Banana Chérie

Beth's Gifts and a Tutorial

2011-08-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Tiffany and I threw a baby shower for another friend of ours. Beth is having a baby girl at the end of this month and I am so excited. She has a son Lorelai's age and I'm always excited for mother to get their first girl. Setting up and making treats for this shower were a BLAST but that is a post for another day. Today I want to share with you the gifts I made as well as tack on a little tutorial!

I mentioned Beth has a son who is three. That is a lot of time to be alone with mommy and now a little miss is coming to steal his spotlight. I thought to help ease his pain it would be really fun if he and baby sis had some matching super hero clothes. I used this tutorial to make him some superman shorts...

and I thought it would be so cute to make baby girl a little superman onsie dress. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the super onsie dress (I'm hoping Beth will send me a pic of the two kiddos in their matching digs) but to appease everyone... Here is the tutorial!

Onsie dresses are easily my favorite my favorite gift to give but so hard to find in stores. I can not understand why, because they are just the perfect outfit! All one piece, no keeping track of those matching diaper covers. Simple and adorable. Lets begin!

For these onsies, size 3mos, I bought half a yard of awesome fabric each.
For each dress you will need

1 onsie
1/2 yd of fabric
matching thread
elastic thread

Before cutting anything, measure from the waist to the snaps and add one inch. For me it equaled 8". Now go ahead and slice those onsies in half.

For this skirt I made two layers. Lay your half yard out and cut long ways. The bottom layer of the skirt is 8"X44" and then the top layer is 7"X44". This leaves you with a little fabric left over which is perfect for adding an embellishment to the finished onsie or matching hair piece.

Fold the top layer in half right sides together and sew a 3/8" seam.

Do the same for the bottom layer.

Press up the the bottom of each layer a half inch and hem.

Then slip your bottom layer into the top layer, with the right side of the bottom layer facing the back side of the top.

Next you are going to switch your bobbin for one with elastic thread. Make sure your thread is wound very loose or your skirt wont turn out.

Now, sewing through both layers sew a line a 1/4" away from your edge and then a second line a 1/4" below that. The fabric should have scrunched up a bit but to obtain optimum schrunch hit those seams with some steam! It is very fun to watch. I don't know the chemistry behind that but it works!
When I tested out my methods I only needed to lines to achieve the necessary scrunch but for this project I found my fabric was a little stiffer and I had two add two more lines.

I like to tie my ends of elastic thread to make them more secure.

This how the skirt looked before the steam.

Pick up the bottom of your onsie and slip it into your perfectly scrunched skirt. The outside of your onsie should be against the inside of the skirt. Pin all the way around.

Once it is all pinned up grab the top of the onsie. With it still right side against the skirt pin the edge to the edge of the skirt. Pin through the bottom of the onsie as well. Make sure the side seams of the top of the onsie and the bottom of the onsie are lined up. When you have pinned half way around the top put all of the skirt in your hand just like in the picture above.

Pull the the free side of the onsie down, and then up the other side of the skirt, turning it inside out. Pin the rest of the way around.

Its time to sew it all together. You want to find ^this^ stitch on your machine. This zig zag will allow the finished garment to still stretch. Sew all the way around through all thicknesses.

Pull the top up and you are left with this awesome finished onsie dress! I hope you enjoy and if you give it a try please send me pictures.

Linked up to : Ladybird Ln's Weekend show of party

A Quick Side Note

2011-08-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

While I wouldn't consider this crafty, it has nothing to do with sewing, and I didn't actually do it myself; I wanted to share my angel baby's first hair cut. My husband did it so I guess it falls under the category of "DIY".
Before:

After:

Love that boy!

See you Monday for Baby Shower Week!

The Dirty Project

2011-08-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

AKA: Motorcycle Reupholstering

My husband was "hand-me-downed" a motorcycle. This motorcycle has a bit of a chip on its shoulder and has required some work to get it usable. The one must that involved me was the torn up upholstering. We were trying to hunt down someone who would do it within a reasonable price range when Brett said,
"I wish you could just do it".
I immediately responded with,
"I am sorry but this is way beyond me". The seed was planted. I thought about it for about 30 minutes while he went down the rest of the list of possibilities. After the last on the list turned out to be a dud. I told Brett that I did want to give it a try. We figured we would head over to Joann's and see how much the materials would cost. It wasn't so bad.
I had one major concern; I was afraid my sewing machine's stitches would be too small and would cut the material rather than sew it (it's happened to me before). So I sent my dad a text message about this crazy task I was considering and he suggested I come into his work and use his heavy duty sewing machines. Sweet!
I started getting very excited.

I cut the original upholstering along all the seems so I could make a pattern to work with. When all my new pieces were cut out I called up my dad and he arranged to meet up at his office after hours.
That first night I worked on the seat that I thought would go together most smoothly and things went great! I was riding a sewing high! I was thinking gosh! I really can do this!
I sewed the two sides to the center, did some schmancy top stitching, and then I made the fatal error of sewing the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top. Fail. We left dad's office after two hours of work on a low note but I was still quite optimistic.
I met up with my dad a week later to work on it again. I whipped up a second one and fought the machine trying to get the curves just right all while my baby melted down. Even though my sewing went faster than the first time I didn't get to finish the piece because Kent just wasn't having it! I went hope fairly dejected but dad said we could go back the next day and Brett would be available so I wouldn't have to take ANY kids. I was excited again.

The next day Dad and I went to his office by ourselves to get some serious work done! But I broke five needles and was going crazy. I had made some respectable progress but I thought I would snap if I snapped another needle. I made one last go at it when I broke the final needle. It snapped into different place and literally jumped out and slapped me in the face! I had had enough and gave up for the day. I couldn't believe how poorly that kid free attempt went. I was no longer looking forward to working on this crazy project and didn't even bother calling up my dad.
A couple days later my dad brought it up and asked if I wanted to go work on it that night. I'm glad he did. I needed to just get this all done!

This time I took Kent's swing with us and that made a huge difference. That, and Luke, Dad's coworker fixed our threading problem that caused all the snapping needles.
Like I said, huge difference! Things went so well I finished two of the three cushions/seats.
I knew that if things went smoothly it would only require one more trip to finish the project. But I knew they wouldn't and kept telling my hubs it would probably take two more trips.
I met up with my dad Thursday night and got down to work on the hardest piece. I worked non-stop for an hour and a half and things went so well. I was skipping and my dad was cheering. We left 15 minutes earlier than we had planned and when I got home Brett was pretty disappointed to see me. My dad had texted him saying that I had given up and was coming home. I was so glad because Brett's face when I showed him everything was all done was perfect!!

I'm not going to lie. I am pretty proud of myself. This was not an easy project but I challenged myself and I think I really rose to the occasion.

I love that my husband thinks that I can do anything, and while that can be daunting, I think that this time I really delivered and that made for one happy hubby!

Swim Lessons Summer 2011

2011-08-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

My brother Desmond has an extended school year that reaches well into the summer leaving him only three and a half weeks of summer vacation. To him it's "only 3.5 weeks" to me it's "THREE AND A HALF WEEKS?!?!?". JK. It's not quite that bad but all the same, I wanted to find some activities to keep him and Lorelai fairly occupied. It hit me during his first week of vacation while I was watching Lorelai, who, while wearing a life jacket, fearlessly threw herself into the pool over and over again. Hello! We should have signed them up for swim lessons! My friend who is the swim coordinator at the local JC let me know that there was a two week class starting the following Monday and there were still plenty of spots open.
The kids were very excited and that first lesson was so fun.

I was so proud of my brave little girl and when she ran up to me I promptly wrapped her up into her towel and she gave me this less than excited look. Des also really struggled with the whole 'walking while wearing a towel' thing and corralling them into the car was not fun at all. I remembered this pattern by Made that I was impressed by but I thought it wasn't likely that I would need it anytime soon.

I went back to my parents house and quickly convinced my mom that we needed to buy it and some beach towels right away. She was easily swayed to my point of view and I got right to work.

The pattern is for sizes 9mos to 4T so I whipped up Lorelai's first so I could judge what adjustments I would need to make to enlarge it for Bekah and Des.

My printed out patterns ended up looking like this...

Some major alterations were involved but it all worked out. Des got a Transformers robe.

It took two beach towels to make Desmond's and Bekah's robes.

On the inside of Desmond's robe I used some transformers cotton for the lining. On Bekah's robe I used the same orange fabric I used for the bias tape.

Lorelai's is easily my favorite. To line her's I used pink zebra stripe and I think it coordinated so well.

She is such a cutie little poser for the camera. Her robe pooches a little funny in the picture because she is wearing a tutu swimsuit.

All in all the two weeks of swim class were an excellent experience. Even though the classes seemed so short Lorelai learned a ton and all three kids made some major improvements. On the last day all the kids got to jump off the diving board. The guy in the water was not her teacher (her teacher is on the board with her). Lorelai had only met him that day. She is one strong brave little girl. I couldn't be a prouder mama.

Wedding Week The Clothes

2011-08-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

I love planning outfits when pictures are involved and weddings are pretty much the Super bowl of coordinating outfit picture taking! (I think you know what I mean by that).

Katie knew from the get go that she wanted the groomsmen to wear white church shirts, blue pants, red converse and yellow bow ties. An interesting request but I was excited. How cute would that look on a Kent baby? You be the judge.

I pretty much had free range as far as Lorelai was concerned. I wanted to stick with the carnival type theme and this is what I came up with.

The tutu and giant bow were a must. I made the skirt first. It is a basic tied tulle tutu that I sewed the waistband onto. Then I attached the waistband straight to the bodice. I just pulled out the bodice pieces from a dress pattern I had previously used. It turned out so adorable and Lorelai just loved it too.

Well that's it for Wedding Week. I hope you all enjoyed it. Brett has three more brothers so there are many more weddings in our future! Stay tuned!

Pictures were provided by Diana Nye

Wedding Week The Accessories

2011-08-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

Katie had some very specific ideas about what she wanted for her bridesmaids/groomsmen and she banged out some awesome wedding DIY making bow ties for the fathers, pinwheel boutonnieres, and giant pinwheels for the bridesmaids to hold as well as fabric flower head bands for all the girls.

