Coordinating Shirts

About a year ago I did a set of "E" shirts for two sisters who share a letter. You might remember them but if not here they are. Those shirts were a Christmas present last year and this year Mom wanted to do the same thing for them. She was having a hard time finding the same color shirt in both sizes since the girls are a few years apart and ended up going with two different colored shirts.

That was not a problem at all for me because I have so many fabrics with multiple colors in them I figured that I would just find one that included both colors and go with that. I found this floral with pinks and aquas in it and thought it was perfect. I double checked the fabric with Mom and got the go ahead to start the shirts. I like the way they turned out. I did the E on the aqua shirt a bit larger than the other shirt since that girl is a bit older and the shirt is bigger. I zig-zaged around the initial to secure it to the shirt and did that in pink. I was afraid if I used the aqua thread it would stand out too much, in a bad way.

Mom is happy with the shirts and I actually really like the way they ended up. I love matching but I think this is a perfect way to match with out being over the top. I hope one day to have kiddos that I can coordinate outfits with. Will I be too busy then to worry about matching and coordinating? Probably. :)

New Fabric/New Find Friday #102

These fabrics were purchased for a special project. I was working with a friend. She wanted me to make her a travel case with some specifics in mind and I gave her a few fabric options and this is what she choose. I have been wanting to use laminated cotton for a while and when this opportunity hit I went for it.

The fabric in the middle is the laminated cotton and this is the pattern of her choice. The fabric on the right is the coordinating cotton that was used for part of the case. Orange is a big color now and I think the contrast with the light blue is fun and different.The fabric on the left is from the same designer but I just bought it because I liked it, I did not use it for this project. It again has light blue, teal, and a hint of tangerine or light orange in it. The different colors almost look like shading on the fabric.

Here is the close up view of these fabrics, do you see the sheen on the bottom fabric? That is the laminated cotton and the regular cotton is right above. The great thing about the laminated cotton is that you can wipe it off if it gets dirty and it should help the fabric be waterproof. This way if you set it down on a wet counter top you will not have the water soak into the fabric.

I hope to show you this project next week.

Finished Basement!

Here it is....the long awaited final basement post!! I was going to do this in two posts but decided that you were probably just way too excited to see it finished-and I am excited to show it to you. It has been finished for about a month, but there is still a TON of organization that needs to happen, not only on the finished side but on the unfinished side. Would you like to see posts about organization?

So here we are with the basement floor and rugs down. When we first put the rugs down I was not sure what I thought about all of the different patterns, I thought I might have made a mistake but now that it is all set up, it work. Sorry some of these pictures are not great, I tried touching them up but what can I say, a photographer I am NOT!

I am just in love with the animal print rug and I think it is my favorite part of the basement (well almost).
The faux wood foam tiles are great and make the basement warm and comfortable.

Here is another shot of the crazy patchwork rug. Do you see all of that fake wood grain? It took us forever to figure out how the tiles went together so you didn't notice the puzzle piece ends. I think it looks pretty good don't you?

Now on to the exciting part....

This first picture is from the stairwell looking toward the craft and desk area. I will have to do a close up of that area when I do my organization posts. I LOVE my new craft area, all of my tools right in one place and very little moving around if I plan my work correctly. Plus I get to sit right by my hubby as he does his paper work at the desk behind the pole. It is nice to finally be in the same part of the house together while we work, which is sometimes the only time we get to spend together alone.

Here you can see the desk a little bit better and file cabinet on the other side of the pole. This large desk is perfect for my husbands business paperwork. He can leave things out while working on them for days and it does not bother me or the rest of the household. Do you see our really old lame TV? We hope to one day move our entertainment center from upstairs down here and bring over my parents old, but new to us, TV. I will tell you more later about what we plan to do upstairs when we move the cabinet down. Do you see that little table and chair poking out of the bottom of the picture? That is my old kiddie table and chairs and I am so excited for baby bee to use one day. He already likes to stand at the chairs and bang on them. He can sit and color right next to me as I do stuff at my craft table.

This view is of the sitting area and play area. The shelves are bolted to the wall and already have a few fun toys in them that my nephews put into action when they came over. I need to get more bins or we will put book and long games in some of the shelves. I am not sure yet, I still have a lot of old toys to unpack. There is that nice open area perfect for trains and all sorts of lego building.The dehumidifier is there to be sure we have no mold problems, and after this huge renovation we do not want to have to do it all over again! I love the colors in the futon cover with the wall...almost a perfect match.

