Pure Joy Creative

anyone out there?

2009-09-17T21:44:00.001-05:00

I know that sometimes people randomly stop by this blog...

So, I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be updating this blog.
It's just crazy to think that I can keep up with three blogs...
So come on over to my regular blog for updates on my family and my crafting obsession.
I hope you won't be dissapointed.

I will leave this blog here for a while but will no longer update.
Thanks for stopping by!

Nick & Ellen

2009-07-07T15:50:00.002-05:00

I had another photoshoot yesterday and again, I had a blast. I love my job.

I got to photograph Nick and Ellen. Nick is in the military and recently moved to San Antonio, I found out one Sunday that we actually went to highschool together, what a small world. I had a great time working with Nick and Ellen and we got some awesome shots! Here are a few. You can check out a few more here.

You could win...

2009-06-26T06:22:00.003-05:00

a free photography session and a 16x20 print from that session from me! JT Photography!

Just go to Give Away Today and enter to win!

I am also giving away a 30% discount to one lucky bride and 15% to any bride who books by July 4th!!!

And if you book a session by July 26th you'll get 10% off and a free 11x14.

Noisy Taggie Square

2009-06-25T15:33:00.004-05:00

I saw this tutorial at Joy's Hope and thought this would make a great little toy for Micah to play with during our 10 hour road trip! It was very simple to make and I can't wait for him to see it...I hope he plays with it for a long time! It's hard to keep one year olds occupied in the car, since he can't have crayons (he just eats them) or books (he just eats them) and since he throws most of his toys anyway. We'll see what he thinks!
These will make great baby gifts in the future too!

Neck Pillow Tutorial

2009-06-25T15:16:00.003-05:00

The second week in July we are going on vacation! I am SOO excited! Now that we live in Texas we fly to most of our vacation destinations...but not this time. This time we are doing a good old fashioned road trip and I am excited...sorta! I love going on road trips with Greg...the open road, singing along to old-school DCTalk, talking, reading books, taking random photos of the side of the road. Ahh....memories! We used to make lots of trips from St. Louis to Milwaukee and Indy.

But alas, a LOT has changed since those days of care free road-tripping. We added two kids to the mix. The longest road trip we took these kids on was driving back to San Antonio from Milwakee via two days in St. Louis, but my mom was with us...and Micah was pretty little...so he slept most of the way. As I said before, things are different now. I know the kids will do great and we're going to have a great time but I'm planning a lot of things for the trip and planning on making it successful.

One thing in my plans to make the trip successful was to make little neck pillows so that if and WHEN the kids fall asleep they don't break their necks in the process. I figured, how hard can it really be to make a little curved pillow? Well, it wasn't all that hard actually. And here's my little tutorial to prove that anyone with a little basic sewing knowledge can make a neck pillow too! Because really my sewing knowledge is BASIC!

Here's the end product...but how did I get there? (Isn't he handsome?)
I started by drawing my shape on the wrong side of the fabric and pinned right sides of both fabrics together.

I then sewed around my line using the line as my guide.
Then I cut the shape out, about 1/4 inch from the sewn line. I found it MUCH easier to sew the shape and then cut it out rather than trying to sew the already cut shape. It's a good thing I have to do things twice because it gives me an opportunity to try it a different (and hopefully easier) way.
Turn the pillow right side out...I added this ribbon to Naomi's because originally I was going to use white chenile on the front but forgot so the ribbon is to differentiate between Micah's and Naomi's...plus I think it's cute!
Here are the two pillow forms waiting to be stuffed. They look the same basically but I made Naomi's a little wider at the bottom.
I stuffed the pillows pretty tight and then sewed a line near the top so that stuffing would stay tight in the bottom. I didn't fill the part between the lines too full because I didn't want it to push their heads forward.

Here are the pillows in action (she's faking it)...
(he's not).

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. If something isn't clear let me know and I'll try to clarify. Let me know if you make one...I'd love to see it!

Jason and Karla

2009-06-14T23:19:00.002-05:00

I love it when my friends become my clients and my clients become my friends! Jason and Karla are friends from church and I had such a blast working with them. The camera happens to love working with them too :). Here's a small sampling of some images from their session. You can see a few more here. Tell me which one is your favorite!

I told you...

2009-06-10T14:59:00.001-05:00

that my best friend could paint. We are the proud owners of two of her paintings. Here is the one that hangs in our bedroom, along with our other China decor.

My Space

2009-06-10T14:51:00.003-05:00

I have finally gotten my crafting corner cleaned up and organized. I'm not 100% done but about 85% which is pretty good. Compared to what it used to look like this is looking pretty awesome. I am so grateful that my hubby allowed me to put all my crafting things in our bedroom. I would use the basement, but alas, we do not have one.

The top shelf in my closet is full of stuff too. Mostly negatives and doubles, fabric and cross-stitching items. I know, I probably have too much stuff but I cannot imagine giving/throwing any of it away. I'm just not ready yet. Although I did do some downsizing, it probably wasn't enough according to Greg. Oh well. At least it's all put away nicely now and out of Micah's closet.

Prayers

2009-06-09T06:45:00.003-05:00

are needed for this little guy as he has his reconstructive surgery today. Please keep JJ, Kimi and Scott and the doctors in your prayers today. JJ will look different from the outside once the surgery is over but still has a long road ahead of him as he waits the for the surgery to repair the roof of his mouth in December. After the surgery he will be in arm casts for 10 days because he is not allowed to suck on anything. He will be fed with a tube in his mouth and cannot have pacifiers or anything to suck on, so please pray for them all during their ten days after surgery as well, I'm sure that will be a trying time also. I will update with his progress once I hear something.

Egg Carton Flowers

2009-06-08T13:35:00.005-05:00

When I buy eggs they usually come in a styrofoam container. I would really love to get the paper ones but our grocery store doesn't really carry them. Why does it matter you ask? It would be nicer on the environment if we bought paper and the paper ones make better craft projects! So while the kids and I were on a really long walk the other day I happened to see a paper egg carton on the sidewalk, so I picked it up. Gross? Not really it was just a container for cascarones. I have no idea if I spelled that right but cascarones are these little confetti filled eggs that they sell around Fiesta time. I knew what I wanted to do with the paper egg container and once we got home we started on the project.

Naomi and I painted the container and then after letting it dry during nap time we made the container into little flowers. She really liked putting the pipe cleaners through the leaves and the bottom of the flowers. I asked her what she wanted to do with the flowers and she basically told me that she wanted to keep them for herself. So, I encouraged her to think about others and give them to the staff at church. So a couple days later we went to church to give out the flowers and to teach Naomi about giving and sharing our gifts with others. We also gave one to Anna because she watched Micah so that Naomi and I could give out the flowers and go grocery shopping. Thanks Anna.