I also had some ideas for accessories for my kids. I ended up making three things.

1. A bow tie... for Kent...

I found the tutorial for Kent's bow tie here. I thought it turned out pretty fab and have made a couple for him since then.

2. A necklace... for Lorelai...

I really love making jewelry though I don't do it very often. I was so excited when I saw this pendant in the shop it was absolutely perfect. Lorelai loves having little necklaces just for her and loves putting them on but she'd kind of a punk about keeping them on. I noticed in the reception pictures she isn't wearing it anymore.

3. Shoes... also for Lorelai...

Since Lorelai was tiny her one true love has been shoes. My cousin Emily bought her a pair of little red high heels that Lorelai wore long before they fit her and long after. By the time Scott and Katie's wedding came around, even though they were sooo perfect, they were just too small. I hunted for another pair online for months but in the end I had to make myself let those shoes go.

I found this little pair at MJM for only $10 and since I found them in town, no shipping!! I didn't like the little decoration on top so I made two fabric yo yo's from the quilt scraps and hot glued them right to the top of the shoe. Then I glued on these red rhinestones and they completed her out fit very nicely.

Well, only one more wedding post left. Friday will bring us the long awaited for wedding out fits! I'll see you then. :)

Pictures were provided by Diana Nye

Wedding Week The Gift

2011-08-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

When Brett's younger brother Scott told us he was engaged everyone was thrilled. He had been dating Katie for a short while but everyone could tell there was a special vibe between them. He had sent me a picture of the ring a few days before he proposed so the wheels in my mind started turning and by the time the official engagement happened I knew I wanted to do two things.
1. Knit a set of Christmas stocking. We have a pattern that is kind of a tradition on my side of the family.
2. Make them a wedding quilt in their wedding colors.

It breaks my heart but while I was making the stockings and quilt I couldn't find my camera so I took all the pictures on my phone...Now that phone is out of commission and I can't get any of those pictures. While all pictures of the stockings are lost to the world I did get some completed shots of the quilt.

I used this free pattern from Amy Butler. Here is what hers looks like...

And here it is in Katie's colors. I don't remember the exact finished measurements but it fits a queen sized bed.

It was too small so I added 16 squares and doubled the border.

The best part was that I machine quilted it myself! Field of Fabrics is a quilt shop that has a machine that they let people use after they take a lesson learning how to operate the machine. It is really fun and I've already gone back with another project, but that is a post for another day!

I asked a friend of mine to embroider their anniversary and my 'signature' and I think it looks fantastic. Except that I feel weird putting my name on the quilt. It feels like bragging to me. But out there in quilt blogger world they say labeling your work is a must. The pattern I used even specified that I sign it because "future generations are gonna wanna know"

My husband helped me take all the pictures so I thought I'd give him a little credit here :)

Scott and Katie were married for time and all eternity on Saturday May 7. 2011 in the Oakland California Temple.

For more information on temples and the plan of happiness go here.

Peterson Family Pictures Fall 2010

2011-07-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

Ummm 2010? Yes I know I'm a year behind but, Lorelai insisted on wearing this dress to church on Sunday. I get so many complements every time she wears it and yesterday was no different. It made me realize though that I haven't shared it with blogland.

Last year the Peterson clan wanted to do family pictures. Of course I was pregnant, just like the last time we did family pictures, major frumpy-ness ensued and I was not about to let that happen again! The girls are vastly out numbered but I was determined to work out a plan with my mother-and sister-in-law. Rachel loves green and I had this maternity dress..

Thus our concept was born! I wanted to make Lorelai a dress that would coordinate just right and when I went to Joann's I found the perfect print and this McCalls pattern was on sale.
Here it is

Photo by Emily

Brett and I did our own little family pictures and a couple weekends later did more pictures with the entire clan. I had enough fabric left over from Lorelai's dress so I threw one together for baby Natalee. I found some ribbon at Beverly's that basically curled itself all I had to do was pinch and glue to get these fantastic over the top bows. Doesn't Natee look presh with her very enthusiastic grandma?

Haha, we worked so hard for smiles from the girls but it was mostly in vain. Here they are with Uncle Jared not smiling, but they are making the same adorable face.

I think we'll have better luck with the girls this year. Lorelai seems to have broken out of the non smiling faze. You can look forward to new family pics once Rach has the baby this August!

Come back soon though! Next Monday its the kick off for Wedding Week! Woohoo!

Awesome Ironing Board

2011-07-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have spent my entire married life using a table ironing board and it is awful!! I can not believe I put up with it so long but I have finally invested in a full sized ironing board. A whole whopping 14$ at Wal-mart. If I had realized they were so cheap I would have bought one ages ago.

Fortunately I ran across this amazing tutorial just a few days before finding my board and was able re-cover it immediately.

I'd show my step by step but I think that the tutorial handles it amazingly.

I really liked the tip on sewing the curves.

This project was so fun and the icing on the cake was when my husband came home he said, "Oh and you found a zebra print one, no wonder you bought an ironing board". He didn't realized I made the cover myself. It's totally my favorite when that happens!

Mommy & Me Aprons

2011-07-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Desmond's birthday passed recently and soon we'll be going to Grandma Myrna's house to celebrate and eat cake with the whole family. Des asked me for a Transformers cake last year and I completely spaced. This year he asked again for a transformers cake and my guilt is making sure I don't forget. Lorelai told me a couple weeks ago, "don't worry mommy, I'll help you" and immediately I pictured us working on the cake in matching aprons...But we didn't have matching aprons.

I did have an old one and a bunch of fabric just waiting to be made into things for the kitchen. I gathered it all up and went to work. I used some muslin as my foundation and traced my old apron.

I guesstimated and made a mini version for Lorelai.

I pinned and sewed on the top.

Then, on went the waistbands!

I serged and hemmed three sides of each tier before gathering the top and sewing them to the skirts.

I added the neckbands last and I'm sorry I don't have any pictures because I did this part at one a.m. I used a snap stamping to pound in some snaps to attach the neck bands rather than sew the neckbands down. It is an awesome tool and much more fun than sewing in the snaps.

Here are some completed ruffles.

These aprons are perfect for posing for pictures.

They are also awesome for assisting disembodied granddad hands when making pancakes.

Hopefully they will also do the trick when the time to make the long awaited Transformers cake.

Gymtastic Gymnastics!

2011-07-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

Look at that little cutie! I can't believe it was over a year ago I took this pic at Lorelai's first day of mommy and me gymnastics. She switched to the preschool class after ten months and really really loves it. She reminds me through out the week that we need to get her leotard and go to gymnastics on Sunday (it's on Monday).

She has two leotards one that fits and one that does not (the one in the above picture). It always seems to happen that Monday comes around and we can not find the leotard that fits and then it is one hour of wedgie-ville, population: Lorelai. So I decided to take matters into my own crafty hands.

A little while back my aunt gave me some leotard fabrics to find something to do with. My first crazy thought was to make one of the fabrics into a skirt for myself. Total bomb.

But fortunately for Lorelai (not so much for me) the skirt was large enough for me to cut out a leotard. I traced the pattern off of her swim suit and went to town.

Lorelai stayed entertained while I worked by playing with play-doh and chatting my ear off. She really is good company.

The first thing I did was sew the crotch seam. I did that because I thought it would be the most difficult part.

Then I stitched up the shoulder and side seams and let her try it on.

It was looking good.

She's such a crack up. I turned under all the raw edges and sewed a zig zag all the way around.

And it was done! We took it to class yesterday to try it out.

There are some necessary adjustments. It fits just like her swim suit which apparently isn't quite right for gymnastics because can you believe it? We still ended up in wedgie-ville! If I make another leotard (if? psh When!) I will make the neckline higher, the waist a little tighter and the leg holes a little bit smaller and hopefully that will contain those cheeks!

The funny thing of it all is SHE doesn't really notice/care about the wedgie. She was just excited that she had a new leotard and I'm sure she wont mind another, or ten.

Summer 2010Summer 2011

D is for Desmond

2011-07-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is my little brother Desmond. Today was the last day of school for him and now he has to suffer through twenty four days of summer vacation before schools comes along just to end it. You see, Desmond l.o.v.e.s. school, because he has just about the BEST teacher ever. We all adore teacher Kathy and we are so grateful she'll be teaching him again next year.

So to show just a small token of appreciation for the miracles she and all her teacher aides manage with Desmond I decided to make some cookies inspired by this post. The first night I cut out and baked the cookies.

The second night I was attacked!

Apparently I had some dye on my fingers when I itched my cheek. That night I put on the first layer.

In the morning I added the second layer.

That night I put on the final touches.

Other than my feet in the picture can you see the difference between these cookies?

The stems! When I mixed up all the colors I forgot to make brown. Grr. I also didn't bring brown dye. Sure you can mix a bunch of colors to make brown but I think that always ends up so ugly. As I was staring into my parents cupboard wishing my brown dye would teleport over from my house my eyes landed on this...

PERFECT. Desmond's teachers are all women and hardly any women out there would object to the addition of a little chocolate, ha ha. I figured it was such a tiny part it wouldn't matter if it tasted a little different.

I bagged up one apple, ruler, "D", and a couple of gold stars for each teacher and printed a picture, the one at the top of the post, of Desmond for each of them.
They were so gracious and loved their cookies. It was a great day.

For information on autism you can follow this link.

Happy Fourth of July Part Three- The Clothes

2011-07-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Each new holiday automatically means a new, usually made-by-me, outfit for Lorelai and after seeing this inspiration on Pinterest I was raring to go! More about this later. After I had whipped up something for Lorelai I was thinking about her getting to wear it to out ward 4th of July party and to my parents ward on Sunday and it hit me... What would Kent wear? My sweet baby boy is no less deserving of something special made for him to wear. So the morning of the party a midst the cookie dough, and cake making, I whipped up this bad boy. This is my first ever article of boy clothing and I attacked the project with out so much as a pattern! I am a super beginner at making boy clothes so this is in no way a tutorial, I'm just sharing what I did.

