.  I also love that she appliqued this because she doesn't sew much.  She is much more in her element designing beautiful jewelry.  She has a real talent and a great jewelry line.  Pick up her baubles at her website - bellalulu.

And Jane...as of this morning, she didn't have a pirate shirt.  What's a girl to do?  Why, beg her mother to make her one!  Aye, aye me lady!  And then lay out the specifications: a smile, pink eyelashes and a bow, please.  Hmm, where did she get that idea?  Do you think that has something to do with the shirt her sister is wearing?!?.  I obliged with everything but the eyelashes.  C'mon - pink eyelashes?  I think she wanted pink fabric, too, but I couldn't resist this sweet green floral.  Thank goodness she liked it - one of us could have been walking the plank!

And today after school, we went on the search for pirates' treasure and ended up at the candy store for what else....GOLD COINS!  Arrrr, they were good!

Not much crafting going on around here the past couple of days.  I am a bit under the weather and don't feel like doing anything at all.

Here is a small craft I finished last week.  When I sent Susan her package, I included this little flower pin made out of some of the belt fabrics.

I made it using a great tutorial by Blair and it was super fast and very easy - no sewing machine required!  Now that the yo-yo pillow is finished, these pins will be perfect for carpool line crafting.

It is here!  The package from Susan finally arrived!  And let me tell you, I am a happy girl.  A VERY happy girl.

I especially love how she wrapped them up.  The pink, brown and orange paper is great looking and I adore the wide, pink satin the earrings came wrapped in.

Check out the cute card Susan uses to hold her wares.  Love it!

These Sulu Design earrings are so beautiful and so well made.  The beads are a gorgeous brown that compliments my red hair.  When the light hits them, they sparkle a bit, too!

Thank you Susan!!!  The earrings arrived at the end of a very long week - perfect timing to brighten my Saturday.  Susan has more of her gorgeous jewelry for sale in her shop - check it out.  You will not be disappointed!!!

Swapping was really fun.  Susan received my package earlier this week.  Check out her site to see what I sent her!

The circle project is finished!  I cut out all of those circles and made yo-yo's - 49 yo-yo's to be exact.  They were super easy to make (Heather has a good tutorial).  They are also very portable - I made the majority of them while waiting in the carpool line at Jane's school.  Once they were made, I sewed them into a 7 by 7 square and tacked the square to a piece of fabric and made Serena a pillow.  Here it is!

I was very excited that it worked!  I have always admired quilts made out of yo-yo's, but had never attempted to make a yo-yo myself and I certainly didn't know that the pillow would work out for sure.  But it did...phew!  I am giving it to Serena this afternoon.  We are meeting for a drink or two and some adult conversation - much needed after the week I had!

Have you visited Wee Wonderfuls today?  Hillary's newest project is up for sale and I am now the proud owner of my very own Make-A-Long Story pattern!  Yippee!  I am excited to give this a try.  Expect to see these little dolls around here soon!

Because Susan asked, here is a peek at the circle project in progress. 

Actually, this photo shows a circle gone wrong waiting to be made right.  I am hoping to finish it up by tomorrow evening so I can give to Serena in exchange for a glass or two of wine.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm celebrating - we have made it half way through the school week.  Phew!  Jane was out of school at noon so the girls and I went to the library for story time this afternoon.  At our local branch, there are two children's librarians - one is nice and easy going; the other one, not so much.  Of course, today was the other one's turn.  So frustrating!  She can't handle kids being kids - if they don't sit still and follow her directions exactly (god forbid, they might interrupt without raising their hands!), she gets all serious and talks to them in a stern voice.  And this is a story time for 3 to 5 year olds!  Enough venting.  The girls seemed to have fun (I didn't) so it wasn't a lost cause.

After that we went to the park to meet up with our old playgroup buddies.  The rains have finally stopped and there was a nice breeze - the perfect early fall day.  My kiddos spent time doing what they love best.

Jane swinging....

...and Kate climbing.

Still working on the circles - had to cut 13 more this morning.  I think the end is near!  I know Serena hopes it is near!

Remember this guy?  Jane finally finished her embroidery and I finally made it into a pillow.  Jane chose the lime green gingham for the back of the pillow and had to have the pom-pom trim.  We are both pleased with how it turned out.

Tuesday has been better than Monday.  Susan's package is in the mail and I have been working on the circle project.  Hopefully I can post that one soon.