Another Swap!

I was so sad I had to miss the Christmas Swap with our big move back West and all the holiday activities. So I am jumping back in!

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I entered this giveaway. I have twins that would love something like this (I'm thinking Christmas presents) so I'm hoping for the PDF of the pattern!!!

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

A Monday Worth Going to Work for

So overall I'm having a pretty good morning. Yesterday I completed my first 5K. I (a self pronounced no-runner) have been diligently training for the past 2.5 months. I found a great weekly podcast to download for my Nano and it has taken me from barely being able to run for 90 seconds at a time to jogging an entire 5K. This was a major task for myself as I am a woman of rounder proportions. Yet I was determined to set this goal for myself and acheive it! I've really surprised myself at what I was able to accomplish. On top of that I had some trully amazing friends and family support me all the way. I feel so incredibly proud in the fact that I made others proud in my accomplishments. Special thanks to my loving sisters, two of which successfully completed a HALF MARATHON!!! just last weekend. They were with me all the way and many times when I didn't feel like getting out to train I would think about having to tell them and it'd would motovate me out the door. My thrid sister who was at the race with me and her lovely family yesterday cheering, hugging, praying, and snapping pictures of me. My wonderful friend Jen who is a maranthon runner came out and ran the race with me. I know it had to be hard for her because I am sure i was turtling in comparison to the way she runs. Yet she stayed with me and kept me going step by step. I love that girl. Finally to my own family. My 4 year old twins running to give me a great hug at the finish line and my wonderful husband for telling and really making me feel like he was proud of me. I am hoping that I am starting to set a good example for my little ones. They were a major reason why I did this. I know they are far too young to understand the significance but I hope it plants a seed in their little minds.
So I head in to work today expecting a typical Monday. Well about a half hour ago a coworker comes in with a bag of fabric. In it was some amazing vintage bark cloth and old flour sacks. She said her neighbor had a garage sale and she was getting rid of her mothers old stuff. This wonderful co-worker ended up buying a bin of this miscellaneous cloth and went in and took the stuff she was interested in out. She is giving me the rest of the fabrics to me to do with as I desire. She brought in a sample of the fabric and I just about died of excitement. I am so sad I didn't bring my camera with me but as soon as I go home I'll snap some pics and share my finds! Until then have a great day! I know I will!

Another project for the books

I bought a pattern for the SWEET AND SASSY PLEATED HANDBAG last year from artsy-craft babe on etsy. Thus far I have made one of these for my Mom and my MIL. I adore this pattern. It is easy and well written. It also makes for a fabulous bag at the end. I need to make one for myself.

Well mom had hers since November and asked me for something more summery. I gave her some fabric swatch choices and she picked some lovely fabric from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden Collection. I pulled out some extra red fabric I already hand in my stash and whipped this up. I really like how it came out and I'm sure mom will be happy with her new purse. Now it is on to the three (yes three) nursing civers I am making for pregnant friends (with matching burp cloths) and the I Love Lucy Apron swap I entered. Ahhh. the joys of project sewing! I already recieved my apron fabric and picked what style I'll be making. I hope my partner will enjoy it!

It's Been Too Long

Too long since I blogged of course. Not that I haven't been sewing. I just haven't been posting since I finished my daughters lovely princess dress. I will also admit that my sewing did slow down a bit. There was some vacations followed by my husband travelling and some other things that just kept me from my machine. Now I am starting to get back in to the swing of things yet again. I have three nursing covers with matching burp cloths to make, a summer purse I am half way through for my mom, and a couple of bean bag chairs I have in the works as presents for my twins birthday in Sept.

With that I decided to sighn up for another Apron Swap. I so enjoyed receiving my Apron the last time so decided to give it a try again. I will be aprticipating in the below

I'm very excited because I do like retro stuff and I believe this may lend itself to something fun and retro. So take a peek and sign up if you are interested!

I will be posting more things and I complete them so stay tuned!

New project in the works

I am set on a new project. It's a piece for my sister and a little late coming. It had meant to be a birthday present but her birthday was January 24th so just a wee bit off. She new I had the Princess Dress project going so as soon as I got home from San Diego I was able to start. Not putting too much in case she may come across this blog. The piece was taken from Amy Butler's "In Stitches" book. Can't wait until it is finished.

I'm Back....sorta

It's done! I'm done. It's a success! I finally finished the princess Aurora dress for my little Bizz with a week to spare before our vacation. I can't wait to see her at Disneyland when she meets the Princesses. When she saw the dress she was ecstatic. It made it all worth the while. This thing was an advanced pattern in my mind. It was a bear but I am so happy with result. I learned a lot while making this pattern and I am so glad I gave myself plenty of time to make it. Here are a few pics of the littlest princess of the family. Nest stop, beautiful San Diego for 10 days!!!

I've gone into hiding

Not really....but sorta. I am in the process of putting together a Sleeping Beauty dress for my own little princess. I found the pattern on EBay as it is no longer available anywhere else. I loved this pattern as it looks just like the one Aurora wears in the cartoon. This March we'll be going to Disneyland for the first time and I want her to have something special she could wear. She is big into dress, big into princess and when I showed her a picture... she went bonkers. I just couldn't bring myself to buy the poorly made stuff in the stores. I've seen what people pay for this stuff and then how quickly and easily it gets trashed.  The only thing is this sucker is a bear to make. Not hard per se just very detailed and lots of pieces to cut out over 30+ when all is said and done. Yet I am on a site where people have finished the product and they all say the detail on this thing makes it al worth it when it is said and done. So, in between working and caring for my family I try to get in as much sewing as possible. I just hope I can finish it in time!

What Have I Gotten Myself Into???

It came! It came! Can you imagine my excitement when I walked into the house yesterday and saw a lovely little package sitting on the counter with my name on it? I had a few things on order that I've been waiting for but this one seemed to be just the right size for a beautiful apron to be sitting in. I had a quick 15 minutes before I had to get the kids into the car for soccer class but I knew I had to open and see what goodie was waiting for me! I was so excited when I opened my box to find my lovely apron. The colors are not conventional V-Day but I love them! My favorite, my absolute favorite thing about this apron is that she made the ties extra long so I can actually pull the around and tie in the front the way I always see. I just love it and now I am hooked on swaps! I may never be able to stop!

Isn't it just lovely? My lovely partner can be found here at her blog . Please visit her and tell her what a lovely job she did. She made me an apron I love and that makes me feel pretty. So far all the aprons I've made have been for other people. It's really nice to have someone make one for you. It's even better have have it look so nice on you. I think I look pretty good in my new apron, don't you? I just love the band on the bottom cut on the bias to give it just a little flounce. My husband even had something to say. He likes the "green dingleberries" on the bottom.

Of course the good didn't end there. In my box of apron loveliness sat sparkly shimmery nail polishes to match my apron. Those were promptly scooped up by my 3 year old daughter who hasd an unnatural obsession with nail polishes. One lovely weekly menu planner that was opened and placed immediately on my fridge. I'm hoping this will help get us organized and stop the "What's for dinner" and subsequent trip to eat out. Next was one lovely packet of mini emery boards in a matchbook cover. I just love this becuase I was always, repeat always breaking or chipping a nail. That's easy to do with twins who are forever asking you to open something . So these will surely be a life (or at least nail) saver for sure. Lastly but not least was a box of Ferrer Roche chocolates in a flavor I have not seen. I can't wait to get home today to try one out! Ideally I should have taken a picture of all my goodies together but since my home is like living with a pack of wolves, all the stuff was pulled out before I could think to take the picture. All I'm saying is that the box of chocolate had better be untouched when I get home today! :)

Take A Look

If you get a chance take a look at Sherry Etsy Shop. She has some wonderful vintage like pieces in her shop. My favorite is the Unique Pincusion as shown below.

Drumroll please......

So as I have mentioned I entered into my first swap as noted by my lovely and prominent tag above. Well I am pleased to say that I finished and mailed out my package today! I can't wait until my partner opens it up. My only hope is that she loves it as much as I do. It's a little "out of the box" when it comes to a Valentine's Apron. The words evoke thoughts of pink, red, black, white. This blasts that out of teh park and that's partially why I love it. When I saw this fabric I had to have it. I tell you it was very hard giving this baby up. It just makes me happy and smile just looking at it. I really think I'll be ordering more of this fabric and making a repeat as I love it so much I feel it must be a part of my own collection.
(pay no attention to the awful model. She does no justice to the apron!)

