Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Monsters!

Ever since I first saw an adorable stuffed monster in the window of some fancy store years ago, I've wanted to make my own. This Christmas, I finally decided to do it!

The number of children in our little group of dear friends has recently increased to 2, and I thought little non-scary monsters would be perfect for little Ruby and Reid. Unfortunately, I really struggled when trying to find a cute pattern. I was even willing to pay a decent fee, but there just wasn't much out there. So instead, I fiddled around myself until I came up with these little guys. I may still want to make some changes or adjustments, but I had very little time to throw these babies together, so I'm feeling pretty ok with what I came up with.


Cute, yes?



The pink one is for the two-year-old girl, so I went ahead and put buttons and a girly bow on it. The blue one is for the newborn boy, so the buttons are felt and sewed on super well. No buttons falling off when the baby tries to chew on it!

I didn't get to watch little Ruby open her gift, and Reid didn't seem to interested (admittedly, he's 5 weeks old, so he's not interested in much other than food), but I'm hoping the monsters will be a success. What do you think?

Saturday, August 25, 2012

No Sewing Necessary!

Oh, Pinterest. I love you so much, but you give me so many ideas* that I can never ever bring to fruition. I can't even tell you how many pins I currently have on my boards, but there are lots! Luckily, I get summer vacations so I can do a few fun projects each year. And most of them don't even require a sewing machine!

So, to move away from my typical "Look What I Sewed" posts, here are some of my non-sewing summer projects:

First, here's a Pinterest idea that I copied back last spring for a fabric-covered magnet board. Of course, the pinterest description usually says something like, "buy a cookie sheet for a dollar and cover it with cheap fabric." Sadly, in all my searching, I couldn't find a cheap (or even a not-so-cheap) cookie sheet that didn't have a lip on the edge. Instead, I just ordered some sheet metal from amazon. So this wasn't a SUPER cheap project, but it still wasn't too bad. The sheet metal cost about $8 for each piece. Of course, I made three, so it added up a little... Anyway, here are a couple of them in my craft room:

 I decluttered my work tables by putting embossing powders, cards and envelopes, and various stickers on the boards. Plus the love notes from hubs! Have to have those handy to remind myself that he can be romantic... sometimes.

On the opposite wall of my craft room, I did the embroidery hoop project that's been making the rounds on Pinterest.

I kind of like mine more than others I've seen, simply because it seems so much more appropriate to use embroidery hoops in a craft room, rather than a living room or bedroom, as many of the other online photos show. So, yay for making my random art project make sense in my crazy mind!

My next project was not a pinterest idea, but instead one of my own that I've been wanting to do for years. At our wedding reception, we displayed the wedding pictures of our grandparents and parents, all of whom are still happily married, honoring their amazing examples of love, with the hope that we could follow in their footsteps. As a reminder of everything we have to live up to, I hung the five wedding pictures, along with our own, on our living room wall. This isn't necessarily a creative diy project, but I love showing it off because I think it is so fun to look at the beginnings of these amazing relationships.


A side note: all of the people in these pictures were married in their early 20s, and they've been married for 66, 62, 62, 40, and 38 years (and 5 - that's us!). Age doesn't matter; it's all about being committed for the long haul. Take that, all you people who told me I was too young to get married. :-p

Sorry... I'm back from my trip to my soapbox.

And finally, my favorite of all Pinterest ideas, and one of the first I ever pinned! It looks a little different than some of the other photos of the same idea (you gotta make it fit your own style!), but the idea was certainly not my own. I strung picture wire along an open picture frame, and clipped (using super cheap clips from IKEA) pictures of my family and friends. I LOVE the way it turned out!

 All the important people in our lives.

I love that you can easily change pictures in and out. In fact, I already have some new photos that I'm thinking of using to replace others. And every picture tells a story, which is super important to us!

Heterosexual life-mates. This picture (from our wedding) reminds us that their "guy love" will never die.

So that's some of the fun stuff that I've been up to this summer. While the time to complete projects has decreased significantly now that I'm back in school, my Pinterest boards continue to remain very busy. We'll see what new projects come my way over the next few months.

*These ideas, while certainly not my own, have circulated Pinterest in so many different forms and from many different sources. At this point, I honestly couldn't tell you who the original poster was. If any of you know who originated these ideas, please provide me with a link, and I'd be happy to include the original source in the post.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Custom Fun!

Whew! What a long, crazy summer! While I didn't get to sew quite as much as I would have liked (too much going on!), I was able to make a few new projects over my summer vacation. A few of the purses I sewed were custom orders for a lovely new friend. I really enjoy trying to make a purse that is just what a customer is looking for. And since I don't have much time for custom orders (or the many hours it takes to quilt), I'm glad I got to have a little fun this summer.

The first bag I made was "designed" by me. I put "designed" in quotation marks because it's a pretty simple quilted tote that doesn't take a ton of designing ability. But it still turned out nicely.



My lovely customer was so satisfied, she requested TWO more quilted bags!





Not too bad, eh? While I had a lot of fun with these bags, I think I'm ready to avoid quilting for a while. It just takes so long! Maybe some simple wallets are in my future...

Friday, April 27, 2012

Black and White and Oh-So-Classy

I've been going through my old stock to begin listing items on my brand new Etsy shop, and I found these beauties that I made last fall. The tote is all polka dot with a diagonal quilt in white, and the adorable clutch coordinates without being too matchy.

Both of the items are now available in my shop, but I REALLY would hate to separate the two. I hope someone buys them together!

Check out the listings here and here!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Exciting Things on the Way!

Summer is coming! While I've been a little (ok, a lot) inactive on this blog during the school year, summer is almost here and I'm ready to rev back up. I've started making a few new bags and purses (first for myself and now for others), and I have exciting news:

I have an Etsy shop!

There's not a lot there right now, but I'll keep adding items as I make them. For now, I'm just trying to sell some of my old stock. So, check it out and check back often!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Floppy Hobo Bag

Did you know that being a special education teacher is hard? I haven't had as much time for sewing since I started school, but I'm still trying to get a few purses done here and there. I decided I needed some bigger, catch-all bags, so I tried out this big hobo bag.


I apologize for the not-great pictures. I've been working late so the natural light is all gone by the time I get home. Oh, well...

Anyway, this bag is huge. You can fit so much in it! Plus, the extra bonus is that it's reversible.

One side...

And the other.


I think it's the perfect bag to take on a road trip. Throw in a couple of books, your knitting, a change of clothes (for you or the kids!), and a few snacks.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Buttercup Purse

I love this super cute buttercup purse (pattern found here). It's very simple and easy, but the style is just perfect! I hope to try it out in a larger size soon, and I'll definitely post pictures once I do!

Awesome, yes? The fabric is so fall-ish. A purse for every season!

Slip pocket inside. Perfect size for matching wallet?

A little more young and modern. Super cute!

I love the pop of pink on the inside!

I think I'll be making myself one (or two) of these!