First I cut out a front and back piece making the back about two inches longer than the front. I took some red scrap fabric from one of my old shirts and used it like bias tape along the neckline. Then I put front and back, right sides together and sewed up to the armpit. Then I folded over twice to sew the hem. I like to put two seams. I think it makes the work look more pro. I finished it off with the sleeves. I just eyeballed it and cut out some simple sleeves before attaching them I folded the back piece over the front and then basted to create a should. Then I sewed on the sleeves. To make the shirt even more legit and last longer I serged all my seams.

I'm afraid in the end this is the best picture I got of the shirt in action. Forgive me and enjoy.

Now for Lorelai's dress I had a lot of fun. I only spent $5 on materials! I de-boed (that's ghetto speak for stole) two of my husbands dindgey shirts and grabbed some material I had one hand and whipped up a self proclaimed masterpiece!

First I cut the shirts into 4" strips and made the ruffles. For the skirt I cut out a big rectangle twice the width of Lorelai's waist and 14" long. Then I cut out a big diagonal.

I lined up the triangle over the ruffles then folded down the top to make a casing for the elastic. The ruffle stuck out way past the bottom of the skirt so I cut one off and added a little lace. I used the excess ruffle for embellishment on Lorelai's shirt and called it an outfit!

Once again I fumbled the photos. I didn't get the pictures done before the markers came out so just pretend that is a perfectly white shirt, thanks.

This is Lorelai's go-to pose for pictures.

I decided I didn't like the ruffles as a bustle and much preferred the senorita look with the ruffles opening up on her hip.

This was after Granddad gave her suggestions.

She came up with this on her own.

Oh yeah!
Every complete outfit needs a hair thing!

My gorgeous all-American girl showing off her curls!

Did that look like a $5 dress to you?

I hope you enjoyed this 4th of July mini series. More projects will be coming soon!

I'm linking up at Lady Bird Ln

Happy Fourth Of July Part Two- The Goodies

2011-07-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't baked any treats since these little cuties last Christmas and the itch to make some more sugar cookies has been building so I thought 4th of July would be the perfect opportunity.

Now I am still pretty much a novice when it comes to decorating sugar cookies but here is the progression...

I made the dough first thing in the morning and let it chill 2.5hrs. That was the perfect amount of time! It was perfect to roll out cut and bake the cookies. I let the cookies cool all afternoon and evening before beginning the first wave of decorating that night.

The stars were all done in that first go. The next morning I woke up and put on the white stripes before church. Sunday night I added the red stripes and dipped my cake pops. I'm not showing those pictures because it was messy and frustrating. I rushed the cake pops and wasn't able to perfect them the way I would have liked.

In the end I had these cute little buckets of festive treats to give to the women I visit teach, the elders, and each of our parental families.

Happy Fourth of July Part One- The Wreath

2011-07-04T01:34:00.000-07:00

It wasn't too many years ago that I thought wreaths were only for Christmas but my crafty friends have educated me otherwise and I started looking at wreaths for other holidays. Insert pinterest here, with all their crafty homemade wreaths, and the desire to make own began to grow. Then I saw this

Source: thepennyparlor.com via Lorraine on Pinterest

pinned and new I had to try it. My hubs nearly stopped breathing when I told him I wanted to go to Home Depot. I love Patriotic colors and since 4th of July was coming up I decided to go with it.
I picked up some flowers from the wedding supply/floral shop and ribbon form Michael's and got to work!

I soon realized that I had vastly underestimated how many flowers it would take to cover my wreath. So I went out and bought more :/ I ended up with this happiness.

What did I learn from this project? I love the satisfaction of the finished product. I also will probably never do one like this again. Those flowers were too expensive! I may attempt a much more simple wreath in the future.

In the meantime stay tuned for the Parts Two and Three of my Happy Fourth of July!

Dance Land

2011-06-24T17:06:00.001-07:00

Well I don't know if you know but June is recital month in Dance Land. While I am currently out of the dance scene I am just biding my time until Lorelai is old enough to start ballet classes *cough cough Sept 2012 cough cough*.

In the meantime I am

1. planning which ballets I'll be introducing her to over then next year, ie. The Nutcracker and so forth
2. staying loosely connected to the dance scene by
a. obsessively watching SYTYCD,
b. watching my dad and sisters recital,
c. and helping my aunt with costumes for their recital.

That is where this blog comes in.
Joanie asked if I would add some so color and ruffle to these black circle skirts. With the cute tank tops the black skirts needed a little something something to make them pop!

With the ruffle attachment on my serger I made quick and easy work of this project. Until I realized I had gotten it backwards and made two blue instead of two pink which resulted in this...
Lorelai has a pettiskirt with this color and zebra print so I'm envisioning a matching ruffly top.

But here is Em rocking it out.. Admire!

Now this is the request I was excited about. Joanie wanted a teenage sized pettiskirt for Aileen. She is the 'valley girl' in the far right of the picture.

Now I'll tell you what, that pettiskirt took a BOAT-load of fabric so I don't see myself doing this regularly but I do love the result!

I hope you enjoyed this foree into Dance Land. Come back soon to enjoy more projects!

I say Ruffle, you say Bum! RUFFLE BUM!

2011-06-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

I think Joanie was joking but I loved the idea...
We went camping this last week and I couldn't wait to go hiking. A couple of weeks ago I got some new hiking pants, some 'authentic vintage camo pants'. They are uber comfortable and I love them. Lorelai was really impressed with them and told me I looked wonderful.

That got me thinking. Lorelai could use her own pair of camo camping pants. Joann's has a little section of camo print fabrics that I have been trying to find an excuse to buy and my opportunity finally came!

With my 50% off coupon in hand I headed to one of the happiest places in Modesto and picked up my more expensive than I would have liked almost denim camo fabric.

And so I began:
First I took a pair of Lorelai's pants and traced a pattern. One of my favorite pant making tips came from Dana at Made. She said when tracing a pants pattern off of a pair you own, to make sure and make a front AND a back piece. So I did!

Then I cut out my fabric and eyeball measured and cut out some pockets.

I wanted very much to have the pockets because I think the details like that take a project from looking overly home-made to 'legit'. Unfortunately that ambition robbed Kent of a matching pair of camping pants. There was just barely too little fabric left. *sigh*

In my quest for legitimacy I surged all my edges as the pants went together and I really like the difference that made. These are a serious pair of pants. Well almost...

Now I'm sure Joanie was teasing me about girlie-ing up these camo pants but I loved the idea soo much that I used the scraps to make a ruffle bottom!

That's all there is to it. They were thoroughly loved. Enjoy.

The Ele-bum

2011-06-13T13:07:00.001-07:00

A while ago I got the urge to make some throw pillows and I ran with it. I made two pillows that I am very happy with; one being this adorable little fellow.

I love everything about this pillow especially the background fabric and the button eye but I felt like it just wasn't complete... something was missing. Then it came to me!

So here is how the ele-bum pillow was formed...
1. I took my ele-face and lined it up with the body fabric to make sure the size was right. I crudely sketched and cut out my elephant hind quarters.

2. I cut out one 14.5"x14.5" of background fabric for the front of the pillow and two 9.5"x14.5" rectangles for the back of the pillow.

3. I basted on his tail.

4. I pinned him to the front piece and appliqued the bum in place.

5. I sat back to admire my work.

6. I lined up my back pieces with the front, right sides together, pinned them together envelope style and sewed it up!

7. Finally I turned it right sides out and united head and tail. feel free to admire!

If you are interested in the pillow fight go here for the deets. Linking up begins Jun 15!

Pillow Fight for a Cause

2011-06-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

If you know me but at all you'll know I am currently obsessed with sewing/crafty blogs. Today while I rummaged through my blog roll I stumbled on a service project that I think is just fantastic.

A Lemon Squeezy Home, a regular haunt of mine, had a guest post by Carlee of Ladybird Ln. She is new to me but I like what I've read so far. She is starting up a contest called Pillow Fight for a Cause inspired by her friend Malynn. Malynn is amazing and you can read all about her and the project here.

I've got to say, I was inspired! I'll definitely be linking up for the contest, I've got some awesome pillows I want to share but I also think this is such a great service project! I can't wait to whip up a couple of pillowcases for a great cause!

If you are inspired, grab the button and pass it on! Help get the word out there! You'll be hearing more "pillow talk" from me very soon.

Lisa

The Oboe

2011-04-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

My cousin Aileen, the self proclaimed "oboe ninja", had a birthday last month and this idea just popped into my head.

photo by emily

While Star Trek seems to be her one true love lately I thing she enjoyed the headband. :)

I found the teensy oboe here.

Easter is on It's Way

2011-04-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Easter is coming right up and that means Easter dresses! Here is my inspiration board for this year's outfits.

Yellow Cat Craft

2011-04-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

My Aunt bought this adorable shirt for Lorelai for her birthday.

We love. I especially liked the colors and I felt that it needed a hair piece that showcased each one. I sat down with my little sister and taught her how to make the sweet little fabric flowers my future sister-in-law taught me to make. We dove into my fabric stash and while she practiced I whipped up this headband!

Not Quite One Year

2011-03-02T14:45:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been nearly a year since I dropped the blogging ball. You'll be happy to hear that Emily has pretty much forced the ball back into my hands and I'm ready to share my crafting again!

I've been up to a lot that unfortunately I can't share just yet but to kick things off I'll show you Lorelai's birthday cake. My sweet Lorelai turned 3 this last month. I asked her what kind of birthday cake she wanted and the only help she gave me was 'pink'.

There were a lot of firsts that came with this cake.

I've never used something other than a cake pan to make cake before
I'd never tried Betty Crocker's Strawberry cake
I'd never made an ice cream cake
I'd never tried to stuff a Barbie down a cake before.

To make this cake I used two boxed mixes Betty Crocker's Strawberry cake and her version of funfetti. I cooked each of them in my largest Pyrex bowls. It took about an hour and a half total cook time.

After the cakes had cooled I cut them into layers and then stacked them together alternating pink and sprinkle.

For the ice cream portion of the cake I let a quart of vanilla ice cream dyed pink soften on the counter then I spread it in between each of the cake layers.

