New Fabric/New Find Friday #58

Last week we had pink fabrics and this week...blue and brown. These are more fabrics I picked up a few weeks ago and I already have plans for one of them. It is always nice to find fabrics that I like that are not as bright and bold so that people who like more muted colors find something they like as well.

The brown fabric on the left with the swirls is fun and very neutral. I was drawn to it because of the neutral pallet and because of the spirals on the brown background. I think is is subtle with out being boring which is key for some women when breastfeeding. It could also make a cute apron...sort of a modern look to a retro color combination. The second fabric is great because it appears to be neutral in color but at the same time still a bit feminine because of the print. You could wear this as a cover having a boy or girl because it is not about what the baby is but about the fact that you are the one wearing it. It does do a great job of being a fun fresh pattern for any Mom but especially for a Mom of boys if she want to have more blue and less pink in her "baby gear". The third fabric is just a little mini-print that reminds me of eyes, eye shaped with a contrasting pupil. I think this will be great as a paring for an apron. Simple but can add some interest to an apron where needed, sort of like how a dot would be but even more subtle.

These fabrics are all a bit different but I sort of like how they look stacked together. I already have plans for fabric #2 so be on the look out for that.

We are enjoying a little snow shower here and I just hope our power does not go out, we have had it go off and on a few times tonight. Stay warm and enjoy the flakes!

TWO Blog Awards In One Week!

I have yet to receive a blog award in the two years since I have been doing this and then received two different ones in one week!!!

I received the "7 Facts Blog Award" from Cathy at Fically Chic who I talked about Here, thanks again Cathy and the "Stylish Blogger Award" from Kristina from The Happy Mother that also asks for 7 random facts about myself. Since working on projects takes longer than I would like and I have nothing craft related to show you today I thought this would be a perfect day to "accept" these awards and share. 

I still want to keep this blog mostly about crafts and my tiny business so I thought I would share 7 random CRAFT/SEWING facts with you about me. Hope this isn't too boring and if nothing else check out the pictures, some will make you laugh, or at least they make me laugh. 

Here are the rules:

~Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award
~Share seven things about yourself
~Award some recently discovered great bloggers
~Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

1) I have been asked to make all kinds of things, most of which you have seen here. One that I never had a chance to follow through on was to repair antique priest vestments at our parish Church. That is just as well because I was scared I would ruin them.
2) I learned to sew in jr high, we had a sewing class and I loved it. I chose my high school because it was the only all girl school that offered a sewing class, silly I know. I never actually took the class because I was too busy taking art classes to help me prepare for college. They got rid of the class when I was graduating and were selling the machines, so I bought one, I think it was like $100 with the table. That is what I still use today to sew everything.

3) I used to make clothes for my Barbie doll. I wasn't very good so they ended up just looking like tube dresses or tube tops or bottoms.

4) From a young age my Mom taught me how to sew buttons on clothes, from then on my Dad would ask me to sew his loose buttons on his shirts and pants. I wonder if my Mom had an ulterior motive so she didn't have to do it. Or maybe it was because he could get me to get it done faster than asking her.
5) My husband likes to wear bow ties once in a while and they are so hard to find locally under $50.00. Not a lot of stores seam to carry them so I have decided to make him some when I have time. I might even use his Dad's old ties for a vintage look.

6) Craft hoarder: that's me! I can't pass up a sale or a new craft item. My husband has warned me to stop. This business is my excuse to buy more with the hope and intention of making thing to sell or give as gifts. Note the picture below is only half of the room and the reason why my stuff is all over is because we are finishing the basement, all of this will have an organized home down there soon. I promise we don't always live like this (it is actually driving both of us crazy but we laughed because we totally look like hoarders).

7) I have a not so secret obsession with quilts and quilting. I made a quilt for a friends wedding about 6 years ago and really loved doing it and ever since then have wanted to make more. About a year after that wedding I started making a tee shirt quilt from my high school tee shirts. I want to make more quilts but won't let myself until I finish this one. All I have to do is bind it....why can't I just force myself to do it?!

 

I pass this along to a few of my blogging friends (I do not blame you if you don't want to accept and pass along just thought I would pass the love). :)

A Chase After Wind

(Half) Full Glass of Cab

Horn Action

 i heart...

Oh no! I really do need to eat my vegetables!

soileauspot

This Is Not Made Up

 

Check out these great blogs. :)

Thank you!

I have a few friends who have recently started blogs and I love to read blogs, especially friend's blogs. A friend of mine Cathy who now lives in Chicago has a blog and she did a feature on me Friday. We met through a young adult group called Christian Life while she lived in St. Louis. It was really nice of her to offer to feature me on her blog to promote my new Etsy site. She interviewed me and did a great job of pulling images from the blog and Etsy for the post.

Please go check it out HERE and check out other posts on her blog. She writes about all sorts of things, cooking, running, fashion and money. She is an accountant so she talks often about how to deal with money but also has cute posts about cupcakes and shoes.

THANK YOU CATHY!

New Fabric/New Find Friday #57

Here are some cute pink fabrics just perfect for the week of Valentine's Day. I found these fabrics while staking out the fabric store before Baby Bee was born. I found so many great deals while I was there, you have seen these deals the past few weeks and you will see more in the weeks to come.

I had great plans for the two pink fabrics on the left if we had a girl but instead I will be using these for some future projects for others who have girls.

