Birthdays and Winter Fun

Winter is a busy for me. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this. As if Christmas weren't enough reason to be buried in things to do, our family also has 3 birthdays within a 2 week time period at the same time.

The first birthday we celebrate is for our sweet puppy Bijou. I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't celebrate the birthday of their dog on Christmas Eve, but she is an important member of our family. She turned 4 this year.

The next day was Christmas and it snowed ALL DAY! It was great. Behind our house is the Junior High and they have a huge hill. What better thing to do after opening all the presents than to load everyone up in the truck and go sledding?!

Here is Alice flying over a jump on the hill. She got a bit airborne on that one!

 

And my little man taking a break from making snow angels.

 

 

Irene isn't really the dare devil of the family. In fact, she's quite a chicken. She was a bit scared of such a big hill, but once she went down the first time, we couldn't stop her.

 

And this is Sara after a crash... letting me know she's okay.

 

 

The next birthday is my husband's. He turned 34 on New Years Eve. He thought he was turning 35 so he was excited to be 34 for another year =) We went out to dinner with some friends at a fancy restaurant and then went to a kid-friendly New Years Eve party afterward. I love anything sparkly, so to ring in the New Year I got a new sparkly shirt!

 

Irene had the next birthday on January 5th. She's the big 1-0!!! Or as she would say "DOUBLE DIGITS, BABY!!!" We went to her favorite place (a local indie book store) and she got a new book. Then she chose Olive Garden for dinner. By the way... did you know they no longer sing Happy Birthday and give you a dessert at Olive Garden if you go there on your birthday?! Maybe it's just our Olive Garden. Or maybe our server was grumpy and didn't want to. After dinner we played outside in the snow and it seemed like the perfect picture opportunity:

And for something crafty!!!! I've been in a huge crafting slump lately. Working is really putting a damper on my sewing time. I opted for a project that is more transportable. As many of you know, The Frosted Pumpkin has a new cross-stitch sampler. I never did finish my Dessert of the Month sampler, but the latest one is a Woodland Sampler! How could I say no to woodland creatures?

I have all my embroidery floss, but am having trouble finding the tea-dyed linen. I started my sampler but the white floss doesn't show up very well on the ivory linen I bought. I'm going to tea dye it myself and start over!

What have you been up to all winter? Hibernating, being super crafty, or out enjoying snowy weather activities?





 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and had a chance to spend the day with friends and family.

Our Thanksgiving was small this year. Just us, my mother and father-in-law, and two dear family friends who didn't have family to spend the holiday with. As usual, I spent the day being ill. It seems that every holiday, I spend most of my time laying in bed being sick. I missed out on Thanksgiving dinner (I had a small bit of mashed potatoes and a roll) but didn't have any of my favorite foods that I spend a year waiting for. The sweet potatoes were consumed within minutes, so I don't even have leftovers to enjoy. I suppose that is a great excuse to have a little Thanksgiving meal prepared later. Nonetheless, I am still very thankful for everything in my life. I may not have gotten the opportunity to sit down to a meal with my family yesterday, but I am lucky enough to have meals with my family every day. We are very blessed, indeed.

I haven't been very busy in the sewing room lately, although I really should be since Christmas is coming up! I have been making lists and deciding what to make for everyone, but that's about as far as I've gotten. I did get caught up on my bee blocks which I was stressing about, so that's good.

This is one of my two blocks for September. These were horribly late and in my rush to finish them, I forgot to get a photo of the second block.

And these are my two blocks for November. Both ladies from September and November wanted improv pieced blocks. They are not my favorite to make and I really struggle with them. But I think they turned out okay anyway.

I also purchased the 241 Tote pattern from noodle-head.com about a week ago and I made myself a pretty cute bag. The pattern was super easy, and she does a great job of explaining how everything goes together. She has several really awesome free tutorials on her blog too. You know, in case you're wanting to put together your own list of things to make for Christmas =)

This is the (almost) finished 241 tote that I made. I did finish it, but I accidentally deleted the pics I had on my computer of the finished product and I'm not quite up to taking more pictures right now.
I really love how it turned out and I have been using it everyday.