I learned while making this cake that

I love home made ice cream cake
I love strawberry cake
the thicker the ice cream layer the better
frosting does not stick to the ice cream

If I were to do this again I would

not
j/k I'd definitely do it in two different cakes though
I'd make a scrumdiliumtious Barbie cake with out the ice cream so that her dress could be piped on to perfection.

Well, all in all it was a delicious cake, Lorelai loved it and all who got a taste seemed to like it!

Now as for future posts... I plan on doing them. It's just that I only have one more post that I can put up right away. Two of the major projects that I've done recently, one is done the other is still in progress, are wedding presents for May! We'll see what I can do for you.

In the mean time this sweet picture should help tide you over.

Adventures in Sculpting

2010-04-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well my cousin had a birthday recently and she told me that she'd like me to make her a solid chocolate cat. So I did.

I could definitely use more practice, especially with color matching ( those in my defense I only have very basic colors) but I do love how my chocolate cat turned out!

Natalee's Blessing

2010-03-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

I love baby blessings, I totally get all emotional and being pregnant during this one didn't help at all. I made the skirt and thought you'd all like to see....

Bekah's baptism is this weekend so the pics of her dress will be up soon :) Easter is also coming and I just picked up the necessary fabrics today :)

Lemon Cupcake Recipe

2010-02-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

Here you go Stacey! I recommend doubling the frosting amounts, at the very least.

I Think Stacey is Going to Like This One

2010-02-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

If you check my 365project you already know but a week ago I got out my apron to do some cleaning in the kitchen. Lorelai came up to me and asked, "baby's apron mama?"

I told her sorry but I needed to wear the apron because I had a lot of splashing cleaning to do. She was soooo said. You'd have thought I bit her. she was laying on the floor crying out big crocodile tears when Brett came in and said he'd take her with him to Home Depot to distract her from her misery. When he got home he told me that she tattled on me the entire car ride. Poor sad baby.

So on Monday I got some fabric and Tuesday I scoured the internet for a free downloadable pattern and I found perfection! Wednesday I whipped up this little beauty and Lorelai couldn't be happier.

She wore it all Thursday and Friday and Saturday after her birthday party (More on that later).

Well my mom liked it so much and I had fabric left over so she asked me to make on for Bekah. Desmond is the one who actually likes to help cook and will walk around the house carrying a box of brownie mix saying, "Wanna make it? A- brownies from the box, please?" So I felt like I needed to make him one too.

Cute stuff right? Now I need to find an apron pattern for myself :) I love aprons!

This is where I picked up the download/instructions.

P.S. Stacey I misplaced the lemon cupcake instructions. As soon as I find it I'll pass it over to you!

Cupcakes!!!

2010-02-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

I've been having a lot of fun with cupcakes lately and I am getting pretty adventurous with the flavors I've been trying. Here they are!

S'mores Cupcakes
My thoughts on the cupcakes: Fabulous! In the future I will for go the graham cracker cake batter and instead only using the super delicious graham cracker topping. I also want to make Marshmallow frosting for the top.

Raspberry White Chocolate Cupcakes and Frosting
Super super sweet, the cupcakes were really much more muffin-esque than cupcake. In the future I will probably just use regular vanilla cupcakes with the rasp/whtchoc frosting. I think that'll be perfect. I'm also thinking I'd like to try this using strawberries.

Lemon Cupcakes

I chose to do this cupcake because I wanted to continue down the path of fruity flavors and my dad is a big fan of lemon bars. They were a huge hit! My dad doesn't super love many things but he really loved these cupcakes. The thing that really put them over the top was the uber yummy lemon/cream cheese frosting. After the cupcakes came out of the oven and cooled a couple of minutes I injected some of the frosting directly in the middle, ho ho style and then piped the rest of the frosting on top. Over the top goodness!

Lorelai's birthday is coming up this Saturday so there will be some more cupcake awesome coming soon!

Bekah is Turning 8!

2010-01-29T06:35:00.001-08:00

Bekah is turning eight at the end of next month and I'm gearing up for her baptism. I love the poem about the Three White Dresses and I want to make sure Rebekah and my little girl (and any future little girls) have all three of their white dresses.

This is the pattern I am plaaning on using

I am going to do the long sleeves of the first dress and the skirt and sash of the second. I'm pretty excited but I'm having a hard time getting my parents to pick up on the importance of getting started now!

I've got to make the dress

I've got to take pictures of her in the dress

I've got to sweet talk Emily into making the pics into an invitation for me

I've got to reserve the font and plan out the desert table

It's not that big a deal but it is all stuff that needs to get done a few weeks ahead of time.

I know its been a long time since I've blogged and I've got several things to tell every one about. I think I'm going to vent about cupcakes next. Lets see if I manage to blog again within the week.

Introducing Two Firsts!

2009-12-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

Bada bum bada bum bada bum bum!!!

Presenting the first ever Large Sized Scripture Case!

The USC case is regular sized and there to give you an idea of the dimension.

Now an other first wrapped into this scripture case is the outer fabric is a faux leather. I've been thinking of ideas for making scripture cases for grown up guys. The football fabrics are very popular but I've thought that maybe an adult wouldn't want a scripture case screaming his interest but maybe he would like to show his colors in a more refined way. So here it is...
Broncos on the inside. I love how it turned out. I can't wait until it gets unwrapped at Christmas!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Lisa

Gratitude

2009-10-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to organize my thoughts into a blog. I've got so much to get out but at the moment I just don't know how. Brett's Grandpa Peterson, our sealer at our wedding, passed away during the night last night. Brett had a special relationship with him and I am so grateful for the Plan of Happiness :)

Bella Vista Craft Fair

2009-10-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

What a learning experience! A fun one at that. I think I may be a little bit addicted.

It was fun driving up to grandmas house the night before and spending the night.

For the past 3 weeks I've been tucking Brett into bed and staying up late to work work work. Lorelai and I left for grandmas at 8 pm, after dark, and I was really worried about my ability to stay awake driving alone in those conditions so I stopped at Panda Express and bought a Dr Pepper, bom bom bom! But it did the trick! I made it safely to Grandmas just after 10 PM and was completely wired for the next two hours. I did manage to get to bed at about midnight thirty and got four hours of sleep before my big day. Poor Emily though, didn't get to bed until 2:30 or so trying to finish her last massive wave of bags.

All the same we still got up and met a block away from the school on time. We dropped Ems car off in the parking lot of the near by Beverly's (only appropriate) and joined the progression of mini vans, mondo vans, and massive trailers pulling into the school. We were directed around a bit until we found our spot and got to start setting up. The event didn't start until 8 and we were ready at 7. So Em and I sat down in the freezing cold to finish up some hand sewing. Fortunately the bags provided a make shift blanket so I didn't completely turn into a Popsicle. Em had 2 sweaters on and still was too cold to tie effective knots with out much much effort and hand rubbing together. Note to self, when the forecast says high 70's bring a jacket anyway until the sun comes up doggoneit.

We enjoyed watching passersby and the few sales we got were fun too. The morning was much busier and pretty much right off the bat Emily sold one of her bags. I sold a pettiskirt and a bag and a few smaller items. Then we sat around while Emily nearly passed out from exhaustion and customer after customer came by and toyed with our emotions. If I had a dollar for every time someone came by and exclaimed over the cuteness of my pettiskirts and then didn't buy one I'd be rich out of my mind and Emily would be the same with her bags. In the end someone came by and bought the whole Halloween out fit pettiskirt and shirt.

During the show we were invited to 3 more craft fairs and will definitely be going to 2 of them, plus another we had already planned on. Expect to hear more about it in the future!

Unfortunately I don't have pics from the fair yet but you can expect those in the near future as well :)

The Missing Bag

2009-10-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

I'm freezing, tired and sore.

For the first time in a few weeks I got up and ran this morning. Ow! It was hard. My leg muscles were totally stoked and loving the exercise but my diaphragm and core muscles were suffering.

My poor body slipping into out of shape-ness, I'm glad I got up and ran and I hope, even though tonight is going to be just as late a night as the last 3 weeks, I will get up and run again tomorrow.

I'm freezing because I am waiting for the bus to pick up Desmond so I can take a shower. I was perfectly warm while running but when I got into the car afterwards, yikes!

Well for an update, these last few nights have not been frivolous. I've been working my tail off (figuratively) getting ready for this fair on Saturday. I finished 10 bags last night (go me!) and I dropped them off at the hospital so my mom can hand stitch the holes shut while I move on to bigger projects.

I just can't see myself mass producing bags this way again. I really like to do them one at a time. I like being able to listen to the impressions I get as I am sewing, the inspirations I get to make each piece its own kinda special. The 10 bags I made are nice but I'm not attached to any of them in anyway and I really don't like that. Next time I'll just have to pace myself better :)

I have 2 pettiskirts done, 4 halfway done and all the fabric cut out to finish the partials as well as the 3 pettiskirts I haven't even started. I should be able to get all of that done today. That is the first part of my two fold plan. The second thing I want to accomplish tonight is to get the fabric cut out for the American Girl skirts so I can sew those up tomorrow. Then I'll be done!

Good thing to because I leave for Sacramento tomorrow night. The fair is the day after tomorrow!! I can't believe its here already! I'm not quite excited yet. I probably will be when the skirts are done but I still have too much on my mind.

I'm off to re thread my serger (it's not scary, I love it!!) and serg my day away! Wish me luck.

What I've Been Up To

2009-09-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well I know you've all been waiting on pins and needles, just aching to know what I've been up to.

Wanna know what came in the mail the other day that was so gorgeous and so exciting? Wanna know all about the serger foot that I was going crazy waiting for? Well here it is!

I call it Candy Corn, isn't it gorgeous? I don't think the picture totally captures the awesome, if only Emily lived closer :P

I received inspiration the other day in Sacrament Meeting. I'm not entirely sure why it popped into my head just then but it did so I was going to make one for Lorelai and one for Bekah. But I just couldn't reign in the joy. I'm making at least 9 for the craft show we are doing on the 3rd.

I will also be making some shirts to go with these to sell at the fair. Black with candy corn painted on them. Cute? Brett and I sure think so.