The fabric on the far left reminds me of Valentine's day...I love the combination of the pink and red with the pop of white. Won't this be great for a baby blanket? Or maybe even for a cute apron trim? The pink solid fabric is going to be great for fillers once I start making quilts.

I am really in love with the Christmas fabric, it is so whimsical and does not scream Christmas as much as a red and green Christmas fabrics. I have a friend who loves purple and decorates her tree with purple and I think this fabric would be something that she would love. I can see this being a table runner or some cute little ornaments for the tree.

I hope your week has been great and that you enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend, a nice warm up from the fridge few weeks we have all be having with piles and piles of snow.

Valentines Day and Blog Love

Valentines day is one of those days that I think is a great time to tell people how much you appreciate them. I have not had time this year but I love sending out valentines, just to remind my friends that I appreciate them. Today I would love to tell all of you how much I appreciate you: my friends and blog readers. I don't really know how many of you read this but I know some of you do and I glad to know that I am not just talking to myself.


I am also thankful for my husband who with his broken ankle is home and can help with baby bee while I get sewing and business items done. I started my Etsy page and finally added content to my products page because etsy makes it so easy. Go check it out above. I hope to get new things and custom listing up to make it easier for you to order from me.


Well I love all of my family and I am happy to have all of you. To pass on the love please look at the list of blogs I read "My Blog List" on the right and go give them some love.


Last but not least eat some chocolate.

New Fabric/New Find Friday #56

I don't know if I would call this a new find but it is new to me. A year ago or so I was told that getting a photography light box might be a good idea to take pictures of my items. I figured that maybe I would get one one day but did not really look into it. I decided a few months ago that maybe I could make one and it might help with the pictures. 

So I looked on the internet to find out how to make one and it seemed pretty easy. I decided I was going to do it,  I would make my own and if it worked, great and if it didn't, oh well. So there is my finished light box above in the daylight and below is my finished light box in use. I am sure that the light bulb that I am using is not the correct photography light bulb and the same probably goes for the paper I used-which is poster board. I think it affects the color of the light in the box- as does my camera affect the color but I have not yet learned how to change it on my camera.

I thought the box was going to be big enough for my items but as it turns out it might not be as big as I was thinking. It will work well for my sachets and maybe burp cloths but really it is best used for smaller items like the scissors that I tried out above. I noticed if the item is too big then you will see the side seems. I am sure I could touch them up in photoshop but I have not tried that yet.

Here is a closeup of the item in the box, the color is more even than if I did not place it in the box but I think the color looks a little pink to me. I am not sure how to change the white balance on my camera, right now it is on auto white balance, I think that might help. Well it is a good start and cost me nothing so I will keep it for my smaller items.

Etsy Debut

Well as I promised many many times I have finally started my etsy store. I created it last year and my goal was to post items on it this year and let everyone know about it. I worked on it a bit these past few days and have finally posted some items over the weekend.

The first items that I posted were the scarves that I showed you on Monday. I also posted custom onesies with matching leggings. I have a few more items that I hope to get posted over the next few weeks. Not only items that I have already made but some new items. We will see how much time I have, it has gotten harder these few weeks to get things finished, not only because I have a newborn but my husband broke his ankle. That means that all three of us hang out around the house all day and night and I have to help both of them! The bonus is that my husband can hold the baby while I work, but the bad part is that we share a computer and he has business items he needs to do as well, so it is a fight over the use of the computer.

Anyway enough talking please go check out my etsy site HERE and tell your friends about it. Not only do I hope to have more items posted on etsy I also still hope to have a paypal payment page here on the blog so there are several ways for you to order items.

It will happen, positive thinking.

Ruffled Scarves

This project has been a long time coming. I started working on these scarves a few years ago and I have finally had some time...or made time to finish them. It was just another one of my nesting projects that I finished before the baby was born. It feels so good to get something finished so I can move on to something else and move it out of the house.

These pictures were literally taken the night before I went into the hospital to have my baby...still blows me away how driven I was then to get things finished (one month ago). Anyway this is just one of the three colors of scarves that I made and I made several of each color. This one is grey and then I have khaki and teal colored ones, more to come on those later. The fabric is two toned and I left the edges raw which I think adds to the fun of the ruffles and lets the two colors of thread peak out.

I love the personality they they have, adding drama and fun. They would be great to dress up a solid color top or add some drama to your winter coat. I think they would also look great pinned together with a cute little vintage or new pin, as the image above shows.
I started with these more neutral colored scarves but I have some colored fabric that I need to cut into. They might be a long time coming but hopefully while I am home before I have to go back to work.

New Fabric/New Find Friday #55

I picked up these fabrics at the same time as I got the fabrics that I showed you last week. Those seemed to be a bit more masculine and these are a bit more feminine, lots of PINK!

Again I could not get this picture to post correctly, not sure what is going on, I even took the picture the correct way. Anyway...I love the sweet fabric at the top it reminds me of a vintage bed sheet, oranges and yellows and pinks all combined together. The next one down is a very classical interlocking circle pattern with pink diamonds in between the circles. I love the simplicity of this pattern and the white background. The third down is a really subtle small pink floral on pink background. The one below that is pink background with lots of yellows and purple flowers mixed in. Finally the last one on the bottom is more of a purple/pink background, very light, with little star-shaped flowers on top. This small print would make a great quilt square or letter/number on the front of an onesie.

I like how great these look together but at the same time each one can stand on their own. These smaller prints would be great for smaller projects and the more monochromatic colorway will be great for more projects as well. I love my bold colors but sometimes you just have to have something a bit more subtle.