Monday, April 25, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me!

To be honest, it feels like I been celebrating this day all month long. I've already been showered with many many blessings this month. Planning my own party (which was a week early) was a great deal of fun and I was incredibly spoiled by my girlfriends. I will be blogging about a couple of my gifts soon. David and I are going on a dinner date tonight at the Keg. We've only ever been once and have really been looking forward to our date. Two of my birthday presents have actually been ordered online and I should receive them by the end of this month or early into next month and so extending my birthday for the entire month. What fun!

Now, about my birthday giveaway... I have a few little lovely goodies to include in the package, but here is the main item you have a chance to win.



This is the third custom journal that I talked about. Here's some pictures from the inside. I really enjoyed making this journal and it couldn't be more "me" than almost anything I've made.






How to win: Leave a comment here on my blog telling me where you typically read it (ie. on my blog, on facebook, a reader, email etc). If you are reading this anywhere aside from the blog, you will need to pop on over to leave a comment here. I love all comments, but those via email or on facebook will not count toward the draw. You have until 10:00 pm (CST) on April 30th to enter. I will then use a random number generator to choose a winner. Make sure you leave an email or some way for me to contact you if you win. Good luck!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

All Cut and Ready to Go!

Cutting out patterns and fabric is probably my least favourite part of a sewing project and will often cause me to procrastinate on certain projects. I buckled down and did a bunch of cutting this weekend. Here are 216 squares and 90 circles (it will eventually be 216 circles).



This will be made into a lovely picnic blanket.  I did a practice square and I love how it turned out. The blanket is going to be amazing. I've graphed out my pattern and will begin sewing this week.



This stack is cut out of Abby's receiving blankets. I will be making her a rag blanket out of them. I got blisters from my rotary cutter and I went through 3 blades with all this cutting, but it's done now. The fun is about to begin.


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Happy spring!

I am thoroughly enjoying the spring weather here. We've had sun, rain, cloud and even snow and it's been great. The ground snow is completely melted here and the sun is so warm and inviting. My favourite week of spring is yet to come, though. I love the week after the streets and meridians have been swept. That's the week when the green grass starts to poke through and there is a clean fresh feeling. It shouldn't be too long now!

I recently hosted my own birthday party. I had so much fun planning and executing all the lovely little details that I forgot to take any pictures.... boooo! I created a home, do-it-yourself spa experience. I had seven girlfriends over and we had a beautifully relaxing and enjoyable evening. Some of my favourite reactions were "it smells like a spa in here." and "oh, I feel soooo relaxed!" and "how often do you have a birthday?" I did a bit of crafting for the party and will try to get some pictures of what I made, but for now, enjoy my spring scene on my tree branch.



In the midst of planning for my party, I've also had a bit of sewing time. Here's another no. 10 charming tote bag in Amy Butler's LOVE fabric. I think it's incredibly cute, though I'm not sure that I'll be keeping it. I'm considering selling it. Not because I don't love it, but I'm not sure I need another clutch size bag.



I haven't forgotten about my birthday giveaway. I have some fun things to share, and will post that on my actual birth day. Hope you have a great weekend and resurrection celebrations!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Little Decor Additions

This month we had a little bit more home decor budget and decided to purchase more frames for the wall above our couch. David came up with the idea of doing feet pictures and I love it. In fact, it's got me thinking about future picture ideas.

(click on image to enlarge)
Abby's baby feet are on the left and Malachi's are on the right
David and I used our little camera timer for this fun shot of our feet together.



We also picked up this tree wall decal from the local dollar store.



Inside the packaging were these words...
THE LOVING TREE

This seemed like a more appropriate place for them.

How Good Photography Makes Such a HUGE Difference!

At our last photo shoot with Twila, she surprised me with some photos of the little notebook I gave her. This just settles it in my mind that if I ever open an online shop, I need to get quality photos of my product. Twila's pictures make my sewing look so great.




 (this one is my favourite... I LOVE daisies!)


Wow! Thanks, Twila for these amazing pictures for my blog.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Custom Journals and Another no. 10 Charming Tote Bag

I've been "sitting" on these journals for just over a month. I've actually been collecting for them and thinking about them since last fall. I borrowed Handmade Home by Amanda Soule from the library last fall and this is one of those projects that I've been itching to actually try. I called Staples and got an idea of costs for binding and decided to make it worth my while, I'd need to make at least three at a time. This makes the service fee minimal and then you have some to share. I knew that I wanted to share one with my dear friend, Jenni, for her birthday and I knew I'd want one, too. That means there is one for later.


I used various pretty papers, envelopes and even paper bags inside. I doodled on some of the pages and left many just as they were. I also used magazine clippings that I especially enjoyed the art on. This is such a fun and easy project, though it can take some time to collect just the right pieces to use. I hope to make some more of these.




Well, I knew that I'd be making more of these lovely little purses and I have not been disappointed with how well they've turned out. This one is made from another pair of up-cycled pants purchase from a local thrift store. I love how it looks and it's quite forgiving.



I have one of these cut and ready to sew with my new fabric, that one is next. Speaking of my new fabric, I whipped up one of these little beauties adjusting it down in length by about 2 inches. It turned out really cute, with a few minor trouble spots. I wasn't using my own faithful machine, but a borrowed friend, (I'll tell you about that later) so there was some minor hiccups from not being used to the machine.  The recipient of this one told me that she was excited to put it to use, so I call it a success.


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A Yummy Creation

If you know me at all, then you know that I don't enjoy cooking. I can cook, my mother did teach me and I don't starve my family, but with my David at home, we've been enjoying his creations in the kitchen. He made this amazing pizza that I had to share. I had David tell me what he did, so here you go:
Pasta sauce, mixed with oregano and some olive oil. Smoked Black Garlic Turkey Breast (shaved), Fresh mushrooms, fresh spinach, mozza cheese, parmesan cheese, topped with baked in fresh on the vine tomatoes - total cost, $7.43 cents.
I can't even begin to describe how yummy this was, but you can have a little peek:


In crafty news, I haven't had a whole lot of creative time lately, I've chosen to hold onto my littles a bit longer these days. I have a few projects on the go and will show them soon. Also, this is my birth month and I've decided to have a birthday giveaway. Stay tuned for the goods and how you can win! Thanks for reading!