I got these bows for Lorelai to wear. Gorgeous yes?
Well I'm not sure if I'll tie them into the fair, I think I may make some matching flowers to go with them to the fair.

And there you have it. That's what I have been plotting and scheming about. Love it.

Oh and I also got a pig tail set of these for Lorelai to wear to her uncles football games. Best dressed baby!

I'm thinking 2:30 AM

2009-09-23T00:12:00.000-07:00

Thats my prediction as to when I'll go to bed. I am riding a surging high right now and I am so excited right now!!

I'm taking a break at the moment because I need to switch to black fabric and I'm tired of rethreading my surger but what I'm making is coming along so beautifully I can't stand to stop for too long. In fact I can feel it...calling me... right now!! Ah!!

Isn't It About Time?

2009-09-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

So here we go. Total update mode.

My house is gorgeous. We have spent weeks and weeks and weeks on it and finally I can devote my time to sewing rather than working on the house.

So in Sewing news I threw down and started sewing yesterday. I had many interuptions but managed to finish 2 complete bags and here they are:

These bags are similar to the ones I have shown on this site before but twisted up a bit. Good times.

And here are two scripture cases ready to be handed over and paid for. Which I really need because can you believe it? I'm already out of interfacing! Good grief. Super exciting, lots more work to do!

Back to the good ol' sewing machine so I can keep crankin' them out!

A Quick Note

2009-08-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Camille at Simplify is sharing a give away with Knitty Bitties and they are giving away some awesome stuff. Hop on over Em, you'll like it!

Thats all for now. I hope you'll hear from me soon.

Here is the Ugly House

2009-08-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo update of the house buying saga. The house is officially ours and we have begun work.This is the view from my bedroom. We have a sliding glass door that opens to this patio in the back of our house.
This is a small view of the Master bedroom. I don't have a very good pic of the master bedroom.
This is Lorelai's room! It is the second biggest bedroom in the house not that she really cares at this point.
Guest Bedroom #2 aka Brett's Brothers room haha.

Guest bedroom #1 aka Emily's room.
My craft/ mostly sewing room!!!!
Room turned pantry/ year supply room.
Long hallway full of stuff.
My retarded kitchen. The kitchen will probably be the most impressive before and after picture.
Front/TV/dining room. We are looking at the front door.

So there you have it. That is it for now :)

First Attempt

2009-08-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

My first try at draping fondant. I ran out but do you like it so far? Are you proud of me?

FYI

2009-08-01T08:55:00.001-07:00

Just so you know. I finished sewing the 3 scripture cases on Thursday. I still need to get pics as well as iron on the names. So I'm nearly there.

Cake Class

2009-07-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Last night was my last cake class. I was very sad. I'm very grateful that my sister in law suggested that we take it. I learned a lot and found a wonderful new medium for my craftyness.

So in honor of my class here is a photo tribute of all the cakes I've done since beginning 7 weeks ago.

This blue thing is my first attempt I believe after two weeks of class. I don't think I am a fan at froofy traditional cakes. But for my first this isn't too bad.

Now I loved the 4th of July cake! I made the flowers 3 days ahead so that they would have time to harden. The flower lay out isn't exactly what I had planned but my board wasn't big enough. I improvised and I love how it turned out.

Desmond's Dino cake @ Chuck E. Cheese. I learned after making this cake to do the lining first. I think the two tone frosting distracts from that blunder and that this cake turned out okay in the end.

For week six we baked a cake and brought it into class to decorate. Brett said he thought it was very cheeky of me to bake a cake and bring home one I bought from the store. Again the traditional froofy cakes aren't really my favorite though this one turned out much better than my first (not surprising). It looks a bit wilted because it was very warm in our classroom and the butter cream did not hold up well. But check out that rose!

My most recent cake to date. I did this dinosaur landscape for Desmond's birthday at my Grandmas house. All edible the rice krispie treats are dinosaurs. The water is piping gel, the dirt is pureed oreos, the rocks marsh mellow fondant, and all the rest of the frosting is butter cream. Yum! Fun stuff huh? I had a great time making all of them.

Next cake on the list? My moms birthday cake. I'm not gonna lie, it's going to be gorgeous! But that isn't until the end of August so you'll just have to wait. :)

See you around. I may have a scripture case update later today hopefully by tomorrow morning.

Slumpage

2009-07-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Ahhh! I've got to get out of this lazy slump!!

Its directly linked.

If I get up an go running I get a lot done during the day, especially sewing.

If I don't go running I have very lazy days.

Since summer began we haven't been running until 6 am. Most people will say "holy cow! 6 am is hecka early to go running"

Not so much, I feel it is too late.

We were running at 4:45 M,W and 5:00 T,TH,F. Brett is driving to work at that time and would call me and yack my ear off forcing me to wake up.

Now he is at work when I need to be waking up and I can't bring myself to wake up on mt own. So I am not getting up and going running and thus not getting anything done through out the day! Unfortunately this has gone on for a while and its got to stop!

I did get up and run yesterday morning and I did get some sewing done :) and even though we don't have a dinner menu for the week, because I wasn't here this weekend, I whipped up some dinner with the supplies we had on hand. And I got all of our laundry done, not just clothing backed up over a week, but bed linens and towels too!

Today I did not wake up and run and I've wasted a lot of time on the comp. I did try to take Desmond to the free family movie at Regal but that was a major bust. Oh well.

So where am I as far as sewing stands? I am partially done with my last 3 scripture case orders and then I'll be sewing some bags for the craft fair, who we've finally heard a bit from. Should be getting our letters back soon.

Back to the bags. I've got five coming up, so far. With my payment from the scripture case orders I'll buy the needed supplies to complete those five bags and hopefully a few more. We'll see.

That reminds me, I've been commissioned to make a dress for a friends little girl. Exciting! I already have the fabric and such so that will be purely profit which can also go to the craft fair, yay!

Sorry this was kind of a wild all over the place post but whatever, it is what it is!

My Weekend

2009-07-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a post of many pictures.

We are suppose to close on our house on July 27th so with us going to Grandmas on the 25th I really wanted to get out and have some fun this Saturday. We went over to our friends house and hung out with them for the day.

We went with them on their puppies first ever walk to the park. Lorelai thought it was great to follow the puppies and then was happy to be at the park of course. After that we went to lunch at El Rosal yum! Then we explored the bass pro shop! Man am I pumped up to go camping!

One of the happiest parts of the day was when I came home and found my prize had arrived! Whoot! Thank you Carrie for all the awesomeness!

2 Moda Layer Cakes!

5 Patterns!

1 Pillow from Moda Home!

Great stuff huh!

Now for the lame...

I tried making cake pops. It did not go so well. On Friday I made a 9X13 cake. While it cooled Lorelai and I went to a play date. When we got home I crumbled added the frosting and made the balls and stuck them in the fridge to firm up. I checked them Friday night. Not so firm. I checked them Saturday morning, Still not terribly firm. Finally Saturday night they were firm enough but I had had a long day and it was late so I let them stay in the fridge till Sunday after church when I stuck them all onto sticks and put them in Styrofoam to let the chocolate harden. They look just fine here.

It was the dipping the entire ball into the bowl that things totally fell apart. The candy didn't melt thin enough and the balls fell apart in the dipping. This is the best I got and it was even ruined because my mom tried to touch it.

Oh well. Bakerella mentions some thinning crystals that I'll have to get my hands on and try. Maybe it will turn out better next time.

My next baking project will be Desmond's cake for Grandmas house.

Next Sewing Project? Basket ball and soccer ball scripture cases.

Doesn't really matter though I guess because nothing gets to be done until I finish cleaning my room. That wont be much longer though.

A Trip to the Happiest Place in Modesto

2009-07-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

I got paid for another scripture case today so what do I do with it? Well, spend it on the rest of the material required to fill the order and it was great!

Joann's is having a buy two yards of novelty fabric get a third yard free and since the required fabrics for my orders are pretty generic as far as boys go I decided to get a yard each (rather than the minimum 1/4yard required) and got a third boy type fabric free. Whoot! Plus the iron on letters were buy one get one free so I really scored with those too because my customer specifically requested names on the cases.

Soccer balls for Jack

Basket balls for Robby

Any Boy

And just for your viewing pleasure and her future mortification....

Here is Lorelai's first attempt at shaving her legs, Age 1

Ahh, Now Thats Much Better

2009-07-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

I posted this a couple of days ago but the pictures shamed me and didn't do justice to my work so here we go again. (P.S. Its now in our Etsy Shop)Don't you think the colors look so much better this time around?
Hey now, I think I spy something sneaky!
Yes yes! There it is! An inner zipper and pocket!
Lovely, I feel so much better now.
And here is one of my recent orders. Since this one has the traditional outer pocket and not an inner pocket (though if one were requested that could most def. be arranged) it is the more awesome tricked out version of this one so I am going to say that it belongs in the Second Generation category.

I'm totally loving on the flower, what about you?

I just can't stand the awesomeness of these scripture cases. I think a new door has been opened to a higher quality, I think flowers are going to be incorporated much more often.

Dispite all of this awesomeness I stayed up late last night thinking over a problem. This pink scripture case is for a little girl and I'm sure she is going to love it but I would be honored to carry it around. Its spans through the different generations. I think boy cases are going to be more difficult. My husband has a superman case is that because he is unique? I've made cases for my girl relatives, cousin, aunts, and grandma but none of the boys have ever asked for anything. Is that just because they are dudes? Or because they can't imagine anything they would want. I just don't know.

The Second Generation

2009-07-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the next generation of scripture cases! Isn't it beautiful? I couldn't find the Nikkon so the picture quality doesn't do justice to the vibrant colors. Feel free to get teary-eyed anyway.
What's so different about this scripture case than ones I have made in the past?

That's right! The beautiful inner zipper pocket.

This case like the others fits the standard sized quadruple combination or triple com + Bible
Like all the polka dots? I was inspired by one of my favorite designers birthday outfit (not to be confused with birthday suit :P)

Expect to see this beauty in our Etsy shop very soon!

Oh my heck!

2009-07-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I must have this for my sewing room!

Crafting, it's in our blood/ My First Quilt

2009-07-07T12:18:00.001-07:00

In case you didn't know Emily and I are related through our dads. They are twins and we cousins are their awesome offspring.

