clean up on aisle 5

Sometimes I still do crafty stuff. . . . .

2011-06-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

. . . and my husband thinks I'm crazy, but I like to share what I finish!!!
I recently finished a quilt that has been years in the making. Here was the start to it I had several scraps left over from "stuff" and I loved them, and so I put them together and made a funky quilt. When it was all done and quilted and bound and washed my husband asked me what it was for. What kind of a question is that?!? It's to show off my favorite fabrics. It's art, it's what I like to do.

Here is Steve. Our pet desert tortoise who doesn't know he is a turtle. He is so social and friendly. He follows you around like a little dog. I was taking these pictures and . . . there he was! Always has to check out what's going on!

I also made some little pouches to give to the teachers with gift certificates inside of them for end of the year gifts. I also had a few leftover for grad gifts/gift cards.

Pictures tell a story !

2011-03-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

Have you seen [framed] yet?!? Each week they post a new video featuring an inspiring photographer who is in love with his/her job. It teaches and it inspires all who watch! Go to the link above to watch each episode and to become a fan on facebook or twitter! I've loved each episode.
This week for the giveaway they are asking for pictures that tell stories. I could not narrow it down to just one, so I decided to post several (random) photographs that I've taken over the last few years. :)

This first one was taken in Brugge, Belgium. It depicts a typical day there on this touristy street.

I LOVE this next one! It's one of my favorite pictures ever taken. It was taken in Venice last summer. As we were walking I stopped, turned around and saw these two women arm in arm. I waited until they approached that strip of light, and then took a few pictures.

This was taken at a family reunion in Yellowstone. The big 'ol group was all posed and ready and the RAIN HIT!!!! :) I love it!

This next one was at the same family reunion and shows us all caravaning together to some old family property in Idaho. The property is endearing to all with many fond and loving memories.

A mother and her son, walking down the aisle :).

This one. . . . . haha. This one I'll leave it up to you to tell the story! This was taken in Antwerp Belgium last summer.

Quilted Fabric Growth Chart

2011-03-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

I was recently invited to a baby shower for two friends :) Sister in laws. They are both expecting baby girls this early spring. I could have easily gone out and bought them something cute, but I sew. For some reason I got in my head I wanted to make them growth charts. Someone made one for me years ago and and I just love it.
I perused etsy and blogs for some ideas and this is what I came up with from all the cute ideas I saw out there. The crazy me made four of them. Two for gifts for the baby shower and two extras. . . . just because!! There is always a baby shower to go to and or a sister having a babay :)

For the hanging growth chart I basically put a bunch four wonky log cabin blocks together, added a white strip along the edge for the inch markings. They were written on with a fabric marker. I added them AFTER I washed and dried the quilt so the fabrics would shrink before adding the measurement ticks and thus stay accurate. Then I added a loop along the top for the dowel to sit in and for hanging. On the back I added a pocket to hold a fabric marker so that it is always there when you need it!

Why stop at one post

2011-01-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

Well I havn't posted (or crafted much) in a year or so. So why stop at one post. Here is something else I made for Valentines Day. I got the idea from this blog. A super cute blog by the way!!
I bought a heart wreath and wrapped that. I wish it was bigger, but it was the biggest one they had at Beverlys. It is only about 12" wide. I guess that would be a lot of wrapping if it was any bigger though.

I want to be "crafty" again!!!!!!

2011-01-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

I really really want to enter a new phase of life where I am sewy and crafty again. I can't even recall exactly why I havn't been but it probably went something like this. Found out I was expecting new baby. Baby needed the third bedroom ie. my sewing room. I had no where to sew or craft except my small bedroom. I got busy with new baby and busy older boys. I started taking more and more pictures. I started my photography business and well that was pretty much the end of my sewing career. I have often drooled over my sisters crafty blog. I keep telling myself, "someday"!
We have since moved into a little bit bigger house, still only three bedrooms, but the extra eating/kitchen nook has been assigned my sewing space since we also have a dining room that is the best place for the kitchen table.
I kindof had a bad year doing photography - I was super super busy but for some reason most of my clients were the ones that didn't actually want to spend any money. That has made it frustrating for me to want to put any extra time into it right now and with the high school season over I have some time to. . . . . . . . SEW!!! Plus being in the new house has made me start thinking about things I cold do to decorate and spruce it up a bit with some crafty projects.
I had some time to spend all by myself at Beverly's the other night. It was heavenly! It was the first time I've been in there in what seems like years! I came home with the supplies to make a family rules canvas that I have seen around lately.
I actually FINISHED it in about two days time. It is up on the shelf and has added a lot to the little wall with shelves and not much else.

