To Do List

My sister is getting married soon and like any good big sister I'm helping with some of the crafts and food. So as a way to manage my to-do list I'm using my blog and putting it all out there in cyber-space.

First on the list are these pom-poms to be hung something like this.

Then there are these mustache on a stick favors.

Next there is this vest in a grey plaid for my son, the ring bearer. Who will be the cutest ring bearer ever. :)

Finally is the cake. I'm going to attempt to make and decorate my sister's cake. I promised her that if it didn't turn out well I would buy her a cake instead.

After all of the wedding projects are finished begins the rush to make as many hand crafted Christmas gifts as possible and maybe even finish enough projects to finally officially open my Etsy shop.

I'll be updating my blog with updates as I go and to make up for the lack up pictures in this post here is a dose of cute to tide you over. :)

Halloween

The first of (hopefully) many homemade costumes.

He was supposed to be a muskateer but ended up looking more like a little prince or knight. Since we only made two trick-or-treat stops I guess it really doesn't matter. The important part is that the costume had a cape because of this....

He kept bringing the blanket to his daddy and whinning. Finally Mr. Gnome wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and sure enough that made him happy. We safety pinned the blanet and he ran around like that for the rest of the night.

Mr. Gnomes and I didn't have costumes this year but we did carve a couple pumpkins.

I found the Hello Kitty pattern here. It was fun hearing the trick-or-treaters outside our window talking about my pumpkin. Mr. Gnome's pumpkin had a couple fans too.

Another bag

Just a quick post to share my latest completed sewing project.

More of the black and white fabric. I like to use it for trial runs so I don't have to cut into my precious (more expensive) fabric.

The pattern is the zip clutch available here and here through my favorite pattern shop
Keyka Lou (she has two shops).

Gotta run. My little gnome and my crazy cat are demanding my attention.

The three year socks

About three years ago I decided to make a plain jane pair of socks. I thought a pair of socks with no pattern to concentrate on would just fly off of the needles. I thought wrong. I have never been so bored with a project in my knitting life. Now don't get me wrong, the yarn was nice enough and I love the way they turned out. I just don't see myself making another pair of plain socks again. I apparently need a pattern to keep me entertained.

So with out further ado, here are my Just Sucks (no that is not a typo).

That is all. I refuse to spend another second working on these in any way shape or form.

Fabric Stash and Plans

I've been stock piling my fabric here in California in preparation for my new Etsy shop and Christmas crafting. This post is more for my reference and that of my family (so they can make requests) so I apologize for the lack of content but perhaps you are a fabric collector and will enjoy the pretty pictures. On with it then..

This is my Etsy collection (this is what I plan to use for my shop and it was all purchased on Etsy). These fabrics were purchased from The Sprout Store . I also bought a few coordinating fabrics from Cotton Thread Fabrics but haven't taken pictures of those yet.



Top center: Freebird by Momo for Moda - Garden in the sky ( I also have this print in geranium aka red)
Left column top to bottom: 1Woodland by Momo for Moda - Wonderland Tweedle Dee in Sugar, 2Woodland by Momo for Moda - Tweedle Dum in Tomato (I also have this print in sugar just not photoed), 3Woodland by Momo for Moda - Tweedle Dee in Tomato
Right column top to bottom: 1Freebird by Momo for Moda - balls in ivory, 2Freebird by Momo for Moda - Butterflies in Vanilla, 3 Freebird by Momo for Moda - Garden in Grass

These are intended for a couple of aprons. I honestly don't remember what the names or who the designer(s) are but I picked this set up at Joann's.

I love this Japanese inspired print. I had intended to make a purse with it but I'm not sure about that anymore. Purchased at Joann's.

These are intended to make a tutu petti skirt for my niece, Maya.

These are scraps left over from other projects, a couple of random fat quarters, a few random pieces of fabric that don't really belong in any other group, and a couple of tea towels that I bought to make a tote bag with.

These fabrics are also intended for my Etsy shop but will also be used for Christmas projects. All were purchased at Joann's.