There is no doubt that Emily inherited a massive amount of her craftyness from her mom (Joanie!) and it was my mom (Mom!) that taught me to sew. But there is no denying that our fathers side can hold its own in the craft world.

I want to talk about our Great Grandma Ruth for a minute. Grandma Ruth passed away in 2003, it's okay it was really her time, she was 99 years old. I spent some time with her growing up but I wouldn't say that I knew her very well, Em would probably say the same.

But from what I hear she was one amazing woman.

* She survived 2 world wars

* Acted as woman of the house when she was only 11 because her mom was too sick

* Raised 4 wonderful children 3 girls 1 boy

* Has around 25 grandkids

* I have no idea how many great grand kids!

During WWII Grandma Ruth was a real life Rosie the Riveter! Her abilities were specially requested when it came to cutting the manholes in submarines and ships because she could cut a perfect circle. She would ride the train a couple of hours to get from work to home and along the way she would crochet flowers that eventually made up a beautiful table cloth that covered the display table in her Relief Society. We used it for the funeral service and then grandma Myrna donated it indefinitely to their wards Relief Society. But here is a pic!

Anyway, she made a beautiful grandmothers flower garden quilt all by hand many, many years ago. In recent years its begun to fall apart and while Grandma Myrna is still trying to find somewhere to repair it (it is soooo delicate) in the mean time she and I have endeavored to recreate it! I get a flower done from time to time while working on other projects in between. Its an on going process but through it I have really grown as a seamstress.

So this is my entry for Camille's Parade of Quilts

This is one of my first blocks made in 2004, before we discovered hexagon templates and just after I sadly realized I would not be able to do this on my sewing machine.

And here is my most recent flower block. Much crisper and you can't see the thread connecting the little hexagons.

There you have it! We need some 56 flowers to complete the quilt and are up to mid-30's! I hope you enjoyed the reminiscing.

And just for fun here is my husbands first (and most recent) quilt!

Oh and BTW I've almost finished 3 more football scripture cases and just have to pic up a bit of purple fabric and then I'll be all over making some more girlie ones! You can check out what I've already got by following my Etsy link to Carroll Cousin Creations there on the right. Ooo and I need to remember to add that custom requests for scripture cases are totally welcome! Good times, talk to you soon!

My baby is very Cute but NOt feeling well :(

2009-07-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to go into detail because I may be famous one day and this blog could totally be published as part of my memoirs or something and I don't want Lorelai's teenage self to be totally embarrassed by my mommy over share. Just know she is one sad sweet little baby. But I still managed to catch this glimpse of happy cuteness.

She had run away after her bath this morning and went straight to my sewing machine.

Speaking of sewing machine I did this, this morning.

Now here is my dilemma. Do I post it now on Etsy to sell or do I stash it for the craft fair? We really need to build up our inventory!

As far as my second order goes, I'm still waiting on the fabric. First order loved hers.

Time to go to the Dr. I don't feel like I've covered everything I've felt like talking about so be alert for an update!

Ha!

2009-07-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finished a scripture case order! I'll hand it off in the morning but I'll let you have a sneak peek right now!

So exciting. I don't really have much else to tell you I just wanted to show off a bit. Oh along those lines Lorelai said a new word today.

"Pretty" I caught the moment with a picture!

And here is another pic of a baby caught red handed. She was not given the spoon nor the can of frosting.

Can't Remember Snazzy Title

2009-07-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was crazy busy for me!! In the morning I had to get some meringue powder so that I could make some royal frosting to make some certain flowers for a certain holiday this Saturday. Plus I loaded up on powdered sugar because it was wicked cheap at Wally World. So as soon as Desmond's bus picked him up we went to the store and tried to pick up those things.

We went to the super Wal*mart but its ridiculously lame as far as shopping goes so we just picked up a cake mix and boogied outta there.

Then we went to the school Desmond will be attending Kindergarten this fall and checked out his new class. Lorelai had a great time and felt like she fit right in.

Then we went to Wally World to get what we couldn't find at the retarded one.

Home. Failed Lorelai nap attempt while I whipped up some royal frosting. Went and got the screaming baby (Desmond's now home) and I separated and colored my frosting and set aside.

Desmond and I then made the giant foot cookie for cub scouts (failed to get picture but it was pretty darn cool)

As I was putting the cookie in the oven the sister missionaries called to remind me about our visiting appointment at two. Oh right, 45 min... cookie will be done hopefully Lorelai will down sleeping.

Knocked out Lorelai and rode my bike over to meet the sisters. The guy we were suppose to visit wasn't home so we tried to go and visit two other guys they can never visit because the need a member with them but they weren't home either.

So home again where my baby had woken up. I cuddled with her until the daddy got home then I locked myself in my room with my ipod and frosting and made up some special flowers.

Dinner.

Rush to cub scouts. Only one boy showed up and Brett went to school with my key to the building so cub scouts... not so much. I took the foot home and frosted it and dropped it off by myself.

Bath and kisses for the baby and she's down for the night. Cutting time! All through SYTYCD I cut scripture cases and got 6.5 cut out!

I didn't have quite enough of the USC to make two cases. But oh well! I'll figure something out for that.

The Dragonflies (the only really girlie one) is one of my Scripture case orders. I run with her mom in the morning and yesterday when we got back she handed me the material and the woman I visit teach who comes to do Pilate's with her mom said, "Make sure you let me see that, I'm thinking Christmas gifts" I chuckled and said for sure for sure! and she said "I'm serious!"

Me too Sis. Sid me too. :)

That's all for yesterday. I only got the fabric cut out last night. I need to cut out all the batting today. yuck! Oh well that's my job for today and I have not planned to go anywhere. :D

So here I go!

Oh and here are some pics of my favorite sewing things for your viewing pleasure!

Springy scissors! These are the ones Brett dropped his cheeseburger on and I had to take apart and clean and have never been the same but what are you going to do? They are still way more awesome than regular scissors.

My pin magnet. I think Lorelai loves it just as much as I do (different reasons though :D)

2009-06-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Interesting this is my first attempt at blogging with Zementa we'll see how it goes.

Well I am totally excited for my cake decorating class tonight. I finally get to drill my teacher for the answers to the questions that I have been accumulating through out the week. I used mt frosting that I made Sunday night (though it doesn't taste like hers) to do some practicing of stars shells and backwards C's and everything else I've learned so far. Conclusion? I need more practice on backward C's, I'll get about 6 that are looking nice and then suddenly I mess up and go the wrong way or something. Oh well I had a good time. I wont be practicing today though because I have lots of sewing, at least cutting out to do!

Emily has really inspired me with her obsessive cutting done yesterday. I have built up quite a few football fabrics for scripture cases and need to get down and dirty with cutting them out and sewing!

I also need to send in our Bella Vista applications. Oy. I think I'll go turn over the laundry and do that now.

al-..." style="border:none;display:block" width="150" height="92">Image by Getty Images via Daylife

This is what Zementa generated thinking it related to my article....

Walmart, Thou Hast Failed Me.

2009-06-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

I am sad. I went out to Walmart this morning on a mission and was woefully disappointed. Our original Walmart has been having a make over and is twist turned all around and half of the fabric has disappeared. They did not have the orange with dark blue polka dots or dark blue with orange polka dots that my heart so greatly desires, and the ribbon! I could have sneezed and hit all of the ribbon that they had. It was shameful to say the least. So I wandered over to the cake section which is also pretty sparse and bought a cake leveler, some clear vanilla, and some dyes!

Don't they look so nice?

Oh BTW! I'm so excited, I got two scripture case orders yesterday! Haha. One is a second time buyer. I made one case for her daughter for her baptism and now her older daughter needs a new one aaaaannd this is the really exciting part!! Wait for it wait for it....... Someone followed my link on facebook saw and liked the scripture case in our shop and was wondering if I make boy cases. Heck yes I do! Both customers are going to pick out their desired fabrics and hand them over for sewing! So while its exciting I can't get on it yet because I've got to wait for the fabric. But I'm excited, can you tell?

I finished the quilt for my friend but never posted it so here it is!

Nice? Whatever you say, I like them. I have more ideas for better wipe containers luckily Em scored me some more :D Love it.

And for your viewing pleasure, cute baby picture for the day...

(Lorelai & Brett @ Nights Ferry 6/25/09)

Enjoy!

Can You Believe It?

2009-06-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Still no sales! Its a bit painful. My wild purse was at 30 views and is now at 116. That's great and some people marked it as a favorite but come on already! Give in and buy something! I swear! Oh well. I guess we'll just keep persevering and plodding on.

I've got a load of football scripture cases to make, still have to figure out how to draw in the LDS crowd from that one, but in the mean time I'll start sewing up a bunch. Plus I have some cute new fabric to make Lorelai another of those wickedly cute blouses. Sure I could figure out other styles but I'm still really in love with this one.

I'm reading a good book right now. Its My Sisters Keeper (just came out in theatres) and its great I just wish there weren't so many f bombs dropping. I don't see the need for any of those in spoken language even more so in literature! I mean each one just slaps you in the face. But that aside the story is very captivating.

Another random thought. I can't wait to go to my cake class on Tues. After making my cake the other day I have a load of questions for my teacher. Plus I'm really looking forward to lily making!! In a few weeks we'll be doing roses she said that will take the entire session to work on I can't wait for that either. Happiness.

Alright. I have a few minutes before breakfast and before Brett gets back from work so I am going to go read my book.

By the Way, Desmond just can't leave these alone. Lol, its going to be a long 9 days.

Pulling an Emily

2009-06-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I pulled an Emily an didn't get to bed until 3:30 AM!!! My husband has been super anticipating the next Transformers like crazy so he actually got Wednesday off so that we could go to the Midnight show of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Great stuff! The movie was every bit as awesome as the first. Brett is debating with himself about weather or not it was better than the first. At 10 PM we were let into the theatre and were "entertained" by the other movie goers around us. We had to go to Brenden as they were the only ones that had any tickets left, and I just feel that a lower class of people frequents Brenden. I much prefer Regal. Worse than the people were the millions of advertisements trying to sell advertising space before the move. Even worse than that? The excruciating amount of pictures of Johnny Brendan CEO. In searching for a picture to demonstrate the awefulness I discovered that the pics in the theatre ads about himself are insanely photo shopped! He is all wrinkly and old looking in the link. Yuck, can't stand it. Any way here are the before and after pics of people much less wrinkly and way more attractive!