Micah enjoyed a little coloring...till I had to take the crayons away because he was eating them.

Wall Collage

2009-06-03T08:13:00.000-05:00

After we got Micah's canvas up in his room I knew I had some other photos that I wanted to hang as well. I had a 12x16 that was already hanging on the wall and it looked lonely. I knew that I wanted to do a wall collage with different sized frames and photos. I was blog surfing one day and came across this great idea for hanging a wall collage easily. I'm sorry that I didn't keep track of which blog it was from but please know this is not my original idea. If I come across it again I will link it here.
Anyway, the way I did this was to trace the frame onto a piece of paper and then with a crayon I marked where the hanger was. It was easier on some than others. Then I taped those pieces of paper on my wall where I wanted them hung. Then I just drove my nail through that piece of paper right where the hanger on the back of the frame was. Then I took the papers down and hung up my frames. And they were all in the correct place. Simple as that.

I have since added the photo in the 8x10 frame.
My little helper watches on in delight as I make his room even more fun!

Next project for Micah's room...the t-shirt quilt.

Card Table Tent

2009-06-02T14:43:00.005-05:00

I have been dreaming about the card table playhouse for my kids for a while now. And I finally did something about it. I made the dream a reality in my own way. We got the card table out last week and threw some blankets over it. The blankets were dark and hot. So, I decided it would probably be better with some sheets. I knew that I had some thrift store sheets just waiting to be used for something so I got those out and threw them over the table. The kids loved it.

I decided to take things one step further. I wanted to make a tent that actually fit on the table and something that could be easily put away. I thought up the design in my head and took some measurements and two nights later I had this card table tent all ready for the kids to play with.

It is by NO means perfect.

The sides aren't all the same length.

The patterns don't exactly match.

But, my kids and I could care less.

They LOVE playing in their new tent and ask for it to be set up everyday (because I like to have my living room back in the evening).

How did I make it? Well, I measured the length and width of the sides and cut two pieces of old sheets for each side. I sewed them right sides together with a ribbon at 10 and 20 inches on both sides. Then I turned them right side out. (I was thinking about top stitching all the sides but didn't feel it was really necessary and I didn't want this project to take me forever.) For the top I used a whole twin sheet. It worked out perfectly to fold the two edges to the middle and sew those down. Then I cut the sheet where it was ending on the table. I sewed a hem in the cut edges and the rest was already finished off because it's a sheet so that made it simple. Then I sewed the three sides onto the top/front piece and I was good to go. Usually when people make these things they make it so the stitching is down but I like it on top and if I really wanted to I could turn it over...it's sorta reversible. I left a big chunk of fabric in the front because we like to put it on chairs and it makes the tent even bigger. It's sorta like an awning!

So, for a huge fraction of the cost of a felt card table playhouse I made my very own. My kids love it and I'm proud that I could make something with just ideas in my head and turn it into a reality. Plus, I can easily wash this and it cost me about 5 dollars to make! Yay! Now, go make your own!

Two little girls

2009-05-30T20:51:00.001-05:00

When I was in Wisconsin I had the great priviledge of photographing two little ladies that belong to my dear friend Sarah. Sarah and I swam together in highschool. There were only four senior girl swimmers and Sarah and I were two of them. We have lots of fun memories from those times. Although we lost touch through college and after we found each other again on facebook (gotta love facebook). It was great to meet her two sweet little ladies and to catch up again. Next time I'm in Wisconsin hopefully we can see eachother again and maybe our husbands will be around. Here are some storyboards I put together to show off these cute little ladies!

Painting and a rambling of sorts

2009-05-28T20:53:00.005-05:00

I love to paint. I love the colors, the mess, the freedom.

I'm not particularly good at painting but I just love to paint.

My best friend is an amazing artist and she can paint like no one I've ever met in person. She paints from photographs and with her own style and twist makes that photograph come to life.

I studied art in college for two years.

I was a graphic design major. My college did not offer a photography degree otherwise I would have majored in photography. So I went with the "next best thing" as my advisor told me to.

Being an art major had its perks. I got to paint. I got to sculpt. I got to throw pottery (on the wheel of course). I got to try my hand at printmaking. I made a stained glass window that still hangs in the halls of my alma mater. My tests were easy and papers were almost non-existant.

I loved everything about my art classes...until I really started the graphic design classes. I took a few classes and liked them enough but there was just something that was holding me back. My skills were not on par with my classmates. My desire to work as a graphic designer was changing.

In the middle of the first semester of my junior year of college I changed my major. I was always one of those kids who said, I'll never change my major, I know what I want to be when I grow up. Well, I shouldn't have said that. Come on, who really knows what they want to be when they grow up, when they are only 19 years old? Okay, some people do. Well, I guess I never really wanted to be a graphic designer in the first place, just a photographer so it was only time till I faced the facts, right? I guess I did know what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was 19 years old. I just went to the wrong college to make that dream a reality. But college was free so I wasn't about to pass that up (by dad is a prof).

Eventually when all was said and done I graduated from college with a Major in Theology. I had minors in Lay Ministry, Youth Ministry and you guessed it, Art! All those art classes my first two years made my art minor a given. I was going to be a youth minister and I was excited. I had no idea what the future held for me but I was a fresh graduate and a new Mrs. so I was ready to face the world.

I worked as a youth director for two years while my husband went to the Seminary. I was his sugar mama. I loved working with the youth. I had a blast creating retreats, programs, Bible studies and just hanging out and getting to know who they were and what they struggled with. It was an incredible time in my life. I was very happy with where I was at in life. I used my graphic design background to help create eye catching flyers and postcards for the kids. I designed many t-shirts and posters. I had just enough knowledge about graphic design to make me dangerous.

My love for art has never left me. It has changed. My appreciation for different mediums has grown over the years. I don't have a complete knowledge of the subject because really, 8am is not a great time for art history class and a dark room with the soothing voice of the professor narrating the slides just isn't very condusive to my learning style. But I slept great!

I taught myself how to cross-stitch after seeing my aunts do that for many years. I asked my mom for a sewing machine for Christmas when I was 25 even though I didn't grow up with one in the house. I taught myself how to sew...and I had lots of help from two wonderful women! I have dabbled in just about every craft medium there is. That is why my husband says that I have a new hobby every week. That is why my shelves are full of supplies. I may need them again. I have a hard time parting with art supplies. I think I need to see someone about this. I need to get my new craft space organized and whittled down.

I am itching to get creative again. To throw caution to the wind and just paint whatever I want. To sew a closet of dresses for my little girl, because she wants to wear a "pretty dress" everyday. I am so wanting to make my own embroidery designs. I want to start the t-shirt quilt for Micah's bed that is waiting. I really just want to have a crafting day where all I do is craft to my hearts content. No worrying about the mess or the diapers, or dinner. Just being creative. Moving from one project to the next even before the first one is finished if that's where the creativity is leading me. Ah. It sounds so nice. But it doesn't sound realistic. I guess I just need to manage my time better and try and get something created in the hour I may get during the day and the few I have at night.

