a book holder

So about what I made (see last post).

Sister wanted a book holder for young Oliver. Did I mention that my nephew is a genius? He is just over two, can say his ABCs, count to 10, and read several books. By "reading" I mean memorizing and repeating. Still! OK, so Oliver loves his books and just got a Big Boy Bed. My sister wanted a book holder to help with the book organization. Brilliant! -and- so easy. She got the idea from this super cute blog...but as I'm trying to link to the blog...I get the dreaded "Oops! This link appears to be broken." :( Sad! I hope they didn't go out of blog business. Anyway, here is the book holder, not hung yet:

ps. Stupid Blogger.com! Does it ever refuse to load the image the right way for anyone else? Grr. I am posting it anyway. Maybe it will fix itself. Just tilt your head slightly to the left and you'll get the idea. yes, like that.

jealousy

We went to sister #2's house for more crafting and nephew time yesterday. I can hardly stand going over there now because I'm SUPER jealous of her new crating room. They just re-did their basement and she has her own little area dedicated to her craftiness.

Sigh. Someday, someday I shall have one of my own! More on what we DID later...

i made this today

Oh hi! Look what I made today!

My co-worker Carol wanted a bag. I decided not to procrastinate too much and so I just made it up real quick this morning. LOVE crossing things off my list! Plus, it was easy, I didn't make mistakes, and I can see myself making more for my shop.

Inside pics - side one has one large pocket. Side two has two smaller pockets. It also has a handy magnetic snap.

The flower is a removable pin.
So I guess you could say it was a pretty good day. I worked on some other projects and went to the dentist (not fun). But I guess God was looking out for me, because while I was in the torture chair, the sun came out. YAY!!

spring break, baby!

Well, yesterday had to be one of the rainiest Easters of all time. It just. rained. all. day. But it's ok, because this week I'm on Spring Break, baby! Guess how excited I am! I am looking forward to a week of intense crafting. Here are some spring-inspired Etsy finds...

Spring Love Medium Corsage Brooch by AAliciaAccessories. This gal has the cutest flowery accessories!

We may as well embrace the rain, right? Umbrella Tee by Happy Family.

This kills me... it is off-the-charts cute!

Interchangeable pots...of course! Sprout Toy by swees.

best purchase of 09

I just made the best purchase of 09 - so far. It's a gigantic cutting mat! OK, bigger cutting mats do exist, but this one is big enough to lay the whole piece of fabric on without folding. About time! This is going to change my crafting life...so I had to take a picture of it. (nerd!)

new case

Remember this post? I was designing a case for make-up brushes, etc. ...done!

Update: This case is now available in the shop! I'm not sure if I should make more... any feedback?

happy mistake

I received a mysterious package of fabric in the mail! It was from one of my favorite etsy fabric suppliers, so it wasn't too shocking. I contacted the shop and they said if I wanted it, it was mine for a discount! Um, how could I send it back?

Cute, no? Thanks, fabricsupplies!

been busy

Yeah, blogging has taken a backseat to many projects! However, last weekend I had the pleasure of a completely cleared to-do list. Amazing! Here are (some of the) fruits of my labor... a million(ish) jewelry cases!

Whew!

More Projects

I spent some time this weekend working on a new design. Can my jewelry case be made into a makeup case? Sure! (more on that later)

What else have I been working on? Jewelry cases. Jewelry cases, jewelry cases, jewelry cases. I love all the awesome brides out there, keeping me in business! Don't worry, I have about three more projects like this on deck. whew! I think I love them best when they're ALL DONE.

Saturday Morning Shopping

A little retail therapy this morning...I found these hot little numbers by searching the Etsy "Accessories" category!

Card Holder with Hand Stitched Chair, by byrdandbelle.

1920 Cloiche Hat, by bonniesknitting.

Orange and Yellow Brooch, by OublietteOutbliette.

Simple Leaf Earrings, by sarawestermark.

Neo-Victorian fingerless gloves, by Corpseknit.

Button Box

Things have been super super SUPER busy. I did manage to have a bit of fun with organization though. Check out my new button box!

Yeah - I know - I need more buttons. I aspire to this, my Auntie Chris's button collection:

If a little bit of color sorting can't make a girl feel better, what will?

my creative space

Remember this post? Yeah, the one where you're supposed to post about what you're up to and what's on your desk. Hm. Guess I fell of the bandwagon! I popped over here and it looks like "On My Desk" has morphed into "My Creative Space." . . .fun!

So, this is one of my pending projects...a little nameplate to adorn one of my baby blankets, TBE (To Be Embroidered). I'm hoping that by posting this it will inspire me to actually finish, you know, before the child turns 15.

...and this, my friends, is my new pair of scissors. If there's one thing you should know about me it that I REALLY appreciate a good, sharp pair o' scissors (right Em?). Are they gorg?

Cutie Booties

I feel a little ashamed not blogging all last week, when I had the week off! I was super busy with lots of custom orders to fill. I'm all caught up now! I also spent a day crafting with Sister #2. We made baby booties! She is going to make a pair for every one of her baby girl's outfits. I am going to document each one here. (you heard that right, sister!)

Anyway, here is the first pair we made. Cute, no?

Fallen Soldiers

Don't ask my why I started saving my empty thread spools. Maybe it's the feeling of satisfaction I get seeing a visual representation of the miles and miles of sewing I've done in the past year+. Maybe I'm just channeling my dad, because he SO does things like this. Only if I was truly channeling my dad, I would have the started-using and ended-using date inscribed on the top. Don't think the thought hasn't crossed my mind!