Before the movie Brett wishing he had taken a nap.

After the movie Brett hyped up from the excitement of the show.

Me? I really enjoyed it in spite of the increase in B & A words and sexual innuendos, I just ignored those. Ha

Well to satisfy the curiosity of Emily, these pics were all taken on the grandma camera. I am totally lovin' on that lil' thing. All the pics in this post have been taken my that camera.

Any how back to everyday life, Tuesday was a day packed full of fun for me! First of all Emily came down and we hung out all day. She had to endure some house buying nonsense but fortunately that didn't overwhelm our day and we were able to get these done...

Our labels! Should you go here and buy something said item will contain one of these labels letting you know which awesome company and person they came from!

Another fun thing that happened esp. for Em was the Lorelai silliness. Lorelai is a momma's girl (fine by me!) but she's very picky about who can pick her up and play with her when we go out. However Em came to us and Lorelai had lots of fun playing with her.

Cute isn't it?

Also had my cake class Tuesday night. I'm really enjoying that class. The teacher is doggone hilarious any way we made these

Pretty neat huh? I made a load of them and really only started to get the hang of it towards the end. They are on top of the cabinets hardening. Next week we are going to make Lilies. It has inspired me to start making cakes and practicing, so yesterday I made this.

It looks pretty OK. I tried my teachers slow bake cake method and it did not turn out well. Very hard edges and dry insides. I must have missed some cooking tip that she had said but didn't actually type up for us. I also made the butter cream icing from her recipe and it turned out all right, pretty good consistency but it didn't taste at all like the stuff she brings to class. I persevered any way since my goal was to decorate an actual cake.

I used tips 33 and 4. Shell border on the bottom and star border on the top with 33 and a simple drape around the cake with 4. I was going to get a little more intense with the drape but I was running out of time before having to clean up dinner and I wanted to get my stars on. Not my favorite cake I've ever seen but I am still learning. It will be fun to compare this one with one I make after my class is over.

Good times, good times.

My baby is grouchy this morning so I'm sorry if this post seemed all over the place but you get what you get! See you soon.

Weekend Stuffs

2009-06-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well it has been an interesting weekend. Saturday morning was a mix of irritation and relief.

Irritation: I would have been done with the baby quilt I've been working on for my friend if it weren't for crazy bobbin tension flipping out of whack. I'm not sure what the problem is but it was being very stupid and well, the quilt has yet to be finished.

Relief. Brett and I bought a couch a several weeks ago because it was such a steal of a deal! Well we were suppose to pick it up a few weeks ago and haven't been able to get a hold of a truck to move it. Well yesterday I had enough and decided we would just take the seats out of the van and make it work! Turns out when we got there each half of the couch on its own fit in the back of the van, with the back closed even! It took two trips but heck, we got it done!! It was very exciting to stick it in storage.

Saturday evening we got babysitters and Brett and I went to dinner with my parentals. It was pretty fun. I like when we get dad out of the house and away from the kiddos, he really relaxes and lets his more humorous side come out. He was telling us about his idea for his next short story challenge and it sounds really great. We went to dinner at Olive Garden and it was delicious and scary but I feel I handled it like a champ!

You see, a little over a week ago I went to the Dr and he said that if I want to get pregnant again I'm gonna have to get less chubbers. Thanks, as if losing 60 some odd pounds means nothing. Well he says it does a little. He didn't want me to get discouraged he says I have lost the pregnancy weight which so many women never accomplish I just need to go a little further. The funny thing with women pregnancy and weight is there is an invisible line, different for every woman if you are one pound over it no preggo one pound under you'll multiplying like rabbits. Dr man says I must be hovering right near it and if I can just break through that plateau it will be baby city. He says women of short stature have to be particularly careful because there is absolutely no place for any weight gain to go.

So last week I was very conscious about my snacking. I run 3-6miles every morning so I know exercise wasn't holding me back. Even after my Olive garden scare I still lost 3lbs in one week. Go me. Hopefully I can keep it up just to get all chubbs again with the next baby. lol

Oh well. I've got a bit of laundry and cleaning and organizing to get done before the Emster comes and I'd like to finish my friends gifts as well so I better stop blogging.. hasta

Show the Love Comments are Back!

2009-06-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

Alright everyone happy news! You can comment again. There was a hiccup of retardedness but all is well again!

I Feel Better Now

2009-06-18T08:24:00.001-07:00

Here is my finishing touch for the zebra scripture case. Two nights ago I made the layers of the flower and set them out nicely to work on yesterday morning. So, yesterday when I got back from my run I looked at the two pieces and showed my mom so she could admire them. I went and took a shower and when I came back out they flower pieces were gone! Bum bum bum... I looked on the floor and found the pink piece but could not find the stripes!. I was so mad I couldn't bring myself to be crafty on anything else. This morning I took my dads car to meet my friends for our run and lo and behold there on the passenger seat was the striped piece! We have no idea how it got there but I am just glad I was able to find it and finish of my case!

This

+ This

+These

Viola!
I said I wasn't able to do anything else crafty but that was until just before SYTYCD came on I noticed Bekah's field trip shirt and how super plain boring it was and inspiration washed over me and I couldn't resist cute-ing it up! Now for the rest of summer whenever she goes on a field trip she can wear this!

I told Em last night as I was working on it that I don't understand why I always forget that I hate wonder under and this is why, because it looks so stinking awesome when it is done! Bekah thought it was so cute this morning when she saw it and I just have to agree. I am in love :D

Everything was made by me :D So exciting.
I was playing with the Nikkon the other day and practicing my photog skills and wanted to share them with you! For your viewing pleasure...

I Enjoy Me Some Butter Cream Frosting

2009-06-17T08:51:00.001-07:00

Well, when I was getting married to the awesome Brett my mom and I went to make some final decisions about my wedding cake. When I asked if I wanted butter cream frosting I said, sure. My mom said, ew really? and I said whatever. I knew I was going to maybe get to eat a bite of cake so as long as it looked like what I wanted and was funfetti I really didn't care what kind of frosting was on it.Now I know my mom is crazy. I took my first cake decorating class last night and I am now a huge fan of butter cream! I'm not going to lie, I licked my fingers quite a bit! Our instructor went over types of cake and frosting and then talked a bit about each tip then we got to work!

We used tip 30 and learned to make stars, shells, backwards c's, and a simple basket weave. I found the shells fairly difficult but after about 80 I began to feel like if I were to keep practicing the should looks pretty nice lol. I had a really good time and can't wait to practice here at home and learn some more stuff! 'Til next Tuesday!

The Mystery of the Incomplete Cases

2009-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well it's not a mystery at all. Last night I made a scripture case and this morning I made another. While both seem to be done, they are not.
This is going to be my scripture case to love and to use. Its quite nearly done mut I am going to sew up a decorative flower (inspired by Lorelai's hair clip flowers) to place on the pocket.

Here are some more angles

(I love my serger!!)

This is the case I made last night. I decided to go with an experimental pocket and I quite like how it turned out except there is a defect I need to fix. The defect fortunatly isn't visable in these pictures but I'm not going to post it for sale until I fix it and place the final touch! Intrigued? Well its kind of a suprise! Ha

Angles

Alright, Thats all for now :D

**Update**

The Lady Bug is complete!

The lady bug is to sell. Here is my dillema. How do I draw in the LDS crowd? Because honestly I believe these would go like hot cakes! Esp. my football teams. But how do I target them? How do I draw them in to see my stuff? Ariana, are you working on our business cards? lol

I kinda have an intended client for this one but I'm not sure how to go about it. :]

And Monday Starts With a Bang

2009-06-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

And totally not a good bang!

I was txting Em last night and telling her how I was completely look forward to morning because I would go for my run! and before Lorelai woke up I would get to sew! and then she would wake up and we'd get to play! and then it would be nap time! which as you enlightened few know is sew time! I love love love my every day life. After a great 3 day weekend with my husband I was really looking forward to my regular day.

This morning I got up and did my run, as planned.

I came home and did pilates, as planned.

I took a shower, as planned.

I got out my sewing machine, as planned.

BUT just as I was about to start sewing I hear over the baby monitor "hi baby!"

Excuse me? Desmond! Why are you in babies room?

That's right. Desmond wandered in and woke Lorelai up an hour early. You've got to be kidding me.

So, I made her breakfast and started sewing, a little later than planned.

Then we cuddled and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as planned.

When the phone rings, you can't really plan for that.

"Hello, Jan? Janna can you hear me?" Says a deep, British voice.

"This is Lisa speaking"

Now I'm thinking "This sounds like Uncle Colin but not nearly goofy enough it must be..."

"Oh, hello lovey, this is Darryl"

"Ha! I was right! But Uncle Darryl never calls, just not the chatty type, I wonder whats wrong?"

"Is your mom gone to work already"

"Not so much, let me find her"

So I hand off the phone still wondering what is going on.

Apparently my Annie (grandma to normal people) suffered two heart attacks earlier today and was being rushed to the ER for immediate surgery.

We know now that she is fine and will pull through it. That couple of hours while we waited was pretty rough. She will be getting a permanent pace maker put in on Wednesday and the goal is to get her healthy and hopping in time for her trip to America as planned for this fall. We are praying praying praying. Its been 9 years since we last saw her. She has never met my Husband, Baby or even Bekah or Desmond. If we don't see her this fall Darryl thinks it is unlikely we will see her again this side of the veil. heavy.

But for now its all good, so onto business for today.

We had another showcase this past Saturday and still no sales but the views keep coming. I've made a chart to show the progress!