All this to say, I love watching Naomi paint and experience some of these crafts for the first time. I have to make myself just sit back and watch and not tell her how it's supposed to be done because I'm not inside her mind and I'm not sure how she wants it to be done. She seems to like painting and creating as much as I do...but not quite as much :). It makes me so happy to paint with her and see how her creative mind works. These things make me happy.Then you may also understand why these things (below) make me sad. Micah was trying to eat the paint so I told him no, rather loudly so as to startle him and make him stop what he was doing and he just cried and cried. I think I scared him for life. I hope he doesn't give up on trying to paint and do other creative things. Oh and he was tired, really tired, and a little hungry. Probably not a good time for his first painting experience. We'll try again another day.

This is the stained glass window that two of my classmates and I made, and it is still hanging proudly in the art hallway!I love all the creative inspiration that is around me. Lots of blogs and websites. Lots of great stuff in magazines and books. And just from life happening around me. People tell me, "you're so creative, Jamie" and I just have to laugh because if they only knew that 90% of my creativity is stolen from other peoples ideas they probably wouldn't say that. ha!

Sorry to keep you so long. It was fun to reminice and trace my steps of creativity. This is not what I intended to post about tonight when I sat down at the computer but it's just as well. Have a great night! Go create something!

Spring is in the air

2009-05-07T21:33:00.003-05:00

So the kids and I have been in Wisconsin for a week and a half now.

It's been chilly.

It's been rainy.

It's been beautiful.

Today it was chilly, rainy and beautiful.

We went to visit my very good friend Katie and her three adorable children. All the kids got along great.

They played outside.

They played inside.

They swung on the tire swing.

They ran around.

They ate pizza.

They ate ice cream.

Sounds like the perfect playdate to me.

And it was.

Thanks Katie for the awesome afternoon of fun. We really miss getting to spend time with all of you. Your children are as adorable as ever. We hope it's not too long before we get to see you again!

This photo of Roann seems like the perfect image of summer! She had so much fun on that tire swing!!!

Baby Evie

2009-05-07T21:27:00.003-05:00

This little lady is near and dear to my heart. Her big brother is my godson and her parents are very good friends of ours. Their official family photoshoot is tomorrow morning but when I was there for a "playdate" with my kiddos the other day I decided to get some shots of just her. She's such a sweet little lady, totally laid back and happy. She let me pose her however I wanted to! Enjoy this sweet little thing!

Something New

2009-05-06T23:53:00.002-05:00

I'm trying out the 3 column blog template to see how I like it. I didn't like that all my links were so far down on the page so I figured this would be a good solution to that problem. The tutorial I followed was from here.

I've also added some fun little buttons that I got from this great site! Any other ideas or suggestions to make this blog even more fun and user friendly?

Family Portraits

2009-05-06T08:12:00.003-05:00

I donated a photography session to my "home" churches auction that my sister was running. I am so glad I was able to be in town for two weeks so that I could get a few sessions in while I'm here. Now, I just hope to get this much business when I go home! The P family bid on and won my session. They haven't had a family portrait for a while so this was perfect. The weather was great with bright sun and lots of clouds in the sky! It was actually pretty warm too. I had a great time working with this family and hope they are happy with the results! I know I am! Thanks for looking.

Giveaway...but not here...

2009-05-03T16:35:00.002-05:00

I have been reading Julie's blog for a while and I just find it very inspiring and funny! She's a mother to three little ladies, sews, crafts, takes photos and just seems like such a great person! Would love to meet her someday...even if just online. Anyway, she's having this great giveaway that I would love to win. So, I'm telling you about it...making my chances of winning even more slim if you enter but I just thought I'd share the love. Go enter and maybe if you win you can send the blanket to me!

Family Photography

2009-05-03T15:09:00.004-05:00

While I'm on vacation in Wisconsin I was able to book a few photography sessions. I have two next week and had one yesterday morning. I had a great time photographing Dan, Susan and their five adorable children. This session was really special to me because Susan and I were best friends in highschool. Thanks for the great opportunity Dan and Susan, I had a blast! You can see a few more photos from their session here.

Here's one of my favorites. Although it's not technically correct I love the attitude of this photo!

I told you these kids were adorable!

Cookies

2009-04-29T14:55:00.001-05:00

I made these felt cookies a while ago but never posted a photo of them. I thought that since I was giving them to Aly with the apples that I should post of photo. That way I'll remember what I made and what they looked like. Aly really liked the felt apples and called the cookies, pancakes with strawberry syrup....so cute. I hope to make more of these in the future and of course I need to make some more so Naomi can have her very own set...I keep giving hers away!

Veil

2009-04-23T10:35:00.003-05:00

My friend Kari is getting married on Saturday...so EXCITED! She asked me to make her veil. No pressure right? It's not like I'm altering the dress. It's not like I'm the caterer. It's not like I'm the wedding photographer right? I've had that pressure before. I'm just making the veil and really if it's not that great she can always decide to not wear one right? Well, all that being said, I think for my first veil it turned out okay. I'm not sure if it's exactly what Kari envisioned but I think it's close. I hope she likes it. I'll make sure to get a photo of it in all its glory adorning the head of the beautiful bride on Saturday. But she'll be beautiful even without the veil, so it's really not a big deal. Just check one more thing off the "I can do it" list.

From this:

To this:

Apples!

2009-04-20T15:34:00.003-05:00

While watching "Australia" with my husband last night I created these felt apple slices. I looked at a few tutorials online and got the general idea of how they were done. I think the most helpful tutorial that I saw was here. It just helped me get the concept down although I already had the initial idea of how it would work in my head. I'm glad to see how other people do it so I know what works and what doesn't. I hope to make some carrots soon...and maybe some green veggies too, we'll see if I have time! Have a great week. Off to clean my crafting area!

Concentration

2009-04-19T15:30:00.002-05:00

Naomi got a little paint your own pot kit in her Easter basket and decided the other day would be a good time to paint it. She concentrated really hard on painting this pot and had a great time making it her own. Next, we're going to plant a sunflower in a little pot and get it to start growing with the hopes of transplanting it once it gets big enough. I think both these things came from the dollar spot at Target.

New chairs

2009-04-19T15:27:00.001-05:00

Our dinning room chairs were hand-me-downs from one of my college roommates aunt and uncle. They are nice chairs but the white fabric was pretty dirty and worn. So, I decided it was about time to recover the chairs. Since Greg had bought a staple gun to hang the Christmas lights I thought this would be a great tool to use and I wouldn't have to go buy anything. So, I bought some black fabric with a little bit of a pattern on it and recovered the chair. Yes, the CHAIR. I only have one done so far but it shouldn't take me too long to cover the other five.