Now let's see if I can even remember how to post pictures. . . .

Flannel board story give away

2009-08-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

Go see edeenut to be inspired with her cute flannel board stories!! She is also giving away a flannel board story to help you get your collection started, or add to an existing :)

Feeling lucky :)

2009-05-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

I hardly remember, but apparantly I made a comment on a giveaway over at sew mama
sew. Turns out I WON!! I was so surprised to get the email in my inbox. I couldn't even remember making the comment. I must have figured I WOULD NEVER WIN :). But I did - I won one of five prizes. Mine was a $20 gift card to their online store. Man did I have fun shopping over there. I havn't bought really cool quilting cotton in a LONG time. The Katie Jump Rope line by Denyse Schmidt caught my eye and bought nine 3/8 yard cuts (on sale) and only paid for shipping. I am looking forward to making a quilt top with it. I have this whirlygig pattern in mind, we'll see what happens :).

This is something I've been working on. It only needs snaps (I've never done snaps before) and some finishing around the neck and sleeves. I may try some of my new FOE (fold over elastic) that I just got from Sewzannes :) That stuff is so cool. Not as easy to put on as I'd have liked but it is still cool. I may just add some ribbing - I'm good at that. I'm still wondering whether or not to put in the feet or leave the legs opened. hmmm. It is summer, but it cools down in the evenings and babies never leave their blankets on. . . I'll probably leave it open.

Oh I love this

2009-05-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

This post is kindof like a "bookmark" for myself. To remind myself that I LOVE THIS and really want to make it.
I found a whole bunch of cool puppets from the dollar store a couple years ago and I need to pull them out of the box and use them more - this would be cute!! The boys love the puppet shows and it is a fun/creative NON COMPUTER activity for them :) yeah!! My friend says this is "A DOOR A BLE" and it's late enough that it's funny!

This reminds me that I really want to make a card table tent? Have you seen those? It is a fabric tent that you slip over the top of a card table and it makes and instant fort or tent or princess castle or whatever you want it to be. I want to make a princess castle with windows and doors and some fun applique on the sides of flowers or something.

fabric birthday banner #2

2009-05-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

Fabric Birthday Banner #2 and I think I'm done with birthday banners for a while. Although I think they would be fun birthday presents for some of my friends? Or sisters? OOH - maybe I'll make one for the annual sister's gift exchange this year???? SHHHH :)
Anyway, I like how this one turned out. I LOVE the fabrics together. It is very festive. I made sure this time to put a darker plain fabric on the back side so that if hung up against a window the pattern on the back wouldn't come through and distract from the pattern on the front. I made the individual flags 7" accross and 10" deep. I pinked around the edges, made button holes in each corner and used ribbon through the button holes to secure the flags next to each other. More on the process here.

Recycled dusting mitt

2009-05-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

ARE THESE COOL or WHAT?!?
I love them and am going to make some :). I think my kids will really want to dust with these - especially if it's made from one of their old shirts or something :)
They look super quick and easy to make - There is a great tutorial here:
http://wewilsons.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-cleaning-dust-mitt-tutorial.html

Fabric Birthday Banner

2009-04-28T13:40:00.001-07:00

I have finished one and a half birthday banners!!!! This is something I have wanted to make for years and recently my sister inspired me to JUST DO IT!! This first one I made is very girly and for my daughter . . . and I suppose I could hang it up on my birthday too. The second one I made is more gender neutral with blue, red, green and yellow print fabrics :) I will share pictures when I'm finished with it :).
This first one is a little bigger than I had expected. Each flag is 10" across the top and then the top to the bottom point is 13". You never know until you get all the flags together just how big it will be - I made the second one a tad bit smaller (7"X10").
The process was quite simple if you want to make one. I cut out 32 flags/triangles - 16 for the front and 16 for the back. They were 10" across the top and 13" deep. I appliqued letters onto the front using heat and bond and the directions are on the package or you can find wonderful tutorials online. Then I stitched the flags wrong sides together, pinked the edges with my pinking shears, made a button hole in each corner and tied the flags together with ribbon through the button holes. The two ends have longer strands of ribbon for hanging. There are SO MANY ways you could make these. This just happened to be the way that worked well for me :).

