Thursday, March 31, 2011

Travel Jewelry Roll



Tomorrow is my mother-in-law's birthday. I was wondering what I should make her, but I've been sooo busy all week so ofcourse, I waited until the last minute! She's getting married in June and going to Las Vegas for her honeymoon so I figured she could use a cute jewelry roll!

I dug into my "It's a Hoot" fabric by Momo again. I wish I had bought more, I just love this line. I made three zipper pockets inside so she can fit necklaces, earrings, even make up brushes!! I love it :) I have no idea if I sewed the zippers on the proper way. I just did what seemed practical. But hey, it works!




I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of April already. Time really flies after you have kids. Loving every moment of it but wishing AJ could stay this little forever!!



This was last year... *tear* Don't grow up, monkey!! Is it sad that I cry when I think about him leaving me for college? Is it so wrong that I want him to live with me until he's 40?!! I guess I have to let go one day, but for now... I can kiss him and hold him as much as I want!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Some Bows and Some Good News!



I was so inspired by Kate over at See Kate Sew when she made her adorable bow hair clips last month. I even ordered some! I was so tempted to order some more because I loved them so much. But then I thought, hmm, I can make these! I've been wanting to try ever since I got them. So I did!






I just sewed the bows first and then glue gunned the clips to the back with a small piece of felt. Super easy and super cute! I just love these pictures, they make me smile :) In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE bows, flowers, ruffles, basically any dainty details and embellishments. I am really loving these bow clips!

Rather than selling them on etsy, I just offered them to friends and family via facebook. I kept some too ofcourse! Everyone fought over the white & black polka dots and the blue gingham. I should've made more of those.

So I said something about having good news.....

I made my first sale! Yeah it was to my mom's friend, but it still counts! So my little etsy shop is now without the aqua Hellen Bag, the black owls coin purse, and the crocheted market tote. Her daughter liked the crocheted bag for the beach. I never even thought of that but it is perfect for that! I am definitely making more of those too. Ahh my ever growing to do list!

Oh gosh, I am ever so excited! And super motivated now! Tonight was really a boost of confidence for me :) I have a lot of awesome things coming up in April that I'm so excited about! My six year anniversary is on Easter weekend (aww!), I'm putting together my son's Easter basket, guest posting, aaaand there is a special giveaway coming up for my wonderful followers! More deets coming up in the coming weeks :) Good night!

Crocheted Market Tote



I finally finished this gorgeous market tote last night!


It is really big. Big enough for fresh produce, fresh flowers... or fresh yarn! (wink, wink) I used a bone colored yarn for the bag itself and then a beautiful plum purple for the trim and flower (which is removeable, by the way).




I'm in love with crocheted flowers. This particular one is huge! It has three layers of petals (kinda hard to see in pictures). I've made these sort of bags before, as I've posted in past entries, but this is by far the biggest one. And I *heart* it! This bag is also going up in my shop.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

With The Husband

My hubby was home this past week on his days off and I was delighted to finally receive a request from him! I've been asking him forever if there is something he would like for me to make him, and of course there wasn't. My options are kinda limited with him. He is so down to earth and happy with the simplest, plainest things. 

His hobby is a looooooot bigger and more expensive than mine. He likes to build trucks. He is currently working on an old Chevy C-10. Don't even ask me the year, I am so bad at that stuff. Anyway, he had shown me some t-shirts last week that he wanted to order. But when he saw me working on the onesies with my lovely Silhouette machine, he went to Wal-Mart and bought a pack of white t-shirts instead. We started looking up fonts online and settled on this cool graffiti font.



The shirt was pretty simple to make but it was so fun working side by side with my husband. He was so adorable, even helping me iron the freezer paper to the shirt. He didn't want to paint though, afraid he'd mess it up.




It turned out pretty cool. As long as he loves it, I'm super happy. He went back to work today and I'm missing him like crazy already!

I've been pretty preoccupied lately with my crochet. I'm makin a little surprise but here's a sneak peek!



What do you think it is?? I love crocheting. The only bad thing is that it takes a lot longer to make something, as opposed to sewing. Buuuut the good thing is that I can crochet while I'm watching a movie with my son or while he's playing outside. I don't have to be confined to my craft room :-)

Have a Happy Tuesday!!!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Love Bird Totes



I've been working on these adorable Love Bird Totes the last couple of days. I'm so happy with the results!! These bags measure about 14" by 13" with 23" straps. They are made of canvas and have a patchwork strip on the left side and feature two cute chubby birds kissing under a heart! The birds and heart are adhered with heat and bond and then secured with zigzag stitching so you can wash these bags with no worries :-) I also added batting for extra support. You can easily carry your laptop in them.




The lining is super bright and full of colors. There is a medium sized canvas pocket inside for cell phone and keys.




Aww I love them! I have had a vision for this tote since I first started sewing. I'm glad I finally got around to trying it.
 
I'm going to be adding these cuties to my shop. Click here to go check it out. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Puffy Pouch Swap



For this swap, we were supposed to make our partner a puffy pouch using Pink Penguin's tutorial. I love this little pouch. It was so fun and easy to make. It looks like it's complicated but it isn't at all, which is why I love it! I went crazy looking through all my scraps of fabric trying to narrow it down! Definitely making more of these.