Before:After:

Easter Celebration

2009-04-19T15:14:00.002-05:00

We had a great Easter celebration that included finding Easter baskets, naps, finding Easter eggs and a great meal with our friends. We are blessed to have such a great church home/family and really are excited to watch where God leads this church. We had a great time hanging out with Sue and Steve and their family on Easter. The kids had a blast jumping on their trampoline and finding eggs while we all enjoyed some adult conversation, great food and great company. What a blessed Easter. I took over the bird's nest's that I had made and everyone seemed to really like them. I really liked them too, they tasted so yummy and were easy to make!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T14:49:00.001-05:00

Credits: Peppermint Creative, April Morning kit

He is Risen!

2009-04-12T00:13:00.003-05:00

He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!!!

Happy Easter!

Happy Resurrection Day!

The greatest day in the history of the world.

No other religion worships a G(g)od who is alive!

Praise God for raising Jesus from the dead!

Alleluia!

We have hope.

We have joy.

We have love.

We have a Savior who died for us because He loves us.

What an amazing gift.

I finished the balloon eggs during Naomi's nap and then when she woke up she helped me put the Easter grass inside. I just have to find something to put inside.

Balloon Eggs

2009-04-09T13:42:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a messy but fun Easter craft look no further. I had seen this the other day and it brought back memories of grade school. I figured Naomi and I could do this pretty easily if she allowed herself to get dirty. I wanted to post this now even before we finished in case anyone else out there thinks they may want to try this. You'll need some time to let the craft dry so start it today!

We had a great time making this craft and it really held her attention. I've seen some tutorials on this craft that say to use 50/50 glue and water and well, we didn't do quite so much water because we wanted ours to dry before Easter gets here. So we eneded up using a lot more glue, but it's a small price to pay. Once we got to the tissue paper part we used paintbrushes to put the glue on the tissue paper once it was on the balloon because it was very "fragile". I liked the idea of using paper towel that I saw on someone elses blog because it was really strong and I could wring out some of the glue and still open it up to use on the balloon (just make sure to use a good quality paper towel). Now, the balloons are hanging up to dry and on Saturday I plan on popping the balloon and decorating them a little more! Happy crafting!
Naomi had a great time painting with the glue and painted for quite a while after we were actually done with our balloons. She said she was making a pretend balloon!
I plan on making these next.

Naomi's Easter Bag

2009-04-08T23:55:00.001-05:00

I got Naomi's Easter bag done today. It didn't seem to take me as long as Micah's took and I'm not sure why that is. Probably because I did most of it in one day rather than stretching it over three days. I really am happy with how these turned out and could totally see making more of these for other occasions! I think they would make great birthday party favors...or presents, filled with goodies for the birthday person. Naomi was so cute today, playing with her new bag and she kept trying to give Micah his "purse" to play with, but he must have heard that boys don't play with purses because he wanted nothing to do with it.
I intended for the feet to be under the main body piece but must have moved the body piece when I was stitching it on. Oh well, nobody's perfect.I agreed to buy a table for my local PTA's Craft Fair fundraiser. I will set up a small display for my photography and also show my felt food and take some custom orders. Hopefully it'll be a little successful!

Easter Bags

2009-04-07T14:18:00.001-05:00

My mother-in-law and I were at Target the other day and we saw these cute little felt Easter bags in the dollar spot. I was so tempted to buy one for each of my kids but decided that I could make my own and it wouldn't even cost me a dollar per bag. So, I bought a little more felt and used some that I already had and when I am finished I will have two Eater bags for approximately $1.40. So, it's not a whole lot cheeper than the ones at Target but these are handmade with love AND personalized.

Here's my first attempt at a tutorial for those of you out there who'd like to make your own Target knock-off Easter bag. Please know that I'm not a perfectionist nor do I really know that much about sewing, so take that into consideration while reading/following this tutorial. I took two pieces of 9x12 felt and cut off two inches from the shorter side, these will be your handles.Fold the handles in half and sew 1/4 inch from the edge (no need to turn under since felt does not fray). Then sew 1/4 in on the other side too, so you have two seams on the handle (the second seam just makes it look better, there's no real use for it).Next, take the two big pieces together and sew along the two shorter sides. (Sorry that I switched colors I decided to work on Micah's bag first...hence the blue.)

Cut a square off each bottom corner (I made 1 1/2 inch squares) and then stitch the bottom pieces together.Squish the square together and sew, this will be the bottom of the bag. (Sorry for the bad photo, my nice camera is in the shop so I had to use my little digital!)This is what it will look like once you've sewn the bottom pieces together.

Now turn the back right side out and you're all set (for the most part)

I like to make my bags a little studier so I find the corners and sew a seam all the way up from the corners. This makes the bag more rigid. Just make sure to backstitch at all ends since little kids will be playing with this. You want to make it as sturdy as possible.Just another view with the outside edges stitched.Next, add your handles. I just picked a place where I thought they looked good and stitched them on. I used a continuous stitch and made sure to backstitch at the beginning and the end. I also added a little "X" in the middle to make it look a little better. The trick that I've found for making handles go the right way is to hold the piece that is going to be the handle flat in front of you and then just drop your hands down towards each other and you should get your handles going the right way.Once the bag was finished I hand sewed on a little chick and an M on Micah's bag. I made a document with some bunnies (I'm using the white one for Naomi's bag) and a chick to copy and letters to trace for the bags. I just eyeballed the animals but cut out the letters and actually traced them onto the felt.Then it came time to get this on their Easter bags. First I sewed the eyes and beak onto the large yellow body, then I sewed the legs onto the bag followed by the wings and the little tuft at the top. Then I sewed the body on and before closing it all the way I added some poly-fill to make the bag pop! This project really didn't take me too long and it was great to work on while sitting outside watching the kids play and an easy project to do while watching TV (once the initial bag is sewn that is.) Let me know if something is not clear and I'll try to clarify. I'll post pictures later of Naomi's bag. I'm hoping to get it finished tonight!

Micah seems to like his Easter bag already!

I hope to do more of these in the future....tutorials that is.

Birthday Cakes

2009-04-06T21:27:00.000-05:00

I am by no means a master baker...or a cake lady (although I do love to eat the stuff). But I am a person who likes to do things myself. Ask anyone that knows me well and they will agree that I'm pretty independent and crafty. I am willing to try just about anything crafty and I try to figure it out on my own. I'm not a perfectionist so this works out pretty good, most of the time! Besides I'm pretty cheap...err..thrifty, so it's much easier on my wallet to do it myself too!