The other one. . .

2009-04-09T16:31:00.001-07:00

I took picture of the other (my favorite) little toy I made.
It is a combination of all of the toys on the pattern pictured below and some of my own additions. I put a jingly bell in it and some crinkly stuff in the skirt. Yep, there are things I could have done better and I had good intentions of re-making it to make everything perfect but the chances of that happening are unlikely.

The End. . . . .

2009-04-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

. . . of a LONG sewing slumber. Stacy's theme thursday for the week is THE END.
It had been a long time since I'd heard the humming of my sewing maching creating odds and ends. I finally put the silence to an end - even if it was just five minutes here and 20 minutes there - I started some new projects!!!! I made some little toys for Sierra :). The other toy I made (my favorite) is in her room where she is napping so I'll take pictures of it another time.
I've also been making little shoes for her!!! I LOVE THEM. I modified the original pattern a bit. They are FUN!
I also used up some of my favorite knits on a baby blanket for a nephew to be born this summer :).
YEA!!! It feels good to sew again :)

Photo camp :)

2009-03-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

I somehow convinced my husband that we needed to take the kids out of school for a couple of days to go see family in Utah. Of course I talked him into going the same weekend as Photo Camp Ut. My brother had told me about the event and the $10 registration fee for a full day of workshops and speakers. This was the first annual Photo Camp and I think it turned out awesome! I hope to see it again next year and the year after that. . . . My favorites from the day: 1- the workshop of posing people presented by BellaOra Studios. 2- the presentation given by the chief photographer at the Salt Lake Tribune. 3- The concluding Ignite presentations from eight truly inspiring photographers.

Some shots (dragging the shutter) of my brother and another of the crowd. See me on the right standing up?

i wish. . . .

2009-03-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Theme Thursday is "i wish"
I wish I could play the guitar!

I've always wanted to play the guitar. It's my favorite instrument to listen to!! After the boys have been in cello for a few more years I want to start introducing the guitar. Someday I want to learn - I have too many other hobbies right now. This is my nephew. He probably wanted to be left alone as he practiced but the lighting was just right so I took advantage of it.

Laughter

2009-03-04T21:50:00.001-08:00

Thursday's theme is laughter!
I could post a photo of me at nine months pregnant in my bathing suit - now THAT would be funny and would definately get a few chuckles!
I'll save myself the . . wait. .. I'll save YOU the torture and post these instead.
Our little cub scout needed a cake for the blue and gold banquet cake auction. I wanted to make a beautiful, delicious 12 layer cake. I had seen the recipe and wanted a piece so bad. The cake on that link looks SO YUMMY!! So I spent all this time making it and stacking it all up and I ran out of frosting. It wasn't thick enough to spread around the edges anyway (It didn't turn out like it was suppose to, soaked into the yummy spongy cake, making it not so yummy and way too rich!!) and I ran out of time to make another batch of thicker frosting SOOOOO I decided it looked enough like a stack of pancakes that we could go with it. My son colored, cut out and taped on the paper eggs and bacon on the side and squeezed out just enough frosting to make it look like some pats of butter :). It ended up tasting gross - a different frosting recipe would be best in my opinion, but it looked awesome!!

Spring

2009-03-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

I seriously lack the creative space for amazing shots. Do you ever feel like that?? The view from my windows is less than inspiring. My indoor surrounding are even less inspiring - it's my own fault I'm sure. Getting "out" to take pictures isn't impossible, I just don't do it. Much. I should. I want to. The other day it rained fast and hard for about two minutes. I grabbed my camera and tried to shoot the crazy amount of water rushing over the roof. I could just imagine the most beautiful picture of rushing rain water. Well I didn't get that shot and the rain stopped shortly after it started so instead I looked downward and shot the sidewalks. I love reflections!!

Today I walked across the street for the second time to shoot my neighbors blossoming tree. The first time I missed the sun by minutes so tonight I got there in time for good sunset backlighting. I've decided however that morning sun might be best. Maybe I'll walk over again tomorrow. I'm determined to find beauty and creativity in my nearby surroundings.
I applied these actions to all the photos in this post. I bought them years ago and I really love them - not on every photo, but on some. I've only ever purchased three sets of actions. They are the only actions I use, IF I'm using one. I'm completely satisfied with my collection and havn't felt the need to buy any others.