Homeward Bound

Another great giveaway has been put together. It is for a free apron from Vicky's-My Mom Would Be Proud's Etsy Shop.

When you get a chance take a look around at the shop. She has some very cute fabrics. My personal favorite is the Rock Around the Clock. 

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So I am once again home bound. My daughter decided to practice her Linda Blair moves yesterday and thus we had a stay home. The day was spent relatively uneventful. We had no more puking incidents and we thought we were home free. About half an hour after putting daughter to bed we her her plaintive cries. She had thrown up in her bed which required a full stripping and washing of her bed and pajamas and a 3rd bath for the day. We made a little bed for her next to ours and she slept soundly enough. Too soundly because the girl snores  like a trucker! In any case it required that I once again stay home from work.

An added benefit to this is that I have been able to get a jump on my Swap partners apron. I

 received my fabric in the mail on Tuesday. I spent yesterday washing, pressing, and cutting out the pattern during nap time.   This is part of the Sassy/Flirty Apron Swap . It is a Valentines day swap and I decided to go with something fun and unexpected. I saw this fabric and fell in

 love with it. It's even better looking in person. I can't wait to sew this baby together and see the finished product. I really hope that my partner will like it.

One of the great things about this swap is the little gifts they keep giving away. I was so excited to learn that I had been a winner of one of these giveaways. I won some lovely heart shaped cookie cutters. I've been trying to expand my cookie cutter stash as I have wanted to get more into cookie baking now that the twins are getting older and enjoy doing things like this. So these will be welcomed gifts! 

Give-Away from The Apronista!

2009 brings so many new and fun things. If you love Aprons (and you really should) then you should join "The Apronista". They are hosting their first giveaway of the year. A lovely apron from The Hip Hostess. These are some seriously gorgeous aprons (see pic) so if you are interested in siging up for the giveaway follow me to "The Apronista" blog for more details. Aprons = Happiness!

A Slideshow of My Year In Crafting

I got this idea from Life is a Musical.

I hope you enjoy as much as I enjoyed remembering what I created in the 6 months since I've begun sewing.

A few gifts I put together the past few weeks

In between the large apron order I was doing for my girlfriend, a few birthdays and such came around. My MIL's birthday was right after Thanksgiving. We hadn't gotten her anything and so I offered to make her a purse. My husband was all for it since we were looking to get her something different this year. I picked the pattern up from Artsy-Crafty Babe . This is the second purse I have made. The prototype was made for my mom but I forgot to get pictures in my excitement at having it turn our so well. It's the perfect size and fits and stays nicely on the shoulder. My mom is already thinking of a spring purse and I have a few people putting an order in after the holidays. The result ended in this lovely number.

Two weeks ago we were invited to a friend's house to see their new place and have dinner. As a gift to the wife I pulled together a half apron from my stash of fabric. I used the pattern from my newly acquired, A is for Apron book. 

The book has some great apron choices and I think this turned out lovely with the fabric I choose. The hostess is an itty bitty thing so I made the ties a little longer so that she could bring them round and tie them in the front. I hope she liked it. I can't wait to try some of the other patterns.

A few weeks ago my niece had her birthday. Well, her actual birthday is on Christmas so her mom usually has a party two weeks before the actual day so it doesn't get all mixed up in the holiday. I had bought this pattern from SewSpoiled and was dying to give it a try. The purse I ended up 

 was a slightly bigger version of the mini Ladybug purse. You can see I  used some of the same fabrics as the apron as she liked 

same colors. This purse really made a cute impression with anyone. It was fairly easy and it's a wonderful purse to make for a special little girl in your life. This pattern has the option of a top zipper or a side zipper. I went for the side zipper and it definitely added a nice different twist to it. I can't wait to make the larger version of this purse which is a large over the shoulder style. 

I am so excited to be taking part in my first apron swap. I can't wait to get started and find out my partner and begin the process. I came across this on The Apronista website I am a member. If you are interested click on this link: http://sassyflirtyapronswap.blogspot.com

 I have a feeling this will be a good year for my sewing. I am hoping that as I sew more projects my knowledge will increase. Project #1 this year will be to make the twins some robes. I'll be starting those within the next few days. I will post pictures as I get going. My SIL has also requested a purse like the one I made my MIL so I'll be searching for fabric for that soon.  I hope everyone had a great New Year's! Here to a great 2009!