I Heart Valentine's Day!

(Valentine above is by "threewheelsdesign" on Etsy. Love it!)

Valentine's Day is like an oasis in the desert that is Winter. Just when you want to gouge your own eyes out because the weather is just. so. blah... here comes Valentine's Day. I don't like it because of the yucky love stuff - I think I just like pretty pink decorations, cards, and of course, chocolate.

To make this year's V-Day even more exciting, I've discovered something amazing...the world of Printables. Did you know you can buy printable valentines, invitations, birthday cards, calendars, etc. etc. etc.?? I'm sort of an instant-gratification kind of gal, so I'm all over the fact that I can purchase the printable, have it emailed to me within the day, and have printed valentines ready to go . . . well, whenever I get my printing act together. Brilliant!

I bought these (from Stephanie Fizer's shop):

And I'm still drooling over these, by littlebrownpen:

And these, by upup:
...Sigh... I love people who can do things that I can't do! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Scrap Cleanse

Let’s call it a Scrap Cleanse. Or Purging of the Scraps. Whatever you call it, it made me really happy. Cousin Ann came over on Sunday to peruse my scrap collection. She is going to make some baby blankets.
I am known to often dig through my scraps for just a little something. A take just a little something and load the whole thing back into its bin. How happy am I that these little scraps will now have a home in a blanket of their very own?
I love the combinations she chose. And Ann can be depended upon to follow through with a project. She won’t just have this great idea and get all the stuff and then never finish, ya know? (oh by the way, this will NOT happen with my little dog. Promise.) So I told her I fully expect to see these blankets before they are gifted. It’s my right as their original owner!

something new

I’ve been wanting to create a new design for the shop. . . . Viola! This is an adaptation of my Market Bag, but it has extra features like…
A zippered pocket.

Two more pockets on the opposite side for your cell phone (SO necessary) and other Things You Don’t Want to Dig For – in my case, lip product and gum. Plus, pleats on bags just make me happy.

a bit of good advice

Warning: this is totally random. So there is this extremely delicious sandwich shop called Jimmy John’s. Perhaps you have one near you and you know the sandwich delight of which I speak. I was waiting for my sandwich one day and saw this sign: "If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them

THEN SOMEDAY

You can do the things you want to do when you want to do them"

I need this sign tattooed to the inside of my arm. Because my usual advice to myself is: “Don’t want to. Not gonna.”

Ah, Jimmy John’s, you’re so very wise.

Softies!

My sister Emily got this book a few weeks before Christmas.

"Softies" by Therese Laskey... genius.

I can be a little bit obsessive when it comes to new crafting books. I simply could not get it off my mind. I was thinking about going out and getting it, plus felt and supplies to make some little softies, and then we had that huge snowstorm. I seriously had to give myself a little talking to, and it went something like this: “Self, you do not need to go out in the raging snowstorm to get this new book and more supplies. No really, self, you have a million yards of fabrics and project after project waiting for you already. Now come off the ledge."

So then I finally got the book when the weather turned decent. Whew! So. cute.

I’ve cut out the pieces for the little dog project…but after all that buildup, it has half a seam finished and has been sitting in my apartment as I indulge in my latest obsession: The New Fabric Avalanche. Well – it will get done someday!

Splurge

So about my fabric splurge. My second graders have given me TWO gift certificates* to this fabulous fabric shop in Seattle – The Quilting Loft. Mmm, its heavenly with so many lovely fabrics to choose from, a very friendly staff, and quilts and other inspiring projects everywhere you look. In fact, I got the two fabrics from my last post from The Quilting Loft. After some online shopping and an unexpectedly fruitful trip to Joann’s (I’m sorry, not all Joann’s are created equally – this one actually had a ton of cute fabric!), I now have all this to fit on my shelves…
I spent the entire weekend sending all this awesomeness through the washing machine & dryer. Yikes. I will be ironing for the next two weeks.

*One said gift certificate was for my birthday in November. Upon opening the second GC – my Christmas present – I exclaimed, “Guys, did you know what your parents gave me for Christmas? Another gift certificate to my favorite fabric store!” To which one youngster replied, “Aren’t you tired of getting the same thing?” I shot him a horrified look. “NO!”

Baby Love

Maybe it’s because there are several babies on the way, but I have felt this huge urge to do more with kid’s fabric! The first round of my friends having babies seemed to all have boys…not that there is ANYthing wrong with boys, but when I found out of several girl babies now on the horizon, I could not resist the urge to go out and spend way more than I should have on cute little girl prints. (I found some cute little boy prints too, don’t worry.)

Remember this blanket? I’ve been thinking about it ever since I made it. So I made another one, this time with a different birdie print.

More to come…

What I Got For Christmas

Ta Da!

I was super excited about this book. Excited as in, I thought I would probably get it, because it was one of the few things on my wish list, but I still almost couldn't resist buying it before Christmas anyway. But my patience prevailed.

I have only recently fallen in love with Alicia Paulson, author of Posy Gets Cosy. This book has so many great ideas... love it! Naturally, I had to make the Nutcracker Doll, as seen on the cover, first.

This doll reminds me so much of my crafty grandma, who used to make doll after doll with looooooong skinny legs. Go, right now! Go see Alicia's dolls here.... they are just so stinkin' cute!

The book is full of great sewing ideas for making unique and personalized keepsakes that are great for gifts. As usual, I marked the pages of the projects I simply must make. I should be busy for a while!