Today I want to blog

2009-03-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

There are a bazillion things I SHOULD be doing today -
Ironing hubby's shirts:

Cleaning the boys room . . . (really! who would want to even go in there!?! gross, I can't believe I am posting these ):

. . . dusting blinds, preparing dinner, mopping the floor, wiping out the fridge. . . . you get the picture. But today I wanted to sew and quilt and blog. It has been SOOO long since I have done any of those and this:

has been crying out to me so I grabbed some scraps of fabrics that I think look great together and started stitching away. I love the crooked block quilting that I have seen so much of lately. I don't really know how to do it but it can't be that hard right? I cut up some strips of various widths and cut some at a slight angle. Working in a log cabin design I started peicing them together and then when they get big enough I'll square them into a 6"ish square.
Is there a rule somewhere that says you have to finish a quilt in progress before you start on a new one? I hope not. I still have one in the hand quilting phase sitting in a basket by the couch. It is my movie/tv project.

The colors aren't showing up on my blog as vibrant as they are in photoshop. . . hmm. Need to figure out what's wrong. I guess the ironing will have to wait yet some more.

Summertime Memories

2009-02-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

We are a swimming family. Up until recently we had a membership to the gym with an indoor pool and we'd try to get a couple times a week with the kids during the winter months. In the summer time we put the membership on hold and swim at the cousins pool every chance we get. The boys have really taken to water and I think they have some gills in them somewhere.
I can't imagine summer without water!!! We live for it.

We all agree that the best time of summer is the family reunion!!! We spend a week with nearly 50 cousins, aunts and uncles at a different spot each year. The reunions fall on the week of the 4th of July and in most years past we've been near the beach! Some of the kids think the week is better than Christmas. My brother in law says that it's the "reason for living". We've spent weeks along the Oregon coast, Yosemite, and San Diego. This year we will spend a week near Yellowstone. The family has been anticipating it all year :)

I'm not finding the pictures I want to find and I've been at it way too long. So I'll just leave with these :)

For more summertime memories go over to Stacy's

COLD

2009-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Theme Thursday is "cold"
Well it hasn't really been cold here. Two days in a row this week we had temperatures in the 70's which required lots of sweating while walking to pick up the kids from school!!! (I'm not complaining)
While I love the warm weather, we desperately NEED the rain. I wasn't sad at all to see overcast skies and RAIN this morning :)

This last Saturday I took pictures at a wedding. I took probably 600 photos in 4-5 hours and since I have been spending my free time going through and editing those I didn't take a new picture for today's theme. BUT I do have a "cold" story to go along with some of the wedding pictures. This was only my second wedding I can see already that one wedding is not like any other! Weather, people's personalities, location, lighting conditions etc.. can all make for a very unique experience. I want to start writing down the funny things that occur on photo shoots!! Some things may not be funny at the time, but I know some photographer out there somewhere will think they are funny or be able to relate.
So the wedding took place in a chapel where I couldn't take pictures during the ceremony. The reception hall is DARK. The foyers of the chapel are small and the outside of the church is reletively plain with lots of parking lot. It just so happens that some friends of ours own property literally next door to this chapel. There is a huge green field and lots of trees. I had asked in advance if we could go there for pictures and I hoped that it would be mud free!
Right before the wedding, I stopeed by to check on the property one last time. I wanted to scope out the best place for shots, predict where the shadows would be and to see if it was muddy. I walked the length of the field and though it was not muddy it was wet from morning dew. I happened to have on the most comfortable pair of shoes that I own but they are made from very synthetic materials. My shoes and feet got very wet. So wet, that my bare feet felt a bit sloshy inside the plastic materials.
I went over to the church and dried off my feet and the inside of the shoes the best I could with paper towels (darn, there wasn't an air hand dryer). I then proceeded to get my equipment ready to start pictures. My feet remained wet and "cold" the rest of the afternoon! They were still wet and "cold" when I got home that night.
Although I felt good about testing the field and "taking one for the team" by getting my feet all wet I couldn't have possibly forseen all the pitfalls of that location. A couple of shots into it on the field one of the bridesmaids yelled, "Fireants!" DOH!!! She took one (several) for the team too!
One other thing I thought was a bit funny about the day was an older couple who sat on a couch as I took their candid picture. I overhead the woman say to the man, "My goodness! They sure take a lot of photos these days. I wouldn't know what to do with so many photos." I ignored her and took a few more shots of them :).