Here is a picture of the lining. And you just use Velcro strips to close it up. Couldn't be easier.



Daytime pics are so much better than middle-of-the-night pics... I usually let out all my creative juices during nap time or after everyone's asleep. The down side is, I get ugly dark pictures when I photograph my stuff immediately after or during tutorials. Oh well.

Game Night tonight!! I have a craving for wings!

Toy Camera Tutorial

**If you have used this tutorial or any others by Pink Stitches, please post your pictures on the Pink Stitches Flickr Group! I'd love to see your beautiful creations and feature some of my favorite projects!**



I've been asked a lot about the Toy Camera I made for AJ last week. The one I made for him was out of black felt. It is cute for toddlers but not really safe for babies (who are still chewing on everything). So I made a cute fabric version and I'm including a tutorial for you all to try it out!



You will need:
- 1/4 yard of fabric
- embroidery floss
- plastic vinyl (I cut up an old cosmetic bag and used that)
- needle and thread
- polyfiber stuffing



Optional embellishments:
- felt
- buttons
- ribbon (this is for the strap if you don't want to make your own)

First you're going to cut up your pieces. From your main fabric, you will need:
- Front and back: 4” by 5”
- Top and bottom: 5” by 2”
- Sides: 4” by 2"
- Lens: 2.5” by 7.5”
- Lens top: 1 circles 2.5” diameter



Cut the plastic vinyl into a 3" by 2.25" rectangle.

If you're adding felt details, you will need to cut these pieces out of your felt:
- Controls: 1 circle 1” diameter, 1 circle 3/4” diameter
- Picture Viewer: 2" by 1"

If you're making your own strap, you will need to cut a 30" by 2.5" piece out of the same fabric or you can choose to use a contrasting fabric.



Ok, so start by sewing the felt pieces onto the back piece of fabric. I hand-sewed the vinyl with embroidery floss. It's easier and it looks pretty! Your back piece should look like this.



Now get your lens piece and fold it in half width wise like this.



Sew along the edge using a 1/2" seam allowance to create a circle.



Pin the circle onto the lens, wrong sides together.



Now sew along the circle using a 1/8" seam allowance.



Turn the lens right side out. It should look like this.



Stuff the lens about halfway with polyfiber stuffing and then pin closed.



Using your needle and thread, sew the lens onto the front of the camera.




With your embroidering floss, stitch some details onto the front of the camera. I wrote Nikon on top of the lens and added a little flash circle next to it. You can write Canon if you prefer that brand :)



Now let's make the strap. You can skip this part if you're using ribbon.
Fold your strap piece halfway, wrong sides together, length wise. Sew along the raw edges using a 1/4" seam allowance.



Turn the strap inside out and press. I had made a thicker strap in these pictures and then ended up replacing it with a thinner one, so hopefully you don't get confused with the pictures. Your strap should look a lot skinnier than the one you're seeing here.

It's time to assemble your pieces. Layer the back of your camera (right side up), the camera strap, and one of the sides (face down) like this



Now sew them together using 1/4" seam allowance. And repeat with the other side.



Now sew the top and bottom pieces onto the back. Then sew them onto the sides.




Sew a button onto the top panel. Turn this assembled piece inside out and stuff the strap into it. Place the front side of the camera on top of it, wrong side up. Make sure the top of the front piece is parallel to the top side of the back piece.



Sew along the entire perimeter using a 1/4" seam allowance and remember to leave a 3" opening on the bottom to turn inside out.



Turn it inside out and stuff with polyfiber filling.



Top stitch the opening and you're done!!! Cut up a cute photo and slip it into the "LED screen".






Hope I didn't lose you guys along the way. Now you can make all the little cameras you want for your kids and your friends' kids. I guarantee they will make wonderful gifts. And if you don't feel like making them, head on over to my etsy shop. I'll be putting this little camera up for sale! Enjoy :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I *heart* Canvas Prints!



Look at the beautiful canvas print I got from Canvas People!!!


This is one of my favorite pictures of AJ printed on an 11"x14" canvas. I just have to share this great deal with you guys! Right now, Canvas People is offering $55 off of any size canvas, PLUS 50% off any additional canvases!!! Can you believe that? So the print I got is 11"x14", usually costing $64.99. I paid $9.99 for it! I am so excited about this. I love finidng great bargains like this.

This means that you can get an 8"x10" canvas (the size of a standard letter sheet) for... FREE!! It usually costs $49.99.




I am really impressed with the quality. Here's a hint if you decide to order. They charge you $9.95 for picture effects such as black & white or sepia. I just used my Photo Editor on my computer to turn my pictures black and white and then uploaded them that way. Saved me $10! And you get the most out of this great deal!

Ok, so here is the coupon code. Just enter: FAMILY55 at checkout and it will be applied to your purchase! I don't know how long this coupon is good for. I just used it again last night to order my second canvas so it should still be good for awhile. I really hope you guys take advantage of this! You won't be disappointed :) I know I sound like an infomercial... but I just had to share this with my readers. I'm so grateful to you guys for supporting me and encouraging me! I *heart* you all!