Last but not least is my Ikea big score. I was browsing through the "as is" section and found a bag of scraps for just $5!! If you're familiar with Ikea fabric it usually runs $7.99 a yard for the prints. There is about ten yards total here. The largest piece is 2 yards and the smallest is 1/4 yard, not what I would call "scraps" but definitely a bargain.

The bottom right is actually grey but the sun was shining on it and washed out the color in the photo.

Ok that's my stash, minus the fabric mentioned at the beginning, a few yard of solid colors intended for lining, and a one other home decor print that just wouldn't photograph properly.

As promised

Just a quick post to show my latest projects.

The first was supposed to be a small bag for me to use when I don't want to carry my big "mom bag" but it I'm just not feeling it. So I think this will be one of the first items to go up in my etsy shop (once I have enough items to make a decent inventory).

This is the pretty bag pattern from this etsy shop.

I chose this fabric because it was similar to the example on the pattern but in the end I just didn't dig it.

Maybe someone else will.

I made the inside pocket larger than the pattern called for and added a second section.

This is the half-moon handbag from this etsy shop.

I decided to use the main fabric for the inside pocket and I love the result. I think this bag will be going into my etsy shop too. I like it but I have another fabric in mind for my own. I'm making a small zipper pouch with this same fabric, also intended for my shop.

Alrighty, back to homework. Once my husband is done with his chief games I'll bring back "what to make Wednesday" but in the mean time I am working on photographing my fabric stash. At least the stash that I have here in San Diego with me. :)

Pictureless

I'm still around. I have two new purses, curtains, and a pair of socks to share. Unfortunately, my camera needs new batteries and blogger isn't letting me post pictures at the moment anyways. So I guess a new post will just have to wait.

In the mean time here's what I'm planning to make next week. I just love Keyka Lou's patterns and Michelle has all kinds of helpful tips on the
Keyka Lou blog.

When life happens

What to make Wednesday was a bust this week. Mr. Gnome was selected to advance to Chief (E-7) and I offered to help with his "tasks" for the transition. First was a guide-on, that's the flag they carry around when they PT (run and stuff) to identify themselves. I had never made a flag before and thanks to some steam-a-seam and iron on transfers it turned out great.

The FY 11 stands for fiscal year 2011

This side shows the two commands and the four rates that make up the selectees at the base where Mr. Gnome is stationed. It's a little wrinkled thanks to that morning's PT.

I made him put on his selectee shirt and model for me.

He was a good sport. :)

I have a week off between semsters so I hope to have all kinds of crafty goodness to share next Wednesday. I've already started a new purse for myself and bought some new fabric to (hopefully) crank out a few more while I have some free time.

So long old friend

We will miss you Curly.

What to make Wednesday

Sorry, no bucket hat this week. Slight change of plans. My friend's daughter is turning 5 soon and I decided to make her a tulle tutu using this video. I was originally going to make this tutu pettiskirt but while I was standing at the cutting table at Joann's a lady came up with at least 5 different bolts of tulle. The lady behind the counter asked her if she was making a tutu and my ears perked up. She even had the same colors as me. So I make a split second decision to join the rest of the blog world and make a tulle tutu. I asked the girl cutting my fabric if I could get the remaining tulle from a couple of the other lady's bolts once she was finished with them. I'll get back to the pettiskirt later but this was so quick and easy I just couldn't resist.



I used about 3 yards of tulle (2 pink and 1 purple).



My little gnome was NOT happy about modeling. But he's still cuter than the lamp. :)

This week's project: Curtains for my little gnome's room. I bought the fabric months ago and even cut it already. I'll be using my mom's method for plain pannel curtains. If I get really ambitious I might just post a tutorial!!!

What to make Wednesday

My sewing time is very limited these days. Between chasing around my 17 month old and being a full time college student (again), my machine just doesn't get as much attention as I would like. So I have an idea to set aside one day a week where I pick a project and just get to it. Enter "What to make Wednesday" a weekly (hopefully) post where I pick a project to make that week and blog about what I made the week before. This should (in theory) not only help me focus my crafting powers but keep me posting on a regular basis. Sounds like a plan eh?