My craft table with cubbies (dark brown on top of the patchwork rug) is great. I plan put a big cutting mat on top to cut my large pieces of fabric. I also want to make a large ironing board that I can put on top when I need to iron but I can also move somewhere else when I need the table for something else.

Sorry that these pictures are so dark! I am in love with my new basement and I have a feeling that we will be hibernating down there all winter. I hope that it makes my sewing that much more productive. I already have been working on some items that have been in the hopper way too long.

New Onesies with Leggings

I participated in a small craft fair and am consigning a few of my items with a local boutique so I thought that it was best to make few onesie and legging sets that were not personalized. This way someone could buy them as a set right away and give them as a gift. I have some that are more masculine and a few that are feminine. I have been working on these for a few months but I wanted to put them all in one post for you instead of stretching them out over a few posts.

First off we have these two for little boys! A cute blue and green houndstooth bow tie to go with the matching stripped leggings.

Loving this polka-dot tie to go with the argyle leggings. Reminds me of  real business man. :)

I really like the purple fabric that I used for this star onesie, perfect to match with the purple on blue star leggings.

While we are speaking of stars, I like how that one little star-flower on the fabric ended up almost in the middle of the star. Perfect! These pink and orange leggings are in style now that the new color of the year is Tangerine Tango.

Now we have some sweet-hearts. This set of leggings was hard to find a fabric for since these purples are almost pink, but I love the fabric that I finally found to go with it.

Who wouldn't love these pink and white stripped leggings and the pink polka-dot fabric to match. This pink heart just pops off of the white onesie.

For those of you that need a neutral set and have no idea what the baby is but want to get something early I have this "Welcome Set". The onesie has a pineapple made from neutral and white polka-dot fabric. Pineapples mean welcome so how perfect for a new baby. The leggings are neutral as well and would go with anything, hey you could even layer them under or over another set of leggings--80's style.

You have already seen these back during Christmas but here they are again. I think this set is just perfect for a new little snowbird.

I would be happy to make any of my custom onesie and legging sets on Etsy with these shapes instead of an initial if you would prefer. These are also for sale on Etsy if you are wanting any of these. They make me so happy I might have to make a few more. Which do you like best?

New Fabric/New Find Friday #101

It is about time for some masculine fabrics right?! Have you seen all of the new leggings that I have to offer on etsy with matching onesies? These are the perfect fabrics to go with some of the greys and I really love the paisley print.

This paisley reminds me of a western handkerchief or a guys shirt. What a great pattern and colors for a boy's room, grey with a hint of orange. The black on grey polka-dot is a perfect combination of grey and black. Like I said a few weeks ago I am not a huge fan of grey but this one seems deep and warm to me compared to others that are light and more blue.

Maybe it is just me but I am really picky about boy fabric and I have a hard time finding ones that I like that do not have baseballs and softballs on them. Sometimes the fabric goes too sports themed and other times it leans too feminine. I think these two are great for the "modern boy".

Christmas Baby Bloomers

This baby was born a bit before Christmas but it was her first Christmas and she got these cute pair of bloomers from her Aunt. I am not sure if you can tell but the name on the bloomers is done in green as Emma's mom likes green. I think the green with the lace on the leg holes looks very Irish.

These bloomer posts are not the most exciting but they are a sweet little baby item and I can not wait to see a pair of these on a baby's bottom!

Flower Power Pins

Have you noticed that in the last two posts there were pictures that were sideways?! I have no idea why blogger does this but when I save the images on my computer they are correct and then it flips them in blogger. I have tried figuring it out and I heard that it might be the canon camera I am using doing something strange when I take a picture. Any photographers out there want to help me out? It would be nice if there was a rotate picture option once it is placed on the page. Oh well I hope you can live with a few of these at a strange angle.

This is not the first batch of flower pins that I have made so these might not be new and exciting but I thought I would show you what I have been up to.

Some of these were made to order and were given as Christmas gifts and others are at the Pink Butterfly and you can find them on Etsy as well. I used to have one on my purse, until I gave it up for a diaper bag. I loved adding a bit of color to my neutral purse. It would also look cute on a coat, on a headband or just in your hair, or even on a sweater or a scarf.