I don't know how many weddings I want to shoot in the future. My emotions run the gammut while at the event and at home editing. It is kindof a love/hate experience. I have learned aLOT though and I love that aspect! I really wish I had a friend or a brother to shoot weddings with - that would be awesome!!
You can see my wedding photos at www.bethjeppson.blogspot.com :)

Projects

2009-01-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

Theme Thursday for this week is “projects”.
My problem with projects is that I enjoy doing way to many things. I always want to do too much. Now with a new baby I don't have much time at all until the kids go to bed at night and by then I'm exausted. I remember the days when I use to sew. ALOT!. I sewed children's clothing and sold it on ebay. I miss those days a tiny bit. I don't miss the long hours but I miss completing so many projects! There is a sense of accomplishment that comes from the whole process - starting with a design in my head to sending it off in the mail!
This week I did accomplish some small projects.

First of all I've been learning to knit and I've been practicing the cable stitch. I finished this small pillow this week and it now sits on my bed :)

The second thing I finished was this baby toy ball!! IT IS UGLY AND SO FUNNY!!! When I first saw the idea for this I thought it would be SO CUTE. I don't know why I couldn't see how awful it really would be. My husband and I have been laughing at it so hard since I finished it. He told me I should cut it apart and use the stuffing for something else. Instead I think I'll keep it around and let the boys use it as a boxing glove hee heee. I don't know what is more dissappointing - wasting the fabric or wasting my precious time on it. oh well, It hasn't been my first disaster and I'm sure it won't be my last.

As far as photography projects go, I've been spending the last few months reading and practicing how to use my flash better. I've trying to get more serious about taking my photography up a notch so I can make a little more $ at it. Last month I was asked to take pictures at a wedding and then that job landed me another wedding shoot. I was able to upgrade to a much much nicer lens and hopefully soon to a better camera. I don't necessarily want to become a wedding photographer, but it has been good experience and eye opening to what I need to work on!
A photography project I accomplished this week was a self portrait :).

Self Portrait

2009-01-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

Ok. . . . . well, I pretty much cheated on getting a portrait of myself, BY myself.
Stacy's Theme Thursday last thursday was "self portrait". I wanted to do it but didn't make the time - until today. But like I said, I kindof cheated. I made several attempts. I couldn't figure out how to focus on a blank wall and set the timer before I made an entrance. I had my son hit the button on the camera for me but that introduced a lot of camera shake - even on a tripod (I had the center extended up all the way). It was scary the amount of sway that tripod had with my camera, my new (heavy) lens AND the flash. I called it quits and decided to have my hushand take some pictures of me.
Seeing pictures of myself is like hearing my voice on a video - you hear it every time you speak but when you hear it on a video it's almost unrecognizable and awkward. I see myself in the mirror everyday but a photograph of me just looks different and I don't know why.
This was a good practice for me and I know I need to do this more often. I ask people to get in front of my camera all the time - it's nice to know how they feel and what they might be thinking. I need to hand my camera off more often and allow myself to be in the photos too :).
So here is the only one I liked from the pool I shot:

And here is the one my husband took that I liked:

The B&W conversions look best as I'm bouncing my flash off of our "spanish sand" walls and the light casts a yellowish brown tint. yucky - here is the colored one:

A great challenge Stacy - THANKS!

winter wonderland

2009-01-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

We've been having indian summer weather. It is normally rainy and foggy here in January and although we desperately need the rain, I am LOVING the sunshine. It means walking to pick up kids from school and playing at the park on Saturdays. It'e even meant that we get to open up the windows because sometimes it is warmer outside than it is in the house. We are lucky to have a park nearby with lots of fun equipment, lots of grass and trees and shade!
Saturday I got to try out my new lens :) and I got to practice with my flash/fill flash/ and the flash info I've been reading about recently. Again, just practicing. I am learning to appreciate my flash and love it a little bit more. I am all for natural/available light but like I read somewhere - If you have a flash in your camera bag or mounted on your camera then it too becomes available light! Yep - and I'm learning to love that added available light a little more :).
For more theme thursday "winter wonderland" shots go over to Stacy's!

who wants FREE PRINTS???