Since I don't have a project from last week I'm going to cheat a little and talk about a project I made a while ago.


(Just pretend that it's clean)

This is a fabric travel high chair for my little gnome (I think that's what I'll call DA on here from now on). I first read about this idea over here at Homemade by Jill. I found a tutorial elsewhere but can't seem to find it right now.

I whipped this sucker out in no time. I can fold it up and leave it in a side pocket of the diaper bag, just in case. Although I haven't used it as much as I thought I would, it has definitely saved us on a few occasions. Mr. Gnome thinks it looks like a sumo diaper (his words).

My sister made one too.



So here is what I'm going to make this week. A bucket hat for my little gnome from Sew Much Ado. I just might have to make a trip to Joann's to pick out some cute fabric. :)

Welcome to the blog world!

My younger sister has started her very own blog! She's much more dedicated than I am and actually posts on a regular basis. So if you're tired of waiting for me go check her out at Nifty Thrifty Life.

Playing Catch-Up

Since I won't be creating anything new while we're in Florida for two weeks, I thought I would post a couple of things I created earlier this year. Enjoy!

These three wristlets were made using this tutorial over at From An Igloo.

Unfortunately I didn't get a better picture of this green one. It was my first attempt and promptly given to my niece.

This one is for me!

This one was my sister's birthday present. Once again I only got a picture with my phone.

I made these two pouches using this tutorial over at Skip to my Lou.

I just love that little bird print.

These little shoes were made using the Jack and Jill pattern from this Etsy shop.

Did you notice the print inside...told ya I like those little birds.

Finally there is the tote bag I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I used this tutorial.

There are two different types of pockets on the inside!

Alrighty there it is. What I've been sewing the last few months. Now back to the beach!

Trying out another purse pattern

My friend, Rachel, was in need of a new purse and had seen pictures of some of my previous projects. So she asked if I would make one for her. I had just purchased a couple of patterns from Sewing With Me over on Etsy and wanted to give them a try. After a couple of hours I had this...
It's a little difficult to see the details with the busy print but there are pleats just under the handles. The pattern included a fabric flower to attach but I didn't think it would look right with this fabric, plus we were running late for Rachel's 4th of July BBQ and I wanted to present it to her there. I'll definitely be making one these for myself in a different fabric and now that the first try is out of the way the second should go much faster.

A fresh start

Life has been challenging these last two years and I am in serious need of a creative outlet. I stopped blogging not too long after discovering Ravelry but I fully intended to return.

Then life had to go and get all crazy. Long story short (with a long run on sentence)....we left Japan, moved to California, found out we were expecting, found out hubby received orders to Iraq and was leaving for a year, decided to buy a house in Iowa so I could be near family while prego and after delivery, hubby broke his hand, it required surgery so his orders got cancelled, baby DA came 6 weeks early, spent two and half weeks in NICU with our son, hubby had to return to San Diego for three months and then go to Iraq, moved DA and I to San Diego so we could all be together in a little studio apartment, found a hole in hubby's retina during pre-deployment screening, orders got cancelled, we were stuck in a studio apartment for 7 instead of 3 months, hubby got orders to Illinois for 4 months so we moved back to Iowa, now we're back in San Diego, this time in a 2 bedroom and with a year to go. I'm taking college classes online in order to (finally) finish my AA degree and plan to graduate in the fall. Then its on to the big bad BA! Hubby is up for orders in January and by June we'll be on our way to somewhere new. Phew! Did ya catch all that? Dizzy? I am!

DA just a day old

DA now

Now that life is settling into a sort of routine I've decided it's time to start blogging again. I'm still knitting along although not as much as I used to. Having a toddler in the house limits my craft time and I've also taken up sewing again. My hopes are that this blog can serve as a place to organize the endless projects I want to create.

So while I gather my thoughts, yarn, fabric, and camera go check out a sweet Flirty Apron give away over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff.