Show-N-Tell & A Sale Announcement!

It's time for another show-n-tell! I have been working pretty hard and not leaving much time for blogging. I've cut back on TV viewing & Facebook surfing- my 2 biggest time wasters. Instead I've completed several projects and read a book or 2. :)

2012 Planners
I've completed 2 planners for 2012. One is for myself (mermaid cover) and the other is a gift (bird cover). The planner has daily, weekly, and monthly sections, coloring pages, and journal prompts. The book is more of a journal/planner all in one kind of thing. I made the covers and hope to do a tutorial for that soon. They turned out great!

Thanksgiving Banners
I've finished my glue batik banners. They turned out really nice and I think I need to make something for every holiday now!

Ahhh Hexi's
I've completed my second and third hexagons in the series and am working on the 2nd version of the 3rd hexagon. I haven't started the 4th hexagon yet and might not get to it for a bit since it's very detailed. I really enjoy making these! Want to make your own? Hop on over HERE to learn how.

Fall Leaf Garland
I also made a very simple fall leaf garland from felt, cut into leaf shapes, and yarn, sewn through the center of the leaves. This was a quick and easy project and fits perfectly on my kitchen hutch!

Cloth Diapers
Most of my time recently has been taken up working on my cloth diaper business. I've got a new fitted diaper pattern (actually I wrote about it back in July and had Jameson test it for me). I've been working hard at gathering supplies and equipment so I can grow my business. I purchased a KAM snap press , a couple different PUL diaper fabrics, and some microfiber soaker cloths, plus some organic bamboo velour. I hope to get the new diapers listed soon!

 

A Sale Announcement!
I'll be having a sale starting Black Friday (11/25/11) all the way through Cyber Monday (11/28/11). Get 25% off in both my shops using coupon code Santa25.

Have fun shopping! I'll be doing some online shopping too, looking for some good deals and hopefully finding that perfect gift!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Ornaments

I've been a busy bee lately working up some fun felt and crocheted ornaments. I'll be keeping some and giving the rest away as gifts but I won't tell who is getting what as I'm not sure if any of the recipients read this. :)

5 Felt Birds- 3 Cardinals & 2 Snowbirds

Close Up of the Birds

Felt Gingerbread House

Felt Matryoshka Doll

Crocheted Gold Stat Ornaments

Close Up of the Star

My Sewing Room

I always love seeing other peoples craft spaces and sewing rooms and I thought I'd share mine with you. My husband and I are in the planning phase of making some built in bookshelves with a counter top and a cutting center that will stretch onto 2 walls of my sewing room. The hope is for a more efficient space with tons of extra storage. We'll be doing a few small projects around the house Thanksgiving weekend that will help prep for the new changes and I'm super excited to get started. New paint, new shelves, new sewing space. Ahhhh! I can't wait!

But for now this is my sewing room (which is only a 10'x13' room)...


My sewing table and writting/computer desk which faces the window that looks out into our back yard.



To the left of the writting desk are my shelves full of current projects and a little of this and a little of that. My dressform, which is fully dressed, and a small bookshelf fill in the extra space.



The opposite wall from my sewing table is my vanity which holds my yarn and thread collection along with my hair and make-up stuff (no outlet or space in the bathroom so it has to go here). The small shelf next to it has my extra sewing machines, shipping supplies, sewing books, business books, etc.

 

To the right of the sewing table is my design cork board, ironing board, and a small storage closet.



Inside the storage closet I have all my ready to ship inventory, sewing patterns, hand dying stuff, quilt batting, more boxes of stuff, etc.



This is the basement fabric storage area. Most of my fabric is here on mini-bolts.


And before you ask... I'm in between projects which is why my sewing room is so clean. ;)

Perfectly Imperfect

I recently read a really great post over at SimpleMom.net about how it's ok to not be perfect, to not have it all together. So I thought I'd fess up too and let you in on some of the stuff I don't do.