2008-11-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

And a FREE 8X8 PHOTO book???
go to artscow, sign up as a new member and receive 1200 free prints and a free 8X8 photo book - WOW!!

Persimmons

2008-11-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

I had never heard of persimmons until I moved to California in 1999. Not until this year can I say that I actually like them. I tried them baked in a cookie once. Wasn't a fan. They were turned down at every chance after that. A friend of mine told me that they were delicious dried. She said they were like a peice of candy. That sparked my interest. I love dried fruit and I love candy. Last Thursday one of the Cello teachers gave me seven persimmons. (The variety not used for cooking) They were pretty good. So today I got around to drying some :). I won't lie. They don't taste like candy when dried. But they are pretty darn good. I'm glad I tried them again. Now I'm looking to ease the burden of an overloaded persimmon tree.
Here are my efforts:

Umbrella

2008-11-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite from a photo shoot today - We weren't even planning on the umbrella. She happened to pull it out of her bag and, WOW - it worked!!

The Nursery

2008-11-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why it took me three babies to get into the whole "decorate the nursery" mode. It could be that we lived in apartments, didn't have the $ or the fact that this is my first girl AND we have a spare bedroom. Kindof. The "spare room" was my sew/computer/storage/make a mess room.
After months of finding other places for my sewing, computer and messy stuff, we finally had the room ready for painting, new closet doors, finishing the base boards and a crib!
I made the crib bumper, quilt and ruffle and added a touch of matching fabric to the already existing curtains. I LOVE the quilt. I started with a yard of blue euro floral fabric that I had and started adding prints to it. I cut random sized strips and added a wider border and backed it with a soft pink minky. I hand quilted it :).
When I was at Babies R Us registering for baby items I ran across the Jungle Luv nursery decor and I couldn't believe how the colors matched my fabrics EXACTLY!! So of course I had to have the little mobile and lamp!!
Recently on eBay I found sellers who were selling matching hand made Jungle Luv accessories. After a bit of thought I realized I could do the same. I purchased a roll of Jungle Luv wallpaper border and made some matching wall hangings.
There are a few more things I want to do for the nursery. I want to cover a cork board with fabric and batting somehow, but am not sure how to do that yet.

Stacking Bowls

2008-11-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

I swiped these from my Dad's house during a visit a while back. He had just finished a ceramic making frenzy and dared show me his wares. I took the liberty of staking my claim on a few - or rather a stack. They add a touch of decor yet are super functional.

Aquarium

2008-11-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

A quick trip this weekend to Monterey to see the aquarium again. These little jellies are my favorite thing there. Just like the flames of a campfire or the rolling ocean waves, I can watch them for hours.
Next Spring the aquarium will feature Sea Horses. I can't wait to them!

Theme Thursday - Create

2008-10-30T11:10:00.001-07:00

I tried all week to think of something I could create with my photography - it just didn't happen. I tried my hand at a bit of creative photoshopping but that doesn't come easily for me. So I did what did come easy for me - I created something with my sewing machine :)
First I finished my pair of wool mitten/warmers from cut up old wool sweaters. They are lined with fleece and are the warmest things ever- I probably won't need them here in CA, but they are oh so cute!

Then I made a pair of little baby shoes. Since I needed them to match something I took a dress I bought from The Children's Place recently and added some fabric flower appliques and buttons. A matching hat would be cute too - perhaps later. The dress alone was simply too plain but it was on clearance and I knew I could add something to the skirt to liven it up!
I love the way this turned out :)
Here is the plain dress -

And here it is dolled up -

And the little shoes. Well actually just one shoe. I still have to finish the second one :0)

I bought the mary jane shoe pattern from THIS etsy shop. They took a bit of time but I learned a lot of adjustments I want to do for next time. I want to add interfacing to make the shoes hold their shape better, and an elastic strap across the top to hold them on her little foot better. I also want to add peice of that stiff stuff you can add to hat brims, I can't think of the name of it right now, to the sole of the foot. It is flexible but stiff enough to help it keep it's shape.