So, when it comes to birthdays, naturally, I want to do it myself. I wonder why I keep hearing that phrase from my two year old....anyway, I have a great time searching the internet for ideas and tutorials and then I figure out how to make it happen. I made Naomi's birthday cake for her second birthday in October and it turned out pretty good. I couldn't think of how else to do Mickey Mouse (her current obsession) until I saw this tutorial and it just clicked and this is how mine turned out. Not bad for my first attempt and not having the correct pans!

So, for Micah's birthday I decided to use the small pyrex bowls again to get a round cake and make some baseballs. I had made Greg a baseball cake one year for one of his surprise parties but it was just a round layer cake. I think using the round pyrex bowls the ball shape was much better. Micah loved ripping into this cake and it made me so happy to see him enjoy it! I hope I get to experiement with some more fun cakes in the future! Let's not get too crazy though!

Cheese

2009-04-06T21:26:00.000-05:00

Can you tell he has a photographer for a mother and everyone knows it! This is one of his birthday presents from my sister!

Guitar

2009-04-06T21:18:00.000-05:00

This idea came from this website. Naomi had fun coloring the guitar (which she calls a trombone about half the time) with grandma. Then she pretended to play it and still likes to play it even days later.

Not Broken...

2009-03-27T22:08:00.000-05:00

My machine wasn't broken afterall. I changed the needle again and tried some new thread and it seemed to work just fine. So, while I was in the sewing mood I got a few things accomplished. I finished the pillow and burp rags for my little goddaughter, Faith. I made a felt lunch bag and I made a skirt for Naomi. I love the fabric that I used for this skirt and I still have lots to work with. Maybe I'll just keep making more and more skirts for her as she grows. She loves to twirl in her new skirt too! She's really been into dancing lately so it makes me happy to make her a skirt that she wants to dance in!This skirt was pretty simple to make (which is good since I don't have a lot of patience for fussy sewing and I have limited knowledge on the subject). I just cut the length that I wanted for the skirt plus about an inch, then sewed the two ends together so that no seams were showing. I'll have to post a tutorial on that sometime because it's really a neat way to sew things without having a serger. I made a pocket for the elastic at the top and then threaded the elastic through with a safety pin and closed the gap where I put that in. Then I sewed some ribbon onto the bottom of the skirt. I started with sewing the ribbon flush onto the underside of the skirt then folded it over to the front and sewed that down. Pretty simple but pretty nice too! Naomi loves her skirt and I can't wait to make her some more!

Easter eggs

2009-03-27T21:46:00.000-05:00

I found this great idea here and thought it would be a great craft for Naomi and I to do together since she loves to paint, and since Easter is so close (can you believe it?). I was right, she was totally digging this. Painting one egg was not enough, she wanted to paint another and then another...but we stopped at two! I let them dry overnight and then put them together today. I hung them on our sliding door...and made sure to hang it high enough so she would keep pulling the googly eyes off. When we were outside today she noticed the cheerios in the window since that was the box we used, how funny.

Breakfast

2009-03-23T22:21:00.001-05:00

I made Naomi some pancakes the other day and then last night I made some eggs real quick. I am really having fun making this felt food. I want to make more and more and I want to keep it all. It was hard to give away my very first pizza but I know how to make more and I can tweak things the second time around that didn't work so great on the first go. I am thinking of making some to sell and obviously this new felt food obsession will come in handy for more gifts!

Maybe tomorrow I'll make the bacon and make this breakfast complete!

Felt Pizza

2009-03-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

We went to a birthday party on Saturday for a little girl from our church. I decided on Tuesday night that I wanted to attempt to make Olivia a felt pizza. So, on Wednesday I got the supplies I needed and set to work. The initial pieces took a while to finish but I had fun while doing it. I am really happy with how the pizza turned out and can't wait to make more. Here are some photos of my first felt pizza!

ahhhh

2009-03-17T23:45:00.002-05:00

I could spend hours upon hours on Etsy! Man, what a source of inspiration and amazing talent. Tonight while drooling on my computer for the many things I would love to have for me, the kids and my home I stumbled upon this beauty! Check out her shop here!!

Man, how cool is this. It fits over a standard card table and she makes them custom so they are sure to fit your very own card table. Very cool! She's from Menomonee Falls so she must be cool. I wish I had an extra $80 lying around so I could buy this for my kids. I know they'd have a great time. Maybe I can make my own...but seriously who am I kidding, like I have the time! ugh! Oh well, one can dream right.

St. Patty's

2009-03-17T13:59:00.001-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. I got pinched today by my dear husband because I wasn't wearing any green. Guess I'll have to go change. We had fun today doing some shamrock crafts. Okay, I had fun and Naomi couldn't sit still. But I learned a new sewing technique so it's all good. I love the internet. Where would I be without it. I've learned so much about sewing and other things because of the internet.

I learned the blanket stitch today and I love it! Watch out world I very well could blanket stitch anything in sight! I found a great tutorial here and it was very thorough and easy to follow. I will be looking back at that site from time to time for other ideas and tutorials. I would love to do little mini pillows with all sorts of shapes and holidays in mind. This little shamrock pillow took me about 20 minutes to do once I figured out how to do the blanket stitch correctly.
I love all the little felt food that I see all over crafty blogs and would love to make some of that too. It can't be too hard. I just need more felt. I've got plenty of floss so I'm good to go on that...just need good quality felt! I also did the blanket stitch on a big ol shamrock that I cut out of cardstock. That may be pushing it but I felt it looks better than a running stitch (is that what you call it?). Okay, I'm off have a great St. Patty's day... go drink some green beer for me!

Necklace

2009-03-17T13:53:00.000-05:00

I had a hard time getting Naomi to sit still for more than 30 seconds today during our craft time. I couldn't get her to focus on anything. She didn't want to color, cut, sew or anything. UNTIL I suggested that she string some cheerios onto a necklace. She thought that was a grand "ideda". She sat there quietly and patiently putting one cheerio on after another until her necklace was nice and long (and until I was finished with my part of the craft ). She had a great time and really had lots of fun doing this. This idea totally came from my awesome friend Anna! Thanks for the idea Anna, I know I'll be pulling this one out again when I need her to sit still. Her favorite part though was getting to eat the necklace once she was finished. This necklace reminded me of my brother, he used to get candy necklaces and wear them to school dances in college (can you guess why?).

Time outside

2009-03-16T23:47:00.000-05:00

It was nice to be able to spend some time outside today. The weather last week was rainy, chilly and just no fun. It's a bummer that San Antonio had spring break last week because the weather was crummy. Good thing I'm not in school or I would have probably been really disapointed. Greg and I took some photos of us with the kids. I feel like I don't have enough of me with the kids and I'm so glad that Greg was willing to take photos of us and allow me to take some of him. I know that I can get annoying with the camera sometimes but I'm grateful to have the memories of what we looked like at different times in our lives.My sewing machine is busted...somethings wrong and I have no idea what it is. I need to take it somewhere to have it fixed. I have lots of projects just waiting for me! We're going to be doing a few St. Patty's day things tomorrow so watch for some of that fun later.

Make sure to check out my photography blog for my latest promotions and portrait session specials!

Canvas on Demand

2009-03-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

I'm overjoyed with the package that came in the mail today! I've been wanting to order this for a long time and finally got the guts and the right photograph to order. This 20x30 canvas is from Canvas on Demand and I'm totally in love. It's incredible to see something that you created (the kid and the photo in this case :) ) come in a new form. I can't stop looking at it! I plan on ordering some more studio samples and just have the hard task of choosing the right photos slowing me down! ugh! too many choices. Maybe I'll post the choices and y'all can help me decide. But in the mean time check out this cute kid and this amazing canvas! Now I just have to go find a place to hang it!

Business card holder

2009-03-06T22:21:00.000-06:00

I love it when sewing projects are easy, fast and awesome! This business card holder is just that! I loved the fabric that Jodie sent me during the Itching 2B Stitching swap a couple of weeks ago and I knew I wanted the leaf fabric to be in something I'd see a lot or just hanging on my bulletin board (that's where it was since the day I got it, but now I get to carry it around with me). While blog surfing I happened along this tutorial for a tea wallet that mentioned at the bottom that it could also be used to business cards. Well, since I've got business cards that I like to hand out I thought this would be perfect. And since I knew that would be in my purse all the time I knew that it would be a perfect fit for my new favorite leaf fabric. I love how this turned out and it seriously only took me about an hour...it wouldn't have even taken me that long if my sewing machine wasn't being a putz! Ugh! It would not sew the edge stitch along the whole thing. I don't know if there was too much there and it couldn't get through it or what but the thread kept coming out of the top needle and I had to rethread the thing about 20 times and I'm not even exagerating. At any rate. I got the business card holder done and can't wait to make some more!
Thanks Jodie for the awesome fabirc...I can't stop looking at it!

2009-03-06T22:14:00.000-06:00

Learning the ABC song was pretty easy for Naomi, but it still took a while to get down. She loves to sing and that's always a good way to memorize things. She still has trouble with a few of the letters...there are three "B's" in her alphabet (no G or V). She knows what "A" looks like but doesn't really recognize any other letters. So, in an effort to get her to learn her name I spelled out her name in painters tape on the table. We worked on tracing the letters and just recognizing them. It seems now that she knows A and O and whenever we get to M she says, Micah. So, she knows that Micah starts with M but I'm begining to think that she thinks the letter M is called Micah...ha! I have a few other ideas about learning the letters of her name that I hope to try in the next week or so. I know I saw this idea on some homeschooling blog but I read so many that I lost track...so if this was your idea, Thanks!

Triangles

2009-03-04T15:25:00.000-06:00

Yesterday as part of our craft time we made kites. Naomi decorated the diamond that I cut out with pencil and then glued on some triangles. She then glued some of the extra triangles to some paper. She is really learning her shapes pretty quickly. She gets confused by the words shape and color sometimes but she's getting there.

I am also working on another project with my old Christmas cards. It may take me a while to finish but I'm enjoying the process and Naomi loved playing with my circle punch even though she isn't strong enough to actually punch any circles. I'll be sure to share the finished project when it's done!

Naomi was looking extra cute yesterday so I quick grabbed my camera and got a few shots of her. Check them out here.

Handmade

2009-03-02T14:13:00.001-06:00

If you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of handmade items. Whether they are for the babies, my home or myself, something handmade goes a long way in making me happy. The time and effort it takes to make something by hand speaks volumes. I love to create things myself and to share them with others but so do MANY other moms. Check out the Mom-preneur shops at Tip Junkie...so many great things. Awesome things to purchase and get inspired by! Maybe one day I'll have enough time to contribute to the mom-preneur world but for now, they make awesome gifts for my loved ones!

Re-purposed

2009-02-27T15:27:00.000-06:00

Maybe you remember this bag that I made. Well, one of the handles fell off and since I made it prior to really learning much about sewing I decided to make it better. I fixed the "hem" so that the edges were under and wouldn't fray. I made new handles from the front pant leg so that they would be seamless and longer. I also made sure to sew them so that no edges were exposed. I also took one of the back pockets from the pants and sewed it inside the bag so I would have an inside pocket as well. I'm really happy with how the re-finished bag turned out and I use it as my purse. It's great to re-purpose old clothes that are worn out or no longer fit. It's my little way of saving money and "going green". I have an old pair of jeans and cords just waiting to become purses for someone else!

Apron

2009-02-27T15:11:00.000-06:00

I made my first apron and I am very excited about it. It turned out really good for my first attempt at following directions from a book. Usually I just make up my own "patterns" as I go. I used the apron pattern from In Stitches by Amy Butler. I haven't used the apron yet since I haven't really done any cooking since I made it, but I am excited to use it! ... and I can't wait to make more for my loved ones. If you get an apron for Christmas or your birthday this year please act surprised!

Baby Blankets

2009-02-24T14:14:00.000-06:00

Last night I took the time after the kids were in bed (and after we watched 24) to sew some baby blankets. This was a very simple project but I just love the way they turned out. The fabric is so cute, I don't want to part with them. But I'm happy to be able to spread the love and send them to little ones that I love! I used a half yard of two fabrics and stitched them wrong sides together, leaving a small opening to turn them right side out. I've made pillows before and didn't really know how to close them properly, so last night I got online and found a tutorial for stitching things like that closed. I guess if you sew a lot it seems silly that I didn't know how to close them properly but I've really just taught myself a lot of the things I do. So, I used a blindstitch and I'm really happy with the way it finished off the blankets.I am so excited that they turned out pretty good. They may be a bit small but I envision them being used more as lap blankets for the stroller or car seat, or somethinng like that. I hope the little ones who receive these in the mail really like them as much as I do. M is sleeping with his right now. Hopefully the jungle animals won't wake him up!

Surprise party

2009-02-22T14:02:00.000-06:00

On Saturday night I threw my husband his sixth surprise birthday party.
Not six in one night.
Not six in six years.
But six within the ten years that we've known each other. Each one was different, with different people, different stories leading him there but each one was successful. This one was a little less dramatic but fun none-the-less. There were three people there to surprise him but we still had a great time hanging out and laughing. The night started out with Greg, his best friend Jordan, and I going out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It was nice to go out, just the three of us (it's been a LONG time since that has happened). Then we went home and had the party, and some really yummy chocolate cake. It was a fun night and I hope Greg was at least a little surprised! Happy 30th Birthday babe! I love you!I made a gift bag for Greg's present from a fat quarter of fabric and some ribbon! I think I'll do this more often, really saves from wasting more paper!N helped her daddy blow out his candles!