• I don't dress nice everyday. In fact, today I never changed clothes after my morning yoga session.
• I don't wear make up or do my hair. Occasionally I do or when I feel like I need something extra but it's definitely not every day!
• I don't clean the house daily or even weekly. It gets cleaned about once every 2 weeks (vacuum, dust, mop, bathrooms, etc). Clutter, on the other hand, gets dealt with on a daily basis, if not it goes in my 'in-box' to deal with as soon as possible. Clutter and cleaning are 2 different things in my book. :)
• I don't exercise regularly. I'm really trying to remedy this but having a toddler in the house is not conducive to exercising in a timely manner. lol
• I don't run errands as often as I should. It's exhausting to shop with a toddler who screams that he's 'stuck' at the top of his lungs when you buckle him in the cart while getting dirty looks from the other shoppers. Not fun.
• I don't do dishes… much. Throughout the day dishes get tossed in the sink (that's my only rule… dishes must go in the sink). At the end of the day I rinse them off & stick them in the dishwasher. Sometimes I don't even rinse. Handwashing, such as the big pots and pans, usually sit until I have a nice big stack, making it worth my time to wash them all at once.
• I don't make my bed, or the kids beds. The only time they get made is when fresh sheets get put on (which I do weekly) and then the bed gets jumped on almost immediately… gotta love those toddlers!
• I don't make Ian's school lunches anymore. I used to when he first started going to school, then he came home to be homeschooled to get him over a hump (that's another thing I don't do anymore… homeschool) and this year I applied and qualified for reduced lunch costs so I don't have to make his lunch at home anymore. This makes my morning routine SO much easier!
• And lastly, I don't feel guilty for not doing these things!

So what about you?! I'd love to hear about the things that you don't do that make you perfectly imperfect!

Something for Me: The Walk Away Dress

I wrote about this earlier in the week. I'm really trying to update my wardrobe with new, pretty, and vintage style clothes.

This pattern actually has a little history behind it. It was first printed in 1952 by Butterick. It was so popular that they shut down the production of all other patterns until they caught up on this one. I actually wrote more about this in my Pattern Drafting Series: A Historical Timeline.

I love, love, love this dress! It was fairly simple to put together although the skirt hemming and binding was time consuming and it uses almost 5 yards of fabric... but you gotta love that circle skirt! It's very twirly, girly, and flirty. ;)

 And for those curious... here's the most recent face behind the shops/blog/sewing machine!

Show 'N Tell

Good grief! A whole 'nother week has blown by without me writing a blog post! I've been in a funk, I guess, and no amount of scheduling is making me want to blog right now. I'm not sure why! So, I guess I'll just be posting here and there until things are better.



Today I wanted to show off some things I've completed recently and other things that are near to being complete. Not blogging as often is sort of a good thing in the craft room… I'm not being stretched in as many directions and I'm trying to do some deep focusing, which means I'm getting a good many things completed on my sewing to-do list!

Hexagon Wall Hanging

I'd been hand sewing all these little hexagons together for some time and to be perfectly honest I was sick of the fabric. The pattern wasn't coming together like I wanted and I was tired of fussing with it. So I said enough was enough, quilted it, bound it, put some loops on it, & hung it on my wall. Ah, much better!

Scarf

This was another of those 'I just want it done already' projects. I guess it didn't help that my toddler ripped my knitting needles out of the project at one point and unraveled part of it. I got the needles back in but had trouble getting the pattern to match back up, so I bound off the part I got done and used the extra yarn to make 2 crocheted granny squares for the ends. It's definitely different but I like the look and I'm so glad the project is off my list!

Christmas PJ Pants

I decided that my boys and I will have matching PJ pants this Christmas. My husband is not included in the 'boys' part of this project. He wouldn't be caught dead in something other then plain or plaid fabric. lol I don't have a completed picture but they are all done! I made the patterns myself by copying existing pants onto wrapping paper and adding seam allowances. I have some extra flannel left over that I *might* get the chance to making into a simple lap quilt before it gets warm again.

Ahhhh Hexi's

If you're not familiar with this Sew-Along, hop on over and check it out! I've completed my first star hexagon and have started working on my second one. It's nice to sit and hand sew on these and listen to the radio or a book on tape/cd.

Thanksgiving Banners

I've started a couple of Glue-batik banners. I found the instructions on Pinterest (my guilty pleasure). More on this at a later date when they are finished and I know how well it works… or not.

The Walk Away Dress

Lastly, I bought myself some vintage sewing patterns. I'm hoping to 'update' my wardrobe. I'm a fanatic for rockabilly although I have as yet to show it on the outside. I decided I need to make a few changes in a few ways awhile ago and honestly I'm tired of trying to fit into other peoples idea of what I should be and do and wear. So there you go, maybe that's why I've not been blogging much, I've been too introspective lately. Anyways, more pics when it's done!

I have a couple other things I've been working on but I will hold off on talking about them until they are done. Hope you all have a great week!