Fall in Ithaca

2008-10-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

Theme Thursday - Storyteller

2008-10-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here is my story for theme Thursday
This week I returned home from Ithaca New York from a visit with six of my seven sisters! We try to do a get-together yearly. Each year we have a sister's exchange amongst ourselves. Sometimes we give things that we have sewn or crafted. This year I offered a photo shoot and my sister with a five month old boy ended up with my gift. I took some pictures of him on Sunday while I was still there and I'm so happy with the way they turned out! The colors there are AMAZING!!!!
Here are two of the pictures I took:

So then later that night I saw the pictures that another sister had taken - pictures of ME taking the pictures. I've never seen pictures of me taking pictures before and I laughed so hard!

This last picture shows my subject, my helpers and a tiny bit of me - a total behind the scenes shot of the cute pictures above.

I heart quilting

2008-10-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

It must have been about three years ago that I put this quilt top together. I had no purpose for making the quilt except for a fun place to preserve some of my favorite fabric scraps. My local quilt shop offered this particular quilt class and so I thought I would splurge and actually pay for some quilt tutoring. It was FUN! I learned a lot in the short time I was there. Unfortunately I didn't complete the whole top in class, hence the three years later still trying to get it finished.
This past weekend I got it stretched out on a quilt frame so I could baste the three layers together. Now I have it ready to hand quilt which may take another three years. Hand quilting takes so much time but I actually enjoy it. I can take it with me in the car on long trips and I can quilt while watching tv or movies at home. I havn't been able to justify forking out the $80 or $90 to have it quilted for me and can't even fork out the $100 for a walking foot for my sewing machine. So for now it will be hand quilting for me.

Quilting is something that I could really get into. I love peicing beautiful fabrics together and creating quilt designs. I love the way the stitches and fabric pucker up together when it's completed. It seems to be an expensive hobby and very time consuning too. Hmm, maybe that's why all my quilts are taking several years to complete and why I resort to hand quilting. Even so, I love it.

If Disaster Strikes!

2008-10-05T21:08:00.001-07:00

No one is safe from a natural disaster! In fact most of us live in an area that is prone to one type or another. ARE YOU PREPARED if a disaster were to strike?!?
A few years ago I assembled a basic 72 hour emergency preparedness kit. This kit holds the essentials that my family would need to survive for three days. If we had to evacuate our home quickly we would grab this and go. Inside are things such as a change of clothes, food, water and basic first aid supplies. Ideally you should take out your kit every six months or so and update the food and clothing sizes and anything else that needs to be swapped out.

Well this was the weekend I had set aside for this little project. We pulled out the dusty old duffle bags from the garage and pulled out all the old clothes and things that have been crammed in them for so long. I sorted everything out in piles of what still fits and what needs to be replaced, took out the old food (if you rotate this often enough you can eat it over the weekend and not have to throw it out for it going stale). Then I made lists of what food items need to be purchased, what items the kids needed and we went shopping for it all.
It takes a bit of work but when it's all finshed, packed up tight and put back in the garage in an "easy to grab" spot, IT FEELS SO GOOD!!! I always hope I'll never have to actually use the kit but it is security knowing it is there!

A few tips and things I learned this time around. Dry soups and dried fruit and jerky are much lighter than canned! We have been weighing our packs down with canned stuff - NO MORE!
We were given a large plastic garbage barrel on wheels from a family member and this makes a nice place to pack a lot of stuff. It will easily fit into the back of the van or if we had to walk with it somewhere (oh please I hope this never happens) we could wheel it.
Thrift stores are great places to find warm coats and things for the kids that hopefully they won't ever have to use. I don't like packing away their nice stuff.
I was thinking this weekend that while the whole topic of disaster and preparedness is on the brain it would be a good time to go over evacuation plans with the kids if ever there was a fire etc..
So I'm wondering. . . do you have a family plan in case of emergency? What do you have in place in case of emergency?

Multiples - Theme Thursday

2008-10-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

If you would have told me ten years ago that I would have two children taking cello lessons and ME conducting their practices each morning I would have told you you were NUTS! However, that is what it's come to. It is definately a committment! One it seems I have to recommit to each day I load up the boys, the baby, the cello and the cello stool for lessons. I have to recommit each time we start practices early in the morning and especially each time I write out the check for lessons.
Now if you were to tell me that I will put the baby in music lessons in a few years I might not say that you were nuts but I'd definately say that I was!
Here is a Multiples shot for Theme Thursday. It is taken at the recital indoors with flash - Yucky - but I liked the composition. I added a vintage action to tone down the flash effects.