Birthday Banner

2009-02-22T12:23:00.000-06:00

I've always wanted to make a some-what permanent birthday banner...and since my sweet husband is turning 30 this year, I thought this would be a great time to do it. I had the idea that I could really make it happen on Friday...and I was having a surprise party for him on Saturday. I wasn't sure if I could actually get it done on time...but I did. Well, mostly done. I haven't decided if I'm going to stitch each letter to the ribbon or not. I like the flexibility that I have right now with being able to make it shorter or longer...so we'll see.

I made it all up on my own and maybe next time (if there is a next time), I'll make the letters bigger. I made the letters in Microsoft Word (arial black) and then cut them out, traced them (backwards) onto the maroon fabric and then cut them out. I cut the background piece to be 5x14 and stitched the letters to the bottom half of the fabric. I have never really been taught how to stitch and move things at the same time so the stitching on the letters looks a little funny on some of them (just makes it look more homemade). Then I folded the pieces right sides together and stitched around the three sides leaving a little space at the top of the sides to turn them the right way and also to hang them. I didn't have to stitch the top since it was just folded over. They turned out pretty good. I made a blank one so that I can put numbers on there...maybe with velcro or something, I haven't thought that one all the way through yet. Any suggestions?

Greg helped me hang the banner (not knowing it was for his surprise party) by putting two hooks in the wall so I could attach the ribbon. I'm excited about these hooks because I plan on putting ribbon and some clothes pins there to hang art work or photos when it's not someone's birthday!

It's hard to get a good picture of the banner because it's not hanging in front of a blank wall. But I think you get the idea.

A little more detailed.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T14:50:00.000-06:00

SEW excited

2009-02-03T23:23:00.000-06:00

My package from my swap partner arrived today (thank you SO MUCH J!). I am so excited about the fabrics I received...they are gorgeous! I love them all and can't wait to put them to good use! I just have to make the time and figure out what to do. I know the "kid" fabric will be put to good use. I've been thinking about making a little doll quilt for N's babies! Any other ideas out there for what to do with scraps of fabric?

Valentine's Day crafts

2009-02-03T23:13:00.000-06:00

Today we did a little work on some crafts for Valentine's Day. We made a window hanging out of contact paper, construction paper hearts and circles and some little flower pieces. N loves stickers so to put paper on a big giant sticker is lots of fun to her. The most fun that she had though was after we were done putting the window decal (for lack of a better word) together and she got to cut paper. This was the first time that I let her try out a pair of scissors (of course she used the blunt tip kid scissors). She sat there and cut paper for at least forty minutes! I can't wait to do some other cutting exercizes that I've seen. I know she's not ready for them yet but she will be soon.

She also asked to paint for a little bit, so I gave her a big piece of news print and red paint and let her have at it. Later she asked for blue paint as well. I plan on using the painting to cut out some hearts to decorate the house a little more!

Websites

2009-02-03T14:00:00.000-06:00

There are two homeschooling websites that I look at and use frequently. The first one is called Hubbards Cupboard and it has different curiculum based on the childs age. The great thing about this site is it's all Bible based curriculum. The other site is called Preschool Express and I especially love to print off the calendar for the month because it's full of great ideas for what to do on specific days throughout the month.

Circles

2009-01-25T23:09:00.000-06:00

I found a great homeschooling website...in fact, I've found a few that I really like. I was very excited because on these websites are calendars of things to do with your kids and ideas for different projects. That means, I didn't have to do all the work with coming up with a curriculm for N to follow. This was a huge lifesaver and lifted a lot of stress off my back because I've been wanting to be more intentional with her play time lately!

The first thing that we did was glue a bunch of circles onto a piece of cardboard. I think this was the first time that N used a glue bottle. She has used glue sticks before but this was something new. She really loved to squeeze out A LOT of glue and so I had to spread it out over many circles. I had to resist the urge to tell her where to place the circles at some points. But I really just let her be creative and put them wherever she wanted to, and I really like what she came up with. We talked about the colors of the circles and the shape but I don't she really gets those concepts yet. When I asked her what shape it was she said blue. But, that will come. For now, she learned how to glue, I learned how to let her do it all by herself and we both learned how fun it is to do projects together!

Today we took daddy's poker chips and sorted them by color. It took her a minute to understand what she was supposed to do but once she got it she sorted the chips pretty quickly!

Playdough

2009-01-20T22:07:00.000-06:00

I bought this book at Barnes and Noble the other day and today we decided to make playdough. There are many varieties in this book but I thought we'd make the easiest one and the one I had all the ingredients for! Makes sense right?!

1 cup cold water
1 cup salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
tempera paint or food coloring
3 cups flour (I only needed 2.5 cups)
2 tablespoons corn starch (I added this before the flour)

In bowl, mix water, salt, oil, and enough tempera paint or food coloring to make a bright color. Gradually add flour and cornstarch until the mixture reaches the consistency of bread dough. Store covered.N wanted to make yellow playdough so we did. She fell in LOVE with Frosty the snowman this year so she had me make lots of snowmen. She also rolled out some snakes, and just had fun squishing the playdough in her hands. I put it in foil so I hope it's not dried out by tomorrow.Note to self: I need to find a new vinyl tablecloth, those pumpkins are driving me nuts!

Christmas gifts

2008-12-23T22:30:00.000-06:00

I made some fun gifts for my nephews this year and I can't wait to make the same things for my daughter. For Michael and Andrew I the family memory game. I got a photo of each person, extracted their head in photoshop, put their name below their photo and then printed them on cardstock. I then took a box of cards and laminated the picture to the card in place of the number side of the card. I had to make my own boxes for their cards since they were too big to fit in the normal card box that they came in. I really am happy with how this turned out and will be making some for my kids soon too!

I also made Noah a felt board. I hope to add more pieces to this as he gets older. I think it's a great activity board and it travels easily and could be used as a quiet book too. I hope that he likes it and gets lots of use out of it. Now, I just need to make one for N for church!!

Pajamas

2008-12-23T22:05:00.000-06:00

I made pajamas for my niece and nephews for Christmas this year. I had the idea when I was walking through the JoAnn fabrics near my house that was closing. All their fabric was on clearance because they wanted to get rid of everything rather than having to move it. I found this fabric and fell in love and thought it would make some great pj's for all the kiddos. I got a pattern and some help from a friend at church but once the first pair was done I was able to do the rest myself. It feels good to accomplish something like that and to be able to create something that people will wear. I still need to make some for my kids but at least I got the others done on time. I also really like doing the freezer paper stencils so I made "personalized" t-shirts as well. The kids really liked then but I missed seeing their faces when they opened their pj's! Maybe next time!
For A!For M!For NFor E!All the kids in their pj's!

handmade gifts

2008-12-13T21:53:00.000-06:00

I made almost all of my own Christmas presents this year. It was fun and challenging at the same time. For hostess gifts and for the staff I made coasters. I love these easy, practical and fun to personalize coasters. I can't wait to make more from my stash of fabric.