_______Friday Sunday

Dino-------17------23

Scissors----12-----13

Wild-------15------19

Bekah------17-----32

Claire------45-----52

Lorelai-----25-----27

Pink-------18------20

Beatles-----N/A---11

We've got some good numbers here! Everyone had an increase in views with our showcase item nearly doubling its numbers. This was another Holiday showcase. This Saturday we've got a Clothing showcase and the clothing showcase is much more popular and sells out very quickly. We shall see what that does for our stats and maybe sales? Lol one can hope. We are doing good :)

Well I've got some work cut out for me. Quite literally. Yesterday I cut fabric out for a shirt for Lorelai and two scripture cases, one for me and one to sell. Lol, I'll tell you more about that later haa haa. I've already finished Lorelai's shirt this morning I'll snap a pic once a wrangle it on her. I used up her allotted amount patience for picture taking this morning in my effort to get this pic!

Thanks Em! She loves it!

**Update**

Lorelais new shirt :D

Yesterday

2009-06-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to write off yesterday and move on. It was just a downer of a day.

But today is a new day! I'm trying to organize my craft stuff because it is starting to take over the front room. Fabric, fabric everywhere. I love it but its probably going to start bugging others pretty soon :) Only problem is there aren't many other places for it all to go. I can't wait until I have an entire room devoted to all of this stuff and can set up a wonderful storage system. If we get the ugly house 1 of our 6 rooms will be devoted soley to sewing and scraping. Wooo!

Know what we are thinking of for our rooms?

Room One: Master bedroom, Mine and Bretts room (duh)

Room Two: Wee ones room

Room Three: Crafting room

Room Four: Storage

Room Five: Guest room

Room Six: Guest room

If we get pregnant and have a girl she can share with Lorelai or if we get pregnant with a boy we can convert one of the guest bedrooms. So fun huh?

Hmmm I'm kinda just musing right now. I'm waiting for my MIL to pick me up, she is carting me off to my Dr. appt today. Then its cleaning for the rest of the day for me! Thats not so bad. I've got a lot to look forward to in the next couple of days.

1. Tonight we've got SYTYCD results. Great opening show last night by the way! My faves?

The first lyrical hip hop by Tabitha and Napoleon

The crash test dummies by Wade Thompson (I'm a huge fan of his (T&N too really))

The contemporary by Mandy Moore

and

The BOLLYWOOD DANCE!!!

Love it. I'm so glad they've added Bollywood.

I can't wait to see the group dance tonight :D

2. Brett has Friday off!! At Bretts work they get one day of their birthday month off, which ever they choose. He couldn't get his actual birthday off so he picked tomorrow. Love. I'm excited.

3. Saturday (Fri. too) Is recital day! But I am going Saturday night and get to hang out with the Emily and Aileen while Brett stays home with midge and Salmon where he will be joined by Josh and posibly Markham for Man Date '09!!! Lol its just cracking me up. Lorelai and Des will go to bed at 7 and then it is party time till the break of dawn! Ha! Its too much. I can't handle it.

Ooop time to go.

I Love Sewing!

2009-06-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Oh my heck, story of my life, I am waiting for my mom to get ready. I could be sewing right now but not so much.

This is sounding like grouch time so I'm going to air a few other grievances as well.

I am sooo tired!

Monday night Emily tested me at about 8:30 PM, I got that. She then e-mailed me at 8:50 ish and I was asleep, didn't get it until morning.

Last night I was passed out by 8 o'clock and I couldn't get up this morning to go run and ended up sleeping in until 7:10 and I still feel tired. Crazy I know and I have to stay up and watch SYTYCD tonight. hee hee

Anyway. As I alluded to with my title, I love sewing! I've got some ideas to take my scripture cases to the next level and I can't wait to work on them (if only my mom would get ready already so I can dump her off at work so I can come home and get to work!).

ALSO, one of the blogs I follow, Portabello Pixie written by designer Sandi Henderson had an exciting update last night. She is writing some new patterns and has asked for volunteer sample sewers. SO I contacted her immediately! I'm sew sew sew excited!! (Dang I never realized how much I enjoy a good pun! lol) I hope I hear back, in case you couldn't tell I totally want to do that! Love!

From Grouching to Gushing, I've lost my mind. I'm tired. Its only 9 am. I've just gotta go while I'm ahead.

House Hunting

2009-06-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning was soooooo tedious. Brett and I went and looked at 14 houses. I am sick of looking at houses!! Ugh! We saw some really nice houses that we are sure we will get out bid on some seriously yuck houses that we ran away from and one dingy fixer upper type house. Guess which one Brett wants?

The fixer upper.

I'd thought we were looking for sweet little starter home places where we could just move in and be a cute little family. I'm thinking its not going to work out that way. Not so much.

We will probably end up getting the fixer upper. It shouldn't take too much to fix it up. Its going to be like Beauty and the Beast and we will love the ugly away and we will be left with a prince of a house. Good times.

And wont it be fun blogging the before during and after pictures? I'm thinking maybe so!

Oh well. Time to cut out some fabric. I'm not sure if I'll be making any right now but I'm going to cut out some scripture case pieces. Go me.

Sew Here Are The Numbers

2009-06-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Dorky title huh? I know :)

Well as my readers know, not because I posted about this but because my one reader is Emily and she and I text like mad, any way as my readers know, yesterday was our first Showcase.

Showcase, on Etsy, is for you to show off a particular item in hopes of bringing more people to your site, more views and more sales. How did we do?

First of all the Showcased Item---> This is Claire, Fri night she had 12 hits. This morning 33.

Lorelai! Had 13 views Friday night and 16 views this morning .

Bekah! Had 9 view Fri night and 13 this morning.

As for mine and Emily's bags

-----------------------------Fri-------Sun

Pink-------------------------13-------14

Wild-------------------------4---------6

Scissors---------------------N/A------6

Dinosaurs------------------ N/A------7

Total Sales: 0

My goal in this endeavor is to never be discouraged. Emily and I are living our dream and we are only just beginning. This was our first attempt at minor league advertising and it did get us some hits, and that's good. This was under the Holiday showcase. In a couple of weeks we will be putting on a Clothing showcase. Very exciting because we will have the opportunity to compare and contrast! lol.

See you around. I still have to tell you all about the house hunting adventures from yesterday.

And Again With The Updating and Posting!

2009-06-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

Update

2009-06-05T17:52:00.001-07:00

I've posted two more items for tomorrows showcase. Hopefully people are drawn into our site.
Here's one
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26061477
Here's the other
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=26061941
Go me! I'm afraidmy second bag wont be ready to be listed by tomorrow. Oh well. We'll see what comes of this all. So exciting :)

Its 9 am, how much have you done?

2009-06-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Good morning!

I think it is pretty wicked that SYTYCD on Thursdays is only one hour and waits to start until 9 to start. Twelve hours ago I was tracing sewing patterns onto wrapping saying "finally!" I should think that if the show starts @8 on Wednesdays for the 2 hrs it should start @8 on Thursday too!!. It forced me to stay up late again and boy was it hard to get up and run this morning! But I did it so, go me! I think the other members of team long tie would be proud of me :)

So I've been up since 5 (quarter to actually, Brett couldn't wait any longer before calling me) and what have I done?
5:15 Went run run run with my running buddies
5:45 Dawdled around talking before going home
6:15 Showered and ate pre breakfast (water and a granola bar)
6:30 Started sewing
7:30 Lorelai woke up so I removed her from bed and took time to snuggle my half asleep baby
7:45 Threw Desmond on the bus
7:50 Made and ate Breakfast with my favorite wee one
8:00 Went back to sewing
8:45 Finished super awesome sewing.
8:57 Started blogging :)

So here I am. Finished a shirt this morning, yeah I pretty much rock. For now I'm done sewing until Lorelai goes down to nap. I'm going to take the time to play with the midge and let her help me pick up the house a bit; good times. Then at 3 o'clock a photo shoot! One of my friends daughters is modeling the shirt I made this morning. Should be fun. I'll let you know how it goes.

SYTYCD

2009-06-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

Go team long tie!

Its crazy!

2009-06-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness!

Seriously, it was as innocent as a text message.
Em Txts: Hey, if I find a craft fair would you be interested in sharing a booth?
Me: Heck yes!

Thats all it took, now I'm looking up all possible fairs and filling in a sellers permit form. That form is its own special breed of crazy but if we make it to the fair it should be tons of fun! I hope so!

The crazy thing is sewing up myself an inventory. This particular fair requires photos of your inventory 4 mos in advance, sooo intense.
What do I want to sell?
Purses
Scripture Cases
Throw Pillows(?)
Peasant Blouses and Skirts (kids&baby)
Onsie Dresses(?)
Baby Blankets
My brain is blanking. there may be more I just can't think of it.

What other stuff are we going to need?
Labels for all of our items
Ways to display them
Blanking again, it took me over an hour to fall asleep last night thinking about all this. I'm going to go play with my baby that should help me clear my head.

BTW:I've added a new item to mine and ems Etsy store you can view it here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25992145
I should be adding one more item tonight :)

I did it!

2009-06-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I posted my first item for sale on Etsy!
You can now find my hot pink zebra tote here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25868618 !
Exciting I know, we'll have to see if it actually sells. :)
I'm quite excited to work on and post more stuff!

Banana Chérie?

2009-05-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

Banana Chérie you ask?

When I was 13 mos old I went back to Africa with my mom to visit her family. I was quite verbal for such a small person and my mothers brother Colin really got a kick out of my tiny voice asking for bananas. He also endeavored to teach me to say banana as the British would. It was then that he dubbed me ' Banana Girl'.

I have decided to sell on Etsy. In the past four days I've sewn 4 bags, and 2 dresses; all for people I know and I feel like making a little money off it.

I was reading about a woman only a few years older than me, who has a career as a pattern designer. She started out selling her projects on Etsy. That could easily be me in a few years.

My cousin, who on Esty calls herself Emisaurus, and I have joked, for longer than I can remember that when we grew up we wanted a kiosk in the mall to sell all of our hand crafted goods. Well it looks like Etsy will be our kiosk realized. We call ourselves Emisaurus and Banana Chérie branches of the Carroll Cousin Creations.

Did you see where my Banana girl story came in? If not you might be a bit dense. I am the Banana Girl but I don't feel that is quite cute enough to be a boutique name so I've altered it a bit to be

Banana Chérie