I'd like you to meet: Mike... Mi Esposo

2 years ago- Our most recent picture together

 
I was 15 years old, a sophomore in high school, the day I first noticed him.

I was walking through the open walkway at old Mesquite High School, weaving in and out of people, late to my next class.  I looked up and saw him just as he walked past me.  It felt like someone had sucked the air right out of my chest.

I turned around to get another glimpse and nearly stopped walking this was a HUGE no-no at MHS that would have most definitely resulted in me being run over or at the very least screamed at by a passersby... imagine stopping your car in the middle of a freeway!

The place where it all went down

I went on to class but couldn't stop thinking about Mystery Guy.

By the end of the week I had seen him at least a dozen times and even managed to make eye contact with him a time or two but I still knew nothing about him. 


I told all my friends about Mystery Guy and started to take note of when and where I was passing him in the hallways. Sounds a bit stalker-ish huh?  I still remember the end of 1st, 2nd, & 5th period making sure my hair and make-up looked perfect and nearly hyperventilating as I left the classroom.

After a couple weeks of this he seemed to notice me too.  We would make eye contact and smile a bit.  We seemed to be flirting yet we had still never spoken a word to each other. 

One day, I walked into my 3rd period science class and found half of my classmates looking through their yearbooks.  I grabbed one and frantically started flipping through.  I had to know his name.

I started calculating in my head... I didn't think he was quite a senior but I knew he was older than me... so I started looking through the juniors first.  I scanned the pictures quickly, determined to find him before the teacher demanded I put the yearbook away.  

And there he was...

Michael Cantu

His named seemed familiar to me but I couldn't figure out how or why.  I was just so excited to know his name.  I instantly started gushing to my friends and classmates about Michael Cantu.

In my history class later that same day I talked about him to a couple of guys. 

"Oh yeah... I know Mike"

I think I nearly passed out.

That poor guy, Daniel was his name, didn't know what he was getting into.  I interrogated him for a week... I needed to know everything he could tell me about Michael Cantu.

I learned that he played baseball, he was a really good guy, he had a couple of brothers and that he really liked another girl.  I tried until I was blue in the face to get more out of him about this crush of his. What did she look like? Was she pretty?  What was her name?  All he would tell me was that her name was Brenda.  

At some point Daniel must have become sick of me and agreed to help me meet Mr. Michael Cantu.  The next day he told me he would introduce us after class.  I followed him down the stairs of C-Hall, fighting off the urge to run the other way.

And there stood Michael Cantu, waiting at the bottom of the stairs.  Daniel introduced us and left quickly and we stood there staring at each other in the most awkward, painful silence ever experienced by two people.  We both tried desperately to spark a conversation with each other but we just couldn't seem to get anything going.  It was every teenager's worst nightmare.  Finally Michael Cantu said he had to go to class... 

"nice to meet you"... 

"yeah... you too" I said

"what was your name again?"

"Breeana" I answered as I turned around

"oh... I thought it was Brenda... bye" he said laughing

I, still, to this day, can't hear the name "Brenda" without grinning ear to ear.  

It turns out we had a class together at the very beginning of the year but I was moved out of it.  Mike had been eying me since the first day of school but had my name mixed up. 

Eventually Michael and I started dating and before long I was "Mike's girl". 

My Senior Prom

Nine years ago today, I became "Mike's wife".

He was 20 & I was 19 & waiting just didn't make any sense to us.

He is a beautiful man with the most amazing soul.  He makes me laugh like no one else can and still makes my toes curl up like a love struck 15 year old.  

Notice the lack of pictures?  Last month my darling husband threw most of them and my WEDDING DRESS away by accident... he was forced to retrieve the dress from the dump but the pictures were never found... yeah he's still sort of in trouble for it and I make sure to bring it up whenever possible... secrets to a healthy marriage huh?

The Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition WINNERS!!

Voting is up and the results are in and I'm just so excited to announce to you our winner!  These women have worked their tails off to bring you some amazing creations and use some insane amount of fabric all in an effort to stop their hoarding ways (well... to win some pretty cool prizes too!)

But now without further adieu...

Amy from Little Country Bumpkins 

Her adorable set of skirts and aprons for her little pig farmers made me squeal in delight! She used a total of 29 yards of her fabric stash throughout the competition!!


She came in 3rd place and won a pattern from each of these shops:

 Angie from Mama Lusco

Her Americana sets were so stinkin' cute!  I'll be begging for a tute on this cute little top soon! And she used up an amazing 68+ yards over the course of the contest!

She came in 2nd place and get's her pick from a pattern from each of these sponsor shops:

 Andi from Laundry on the Line 

She blew us away with an entire pieced quilt in 2 weeks time and still had time to make some really cute skirts and aprons too!  She used an insane 74 yards over the course of the contest! 

She is our Grand Prize winner and walks away with a pattern from every one of our sponsors!  Check out this list...

Congratulations!!!

Did you enter the pattern giveaway this week?

We've got a winner for those too!

And that's you Suzee!

Thanks to all you girls for participating and sharing your projects with us.  We've seen some pretty amazing things from you all every week and I think I'm on the road to recovery with my own hoarding issues! 