A Day Late

I know in my last blog post I told you to check back the next day (yesterday) to see what I've been working on lately. The post is a day late though because I got a bit distracted by being offered a JOB!!! A job I didn't even apply for, and the best part? It will be the first job I've ever had that didn't require a food handlers permit =/ I'll have a desk and everything. Plus, no customer service. So that's a definite plus. ANYWAY... on to the actual post =)

First up is my Pay It Forward gift for Christine. I have made several things for her already, so I wasn't sure what to send her for this. I decided on a ruffle clutch and I really hope she likes it. If not, she has an adorable little girl who might like it for dress-up =)

Here's a picture of the inside. I like the little pocket and I'm thinking I might make one for myself.



A friend of mine is having a birthday soon. She loves comic book characters, especially Wonder Woman. I made another version of this clutch using a fabric with Super Women on it. This time I made it without the ruffle, as this friend is slightly less "girly"...

Without the ruffles or the wrist strap, I think it makes a great oversized wallet.



My dear friend, Lizze, and I have a monthly swap that we do together. Up until last month we have both been really good about getting our stuff done and sent off. July was a little crazy for us both though and I didn't get my swap item out in time. We decided on swapping pillow covers and I though a Swoon block would make an awesome pillow.

Here's what I came up with. I never did get a picture of the finished pillow cover, but I quilted it and used a black Kona on the back. I also made her a little zipper bag and a set of 3 magnets for a belated birthday gift, which I did not get a picture of.


I have been having a hard time keeping up with sewing obligations lately and I wonder how I'll ever keep up working full time outside the home. I will just have to say no to swaps, I suppose, and sew for the shop or myself when I have spare time. How do you juggle work, kids, housework, and sewing?!?!

Summer Fun!

For our family, summer is a time of relaxing and spending time with loved ones. When the kids are teenagers I'm sure they won't enjoy family time quite as much so I have to take it while I can! This summer we have had MANY adventures (which is why my blog has been so quiet lately). My kids have been to Idaho, Oregon - twice, and to the lake many times. Also... BBQ's and parties galore!

Camping trip to Soda Springs

Sara and I at a barn party/Alice's birthday

Canoeing at Moses Lake

Me in my "mothership"

Playing at the campgrounds

And a really cool trick for making omlettes that I learned from my sister-in-law! These are great for camping. Slice up your veggies and meat (I used mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and ham). Write your name on a quart sized freezer ziploc bag using a sharpie. Put all your omlette ingredients in the bag, then crack desired amount of eggs in to bag. Squeeze the air out and seal the bag. Squish all the ingredients together and then set your bag in a pot of boiling water. The more eggs you use, the more time it takes to cook, but ours took about 15 minutes. Omlettes for everyone, just the way they like them! We also set out toppings like cheese, sour cream, and salsa. Yum!

I could have shared a ton more photos with you, but you get the idea. We've been keeping busy and having fun. The summer comes to an end with the start of school on August 28th so we are trying to cram as much in as possible.  I have actually had some time to begin sewing again a bit - and I have pictures to prove it! Come back tomorrow and I'll share what I've been working on.

Giveaway Winner!

I promised to post the winner for the 2 pack of patterns from Two Peas in a Pod, and although I am a bit late (as usual) I have a winner today!

I used the Random Number Generator on random.org and the winner is...

Lucky # 8, Carla, said:

Carla GJuly 25, 2012 9:15 AM

Very cute bag! :) I like the St Mary Backpack! :) Thanks for a chance to win! :)

Thanks, Carla. I'll be sending an email to you for your contact info and pass it onto Trish so she can send your patterns!

Pattern Review - and a Giveaway!!!

The lovely Trish Preston from Two Peas in a Pod Designs gave me the opportunity to review one of her adorable patterns. Her patterns are so darling and I love her designs, but had never tried one. I jumped on board with this one and was very excited to give it a try.