I also made this magazine bowl for my friend and I want to make one for myself. I can't remember where I saw the idea but I loved the idea and it was pretty easy to execute!

Bag

2008-12-08T22:20:00.000-06:00

I made this little bag the other day...it didn't take me very long and I can't wait to make more. Can you guess what I used to make this bag? I used an old pair of Greg's pants. I just chopped them a little bit and made a little bag...obviously I didn't finish out the inside but it's a fun little bag anyway. I think we'll use it for our library books when we go to the library! I'm so excited that I was able to do this with just the idea of it and no pattern.

gifts

2008-12-01T11:29:00.000-06:00

I love that Amy lets me use her embroidery machine...or that she does some embroidery for me would be more accurate. I had her make these towels for Julie and Clif's wedding present. I love how they turned out. I also had her make some kitchen towels for some friends of ours who just bought their first home. I love homemade/handmade gifts, they just mean so much more than store bought items.

Lacing Beads

2008-11-29T14:20:00.000-06:00

At the end of October Naomi and I made some lacing beads. She hasn't gotten to play with them yet because I am so slow and other things have taken over my time. But I wanted to post about them anyway. I still need to finish painting them different colors and then find some old shoe laces and then she'll be able to fully enjoy the lacing beads!

Ingredients/Recipe:

1 cup salt

1 cup corn starch

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup water added in small increments

plastic straw

wax paper

cookie sheet

paint (we used acrylic)

I got a little impatient with the mixing of the ingredients so I added more water but you really don't need to, it just takes a while to get everything mixed together!We made little circles and really, Naomi just had fun playing with it, she's still a little young to really understand what I wanted her to do. But she made her own little balls and tried to shove the straw into them and make holes. It was a fun project. We ended up with LOTS of extra salt dough so she just played with it and then we threw it away.

My plans are to use four different colors and paint seven in each of those four colors. I just have to finish so she can actually play with them!

MOPS@ Craft day

2008-11-20T16:44:00.000-06:00

We had a little craft day and playdate today with the kiddos at church. It was fun to get together with other moms and their kids and Naomi loves to run around with all her friends. We made turkey hats and little stained glass windows...or suncatchers or call them whatever you want. I basically made the turkey hat for Naomi but she had a great time with the stained glass. She made another one when we got home too. I enjoyed making two as well and have ideas for some others.

Craft Fair

2008-11-11T16:37:00.000-06:00

So, the craft fair was a bust. I sold one package of cards and it was to a lady who lives in my neighborhood that goes to my church. I'm pretty sure it was a sympathy purchase. But I got some time to hang out with Amy and her sister Mary and to get outside (and get really sunburned) and to have sometime away from the kids. I love my kids but everyone needs a break now and then. I'm glad I had the experience but I'm not sure what we could have done differently to sell more things. Oh well, maybe next time. Here's the cards in their packages and my display as well.

Bookplates and Gift Tags

2008-11-10T16:19:00.000-06:00

I made some bookplates and gift tags for the craft fair to go along with my cards. I only sold one package of cards at the craft fair...oh well. I guess I'll just have to send some handmade Christmas cards this year! No worries. Here are some photos of the bookplates and Christmas gift tags that I made. I love the idea of these and will be using the leftovers for Christmas presents. I got the idea from another blog I stalk. She used them as party favors for her childs birthday party...what a good idea. In the future when my kids get older I hope I remember this idea!

Greeting Cards

2008-10-24T21:23:00.000-05:00

I created a bunch of greeting cards to sell at a craft fair that my neighborhood association is hosting. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out but wish I had more of the stampin goodies to make them even better. I hope that people like them enough to spend money on them but if not then I'll just have a bunch of cards to send out!

Spit happens

2008-10-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

I have a TON of friends who are pregnant right now and I love to give gifts that are really personal. Everyone is on a tight budget but these diaper rags are such a great gift, I know because I have some for both of my kiddos. My friend Amy is so kind in offering her embroidery services to me on these diaper rags that I just add the ribbon on the bottom and there you have a very personal, great gift. I hope that the moms like these gifts for their kiddos and I hope the kiddos spit up often so they can get used!

Pillowcase Dress

2008-09-30T20:40:00.001-05:00

I went to Thrift Town yesterday and found some great sheets and pillowcases! I am so excited about some of the prints and vintagey (is that a word?) sheets that I found! I immediately washed and pressed them today so they'd be ready when I was ready to work with them. Please know that I am a VERY beginning sewer. I only do straight lines and don't even do those well. So, when I saw the idea of making pillowcase dresses I thought it would be right up my alley. And it was. It was pretty easy to do...and with an iron and a straight stitch I was able to pretty much make a dress. Now, please note that I did NOTHING with the arm holes like I was supposed to but I'm all about instant gratification and didn't really worry about that yet. I can always go back and fix it later. So, here's my first attempt at the pillowcase dress. It turned out okay, it's a little big for N but that's okay. She liked wearing it anyway. And at least now the dress will last longer because she'll be able to wear it when she gets bigger. She could almost just wear it as jammies...makes sense doesn't it?

Handmade

2008-09-30T10:34:00.000-05:00

I love handmade gifts. They are my favorite to give and my favorite to receive. There is so much love put into handmade gifts. There is so much thought and time that goes into handmade gifts. I try my hardest to give handmade gifts, but sometimes the time does get away from me and I am forced to run to the store and pick something up. The other way I deal with that is just giving the gifts late and personally I'd rather receive a handmade gift late because you know they were taking their time with it and didn't just run to the local chain store and pick up the first thing they saw.

I love letters. I love to make letter gifts. Here are a few that I have made for friends who had babies for the little tykes room. The "n" out of crayons is for my daughters room, I need to find a frame for it and then I need to make one for my son...but I just love the way it turned out. The other letters are fun to paint and decorate too and I hope my friends enjoy hanging them in the rooms of their kiddos and I hope that someday when those kiddos get bigger they enjoy them too.

Simply Me

2008-09-30T10:30:00.000-05:00

I am me. There is no one else on the earth who is me. I have many wants and desires that are similar to others but I am still the only me.

I want to home school my kids, I think...my daughter turns two tomorrow so it's not like I have to decide today.

I want to create more things using my sewing machine.

I want to paint more often.

I want to cook more often and healthier.

I want to be creative again.

I want to write again.

I want to dream more.

I want to live simply.

This is my attempt at doing just that. I hope to post about new projects that are going on, they could be meals I've cooked, cakes I've baked, skirts or other clothes I've sewn, paintings I've done, felt boards I've created. A little bit of everything that I love.

I want to have a place where I can let it all out and JUST BE ME.

Simply.

Me.