I don't make these a lot but they were really fun to do so maybe I should go through my scraps and start making more.

New Fabric/New Find Friday #100

I would call my husband the king of grey, he loves the color grey. He would be happy to wear it and paint our walls that color. The color grey reminds me of hospitals and basements and sad cold places with no life or color. I know some of you will disagree with me and that is fine. I am actually starting to warm up to the color grey, even telling my husband we can paint a room grey in the future. It is just a matter of finding the right shade of grey. I think I might have found that in these two fabrics.

Like last week's Friday post these fabrics were chosen to go with some baby leggings that I made. I was actually looking for a fabric for another project and found the fabric on the right from the same designer. I love the combination of the grey with the taupe. The flowers contrast against the light fabric but at the same time it is not in your face color like the one on the left. I love the whimsy and fun color against the grey background.

Now the next question is when and what room will we paint grey? I think a room with a lot of windows for sure.

Violette or Violet?

Everyday I learn more about how to be a better business woman and that taking time and asking a million questions is always better than just guessing. I had this order for a friend who wanted to give as a gift a blankie and bib to a friend who just had a baby girl named Violet. She wanted something purple and cute and we found just the right things for her. The only thing I forgot to ask was how were they spelling the baby's name. I for some reason thought it would be cute and french and have more letters in it and be Violette not the normal Violet.

So off I went to make the blankie and bib and they looked pretty good. When I got a text saying that she got them but that the name was wrong my heart sank! GRR What was I thinking?! Of course it was spelled Violet!!! Only I would spell it another way and then use google to make sure that that way of spelling it was used somewhere (and it was). Just because it is on the internet does not mean it is true. So I learned my lesson and made another set.

Here is a closer shot of the other bib and blanket. You can not see it well in this picture but the blanket has small purple flowers on the flannel side. They are so cute and sweet. I even went to a boutique sale and no one mentioned that I had the name spelled wrong on the bib. I am sure they all figured that that was the way it was spelled.

Here is the correct set with the correct name, taken with my cell phone camera in the new fluorescent basement lighting. Not the best color rendition but you can now see those cute purple flowers. This time I used white around the V instead of the purple to let the name pop out a bit more.

I also did not realize that she wanted a V on the blanket so I added that to the blanket as well. All is well that ends well but I feel so badly that they had to wait for me to make my corrections when I should have done it correctly in the first place. You know sometimes we all make mistakes and I wanted to show you my mistakes. I hope to make not as many of these in the future. UGH :)

Now if anyone knows a Violette I have a cute bib for them! :) I also have one of these blankies (with no initial) for sale on Etsy if you would like one of these for your little cutie.

Tie Key Chain

While making some vintage tie onesies I was left with a few scrap pieces of the ties. I was not sure what to do with them but I knew that they needed to be used. I was thinking of purses, skirts, and pillows made from the ties, but I didn't like those ideas mostly because if I wouldn't wear it or use it I don't want to make it.

I have seen key chains or key fobs like these around and thought this might be the perfect solution for these vintage tie parts. The detail at the end of the tie on the small end of the tie was perfect for a little detail on the front of the key chain and where the circle is sewn together. I love the little diamond detail that the point and the sewing creates.

Here is a different perspective of the key chain. You can easily slip it over your fingers and maybe your wrist depending on your wrist size. Easy to carry your keys or to find them in your purse. I know these might not be the most exciting item that I have but they are practical and would be great for a new graduate or someone with their first house or car to give them to put their new keys on.

They are listed on Etsy and note that you can choose the vintage tie that you would like your key chain to be made from.

New Fabric/New Find Friday #99

I was out at the fabric store looking for some fabrics to go with some new baby leggings that I am going to make and ended up finding these three beauties.

The one on the left is a green on green houndstooth pattern. I really have a thing for a houndstooth pattern, maybe because we used to have a sofa when I was little that was covered in a huge black and white houndstooth pattern. The second fabric is one that I found that I was looking to go with a few of my new leggings. I love this floral, something about the dark grey background with those little flowers in rust, mustard, and aqua. It feels so retro to me in color and pattern. The fabric on the far right is just a simple polka-dot fabric. I am not in love with the grey-green color in the background but it looks perfect with some of the leggings and was the best I could find so I went for it.