And April!  Thanks for talking me into doing this contest with you and picking up my slack when I went AWOL!!  It's been so much fun and I've learned so much from you!  Time to start planning our meet up right?!

The Extreme Makeover Grand Finale!

The projects are up for the final week of Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition!!  Hurry over to Wildflower's and Whimsy to check them out and cast your vote!

The 1st & 2nd Place winner will get some pretty amazing prize packs with patterns from each of our sponsors!  Here's your chance to win some patterns too!

Our sponsors for the County Fair challenge are:

This shop has a collection of patterns to make some super cute shoes for you!  That's right... patterns to sew things for yourself... what a concept huh?

I had the hardest time picking some of my favorites but here they are!

In this giveaway you can win the pattern to make the Classic Mary Janes.  So cute!

&

This shop is so much fun to snoop around in!  She's got a little bit of everything here...

A pattern to make the cutest bowling set EVER!

Adorable machine embroidery designs

Super cute girls clothing patterns

And a BUNCH of sewing patterns for mommy accessories!

You can choose any pattern you like from this shop if you win the giveaway and if you just can't wait to win something she's offered a coupon code good for 30% off all purchases!  Just enter "HOARD" when checking out and hurry... this deal expires Monday!

So how can you win?  It's simple!

Important:  You must be a public follower of both Wildflowers & Whimsy and The Extra Ordinary Bree to win this giveaway...this does not count as an entry, but we will not pick a winner that doesn't follow our blogs.  Also, please remember that the mandatory entries must be completed or the additional entries will be voided.

Mandatory Entries

Visit Shoeology and come back here and tell me what your favorite pattern is.  (1 entry)

Visit Birdiful Stitches and come back here and tell me what your favorite pattern is.  (1 entry)

Additional Entries

Create a link to this giveaway.  (Just click the "create a link button" below the comment section. (1 entry)

Post this giveaway to FB.  (1 entry)

Tweet about this giveaway.  (1 entry)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and make sure we are able to contact you.  Giveaway closes on Sunday at midnight! Thanks and good luck!

How to Store Your Fabric Stash

Our three final contestants are hard at work right now with their final projects.  You'll be able to see all their awesomeness & vote for your favorite on Friday! I can't wait!!

Have you've been following along and tackling your own stash throughout the competition?

I have!

Nothing like what our amazing contestants have done but I have really really tried to use my fabric and avoid buying new stuff.

So what has helped me?

By far the biggest help to me has been re-evaluating my fabric stash.  I went through everything and pulled out the fabrics I knew I'd never use.  Then I put it in a separate bin.  I realize that I could just toss these or donate to the Salvation Army but I like to keep them!  Why?  Because sometimes beautiful fabric can be hard to cut into, especially when you're not sure if a pattern is going to work or you are trying to design a new pattern!  But ugly fabric with kittens and Christmas bows are so easy to cut into that you're scissors practically work themselves! and yes I actually have fabric with Christmas cats on it

After all my ugly fabric is out of site, I can focus on the fabrics I drooled over and risked a lecture from my husband for!

The solution for me is simple... Fold it nice and neat and stack them in the cabinets that hang over my sewing machine. Here's a round up of a ton of other functional & attractive ways to store your fabric... something's bound to work for you!

Make your own miniature fabric bolts!
Find the tutorial @ The Little Green Bean!

A functional way to store your favs and it doubles as craft room decor! 
You can find the full tutorial here... p.s. it's so easy, you'll laugh.

Holly @ Holly Street is a self proclaimed Fabric Whore
She color coordinated her fabric into pretty bins  

Make a fabric swatch book like Carolyn from Homework
& store your fabrics in a dresser or in large bins

And I know that most "normal" people probably just throw their scraps away but if you're a real, authentic hoarder, like me, then you hold on to even the smallest scraps!

There's just so much you can do with them!

Display them using embroidery hoops! 
Find the tute @ The Purl Bee

Like these pretty little necklaces from Cakies

Or these bangles from Blue Cricket Design

And I'm in love with this scrap fabric table cloth
from Pocket Full of Posies!

Sara from Sara vs. Sarah
made these awesome scrap shoelaces!

Fabric covered bandaids!!
Get the tute @ The Pink Couch

Even the smallest scraps can be used as button covers
like this tufted sofa from The Found Blog

And this simple project is a necessity for every flip flop wearing 2 year old! 
Find the tutorial @ Make It & Love it.

And oh there's more... there's so much more!!  But if I don't stop, this list will be a mile long.  Seriously.

But now that I've convinced you to hold on desperately to each and every scrap larger than the size of a quarter... How in the heck do you store all of it!

Here's a couple of cute ideas that got my wheels turning and my mouth watering.

Tuck them in mason jars and display like
Rachel from Stitched in Color

The Pioneer Valley Girl stores her color coded
scraps in a clear over the door shoe holder!

I love this idea from BHG!  Wouldn't it be cute to
find a vintage hanging fruit basket?!

Another from BHG
... I knew I was saving all those formula cans for a reason!

Same concept as the mason jars only fancier
from Prudent Baby

How about hanging them from a pretty little clothesline
like Ronda from One Little Word?

So there you have it folks... if you weren't hooked on hoarding fabric and scraps you are now!  

How do you store your stash?