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!