I am excited to get an order and cut into these fabrics. I am not sure what I am going to do with the green houndstooth, maybe as part of an apron? Would be cute as an applique on an onesie too.

Patchwork Rug

When I found out that I was having a baby I started planning out the baby nursery, oh heck before I was pregnant I was planning! We had a bunch of carpet samples that were discontinued at work and they were bright fun colors and I thought they would be great to make into a rug for the baby's play area.

The inspiration for this idea came from this rug found here.

I took the samples and started arranging them so that I could send them to a fabricator to have made into one large rug.

Here I laid the samples out and tried to evenly space the colors out. It was hard because there were a lot more blue samples than brown and black samples and it seemed so blue heavy for a while.

Here is the view from the other direction. I know that with them overlapping (there was not much floorspace to work on) it might be very hard to figure out how it is going to look in the end but I could see it and was very excited about it!! I labeled each one with a number and sent them along with a chart so that the fabricators would know what order to put them in. It was not cheap to have them cut and bound into a big rug but hey the samples were free, and the rug was unique.

Here is the finished rug in the basement! I love the way it turned out and baby bee already loves to touch all of the different textures of carpet and play on it. I can not wait until I can use this to teach him colors! I was just going to  use this rug for his play area but it is a different size than I thought so he will have to share his rug with me.

You also get a sneak peak of the finished basement with no furniture. I will have that final basement post for you next week. We still have a few things to put away and into place before I can take some final pictures. It is coming and I know you are all so excited to see how it turned out...and I can not wait to show you.

New Resolutions for the New Year 2012!

How is it already the end of the year? It seems like it went by so fast, maybe having a baby had something to do with it. Every year I like to go over the resolutions from the year before and see how I did and then make some new ones. I like to look at them as not only resolutions but almost like a mini business and life plan. I will not beat myself up over it if I don't do them but it is exciting when I find that I was realistic with what I could do and actually did most of them. 

To look back here are my past lists:

List from 2010
List from 2011

List from 2011:
Non-blog centered:

• Get used to having a baby around the house--will that ever happen? (Still an adjustment-but a good one)
• Work on cleaning and cooking regularly- setting up a meal plan. (I have been cooking more often mostly because I am making baby bee's food too. I have not set up a meal plan yet. The cleaning didn't happen while we were in basement construction.)
• Getting our budget set now that there are more of us in the house. (oopps probably spent more than I should. ;))
• As always make family a first priority, make time for my husband. (I feel like I did a good job with this but I bet if you ask my husband he will feel differently.)

Blog/business centered:

• Actually post items on my Etsy site. DONE
• Put items on the products page on blog with updated pricing. DONE
• Possibly attach a paypal checkout on blog. - I think it is easier to just route people to Etsy or mail a check
• Continue to post three times a week (which might be hard with a child). DONE
• Add a give-away at some point this year-quarterly? Not sure how often. DONE

Well I didn't do too badly with the business goals but the personal goals I did a horrible job with! ICK

So here is to a new year and new goals!

Non-blog centered:   Most of them are going to stay.

• Baby-proof the house now that mr. bee is starting to cruse around the house.
• Work on cleaning and cooking regularly- setting up a meal plan and cleaning schedule. Also clean out stuff we do not need! Simplify!
• Getting our budget set and look into CSA's for produce.
• As always make family a first priority, spend more time with my husband and do things for him without asking and to take care of my son without feeling like anyone owes me.
• Try to go to the gym at least once a week if not more.

Blog/business centered:

• Continue to post new items on Etsy
• Sign up to do more craft shows and have my items in more local boutiques.
• Be better about time management when I get time to work at night.
• Work hard to have more back stock items. 
• Continue to post three times a week and maybe try to add a post that is more personal or links up to other blogs. 
• Look into other blogs/shops to do giveaways with, either giving away my item or asking to giveaway theirs.
• Promote my blog and maybe start linking up with other blogs to promote my business.
• Look into adds on my page to bring in a bit of income.

I had a good run of people commenting on my blog for a while when I had time to comment more on theirs. So maybe I need to reach out more to others and then they will do the same for me. :) I know a lot of you just read the blog from Facebook and that is great! I am so glad it is easy for you to check it out that way. I am not as concerned about comments as I used to be but I would love to hear what you guys like and how I can improve what I make, so chime in if you feel like it.

Much love and prosperity to all of you and I hope to see more of you in 2012.