I got to choose my pattern, and honestly, I had some hesitation. I was going to play it safe and choose a pattern that did NOT involve zippers in any way, shape, or form. But in the end I chose a pattern that included not one, but TWO zippers!

This is the pattern that I chose. Cute huh?!

I was pleasantly surprised when I got the pattern in the mail. When I opened it up, it was full of full-color photos of her step-by-step process. It was like an online tutorial, but in paper form. Also included were full sized templates.

My original plan was to make this case using my beloved chicken fabric (I love it!!!). But once I trimmed the front pocket piece down and went to unzip the zipper halfway, it stuck a bit and I pulled too hard, so this happened:

I really wasn't thinking when I put the zipper in, and the instructions don't tell you to, but I highly recommend just doing a little straight stitch at both ends of the zipper so this doesn't happen to you! The ends of zipper are frayed (as you can see in the above photo) because I attempted - in vain - to save it by putting the zipper pull back on. I didn't work so I scrapped this project and started over.

In the end, this is the adorable bag that I ended up with. All the kids love it and they have each requested one of their own. I love this pattern and it makes such a cute bag. And the awesome thing is that it gives you instructions and templates for 3 different sizes.

I do have one small complaint about this pattern. Despite Trish and I e-mailing multiple times back and forth, I never was able to figure out the order I was supposed to layer my fabrics to get the linings and backing fabrics in the correct places. In the pattern, Trish used the same fabrics for the inner lining, and the front zipper pocket lining. I suppose if I had done that, I wouldn't have had this problem. But with the photos in her pattern, I couldn't tell which one was supposed to be the inner linings, and the lining for the front pocket. I kept feeling like I was missing a step somewhere, even though I wasn't. I still ended up with a super cute zip bag though, and when I make it again, I will just use the same fabrics for all the linings and the backing.

The white fabric was supposed to be my inside lining, and the backing fabric shown in the bottom photo was supposed to be the lining for the zipper pocket shown in the top photo.

Overall I am pleased with the finished product and I will definitely be using the pattern again to make a few more!

Now for the giveaway part!!! Trish has kindly offered to give one reader a surprise 2-pack of her patterns. Isn't that great?! She has so many wonderful designs, and one lucky person will win 2.

As much as I would love you to follow my blog, I'm not going to make that a condition for you to win (but you should still totally do it anyway, hehe.) All you have to do is visit Trish's website HERE then come back to this post and leave a comment telling me which of her patterns you would love to win. That's it! The winner will be chosen via random number generator on Wednesday, July 29th.

Good luck!



It Worked!!!

I don't know what I did, but the problem I had with my photos seems to have miraculously fixed itself. I'm pretty excited to be able to write a post today after my little hiatus from the internet.

Before I moved, my summer was pretty lazy and relaxed. Now that we live near family again, I am finding that summer is no longer as relaxing as it once was. Every weekend has been filled with parties, guests, and BBQ's. Not that I am complaining. It has been great. But it hasn't left much time for me to keep up with everything else! I have spent most of my free time sewing in order to keep up with the farmers market. Wanna see?!?! Yes, I thought you might.

Here's my Washi Tape Kindle Fire sleeve. And I just heard this fabric line has been retired! I love it so much and I'm so glad I was able to get some recently. I'll definitely be using it selectively until it's gone.

And a Nook Tablet sleeve. I made this one for a custom order, but my customer never came to get it. From now on I think I'll be asking for at least a partial payment in advance.

I have been loving making these key fobs! I rarely throw scraps away and I have been able to really start using up some of them!

I've been making a ton of zipper bags too.

And some super cute cross body bags!

Lots and lots of market bags

And a couple of pretty awesome pincushions =)

In between all of this sewing we have been camping, boating, and having birthday parties. I also worked on a secret project reviewing a pattern for Two Peas in a Pod Designs and I'll be having a giveaway in a couple of weeks! Yay!!!