MacBook Gets a Home

First, Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We had a very nice, relaxing time just hanging out. We did lots of cooking and baking and watching movies. 

Despite my complete apathy toward my shop lately, I was happy to take in a couple of custom orders this week. It was nice to do some work that didn't involve dishes or laundry.

Yesterday, I decided to do a little sewing just for the fun of it... imagine that! I made a spiffy new laptop cozie for the new MacBook (which I am in love with, btw). I used some thrifted wool blend fabric and some of the super cute fabric I won in last month's giveaway at Oh, Fransson. (In case you missed that post, I won a priority shipping box packed full of beautiful and fun fabrics!) The cozie is padded with some leftover batting from a quilting project that is in the works, but seems like I may never finish because I'm pretty sure that I got in way over my head. Anyway, now my 'puter will have a cozy/protective/cute place to stay when I take it around with me.  Sorry the pictures are so dark... I'm trying out new photo editing software and I haven't quite gotten it dialed in yet.

Special Gifts and Giveaways - Oh My!

This week has been very gifty.  On Wednesday, Sew Mama Sew hosted a giveaway day where lots and lots of crafty blogs held giveaways.... and I won one!!!  Oh, and you are gonna be jealous.  I won a box of beautiful fabric from Oh, Fransson one of my favorite blogs.  She is a super crafter and always has the most beautiful and fun projects going!  You must check her out.  But, the really exciting thing for you guys is that I want to keep the giving going so I'm tomorrow I'm going to host my own giveaway!!!  I don't know exactly what the gift will be yet, but I promise it will be worth checking out!

Yesterday, I mailed out my AREtsy secret santa gift.  I really love doing swaps.  I feel like I can really be creative, more so than when I'm creating for my shop.  I just hope she likes them!  I feel pretty safe posting a picture here because she should have it today and the chances of ruining the surprise are pretty slim I think.  So....

My person is getting this crafty little set of goodies.  The tissue holder is made with one of my favorite Japanese import fabrics, the house ornament is embroidered with that cute pattern from vol.25, and the little embroidered button pattern is from pimp stitch.  

Finally, the most special gift this week came from the big man himself - Santa.  I took Taylor to see Santa at the mall yesterday after school and she brought with her a teeny bell to give to Santa to give to Rudolf.  She sat on his lap and gave him the little bell and in return he gave her his bell.  How cool is that?!  The look on her face was absolutely priceless.  

Kids + Christmas Crafts = FUN!

I've never been one to buy tons of decorations and go bananas getting the house all gussied-up for Christmas.  In the pre-Taylor days, we would put up a tree (maybe), but that's about it.  I do a bit more decorating now, but I still just can't seem to make myself buy tons of stuff.  Partly it is because I know that as Taylor goes through school we are going to accumulate lots of the best kinds of decorations..... the kid-made kind!  We really just started to this year. 

 

First, she made the super glittery paper chain above that is the exact right size for our mantle with her Grandma.

Over Thanksgiving, my aunt brought craft supplies for the kids to make these hangings to count down the days till Christmas.  There's a cute little poem at the top and then a little bell at the bottom. You get to take a candy cane everyday and when you get to the bell you know it's Christmas! Kids got to glue on the sequins and decorate the top (Taylor's has a little tree).  The bigger kids and grown-ups got to sew on all the yarn to tie the candy canes.  

And, finally, we have the one that was the most fun to make.  I bought some styrofoam balls and let her cover them with Mod Podge and fabric scraps.  It's super messy (Of course, that's what makes it fun!) so we did one half, let it dry, then did the rest.  After the fabric was dry I gave it an outer coating.  I used a pretty pin to attach a ribbon and there you have it!

Finally... A Crafting Day!

I have a serious thing for online crafty tutorials.  I've been eyeing this one for cushions from Sew Mama Sew for quite some time and decided today to give it a try.  I'm not finished yet, because I just had to make it more complicated by adding some quilting to it.  I thought, though, that I'd share the progress with you fine people.  Here is the top of one of three cushions.  I pieced the top out of some new and some vintage cottons and sort of quilted it to a piece of nice flannel to make it a little more durable.  They are 19" square and 4" deep.  They'll be floor cushions for the living room.  I'll be using the brown linen I used on my little houses pillows for the sides and bottom.

One of the things about this tutorial that just knocked my socks off is the part where she shows you how to magically make tons of bias tape out of a small square of fabric and then turn it into some super fab custom piping!  It's worth checking out just for that little gem.
Now, hopefully it will not be months and months before I can show you a cute stack of finished floor pillows!

Diving back in

After much whining about it this morning, I dove right back into my sewing.  I really wasn't ready for the vacation to be over (it was fabulous, btw), but after I got my belly-aching over with I had pretty darn productive day.  

When I really need to sew a lot of stuff, I dedicate one day to cutting and prepping.  So, today was that day.  Now I have all ready to sew: 4 jewelry rolls (for a bride), 2 bicycle seat bags, and 4 top tube totes to match.  That bit of red and pink striped fabric is some super duper cheap knit that I picked up today at Hancocks.  I've been thinking about trying to make something fun with knits, and at like a dollar a yard, I couldn't pass that up.  I'm thinking of this really cute sleep set from BurdaStyle.  I just love that site!  I haven't tried making any of their projects yet, but I love seeing everyone else's projects.  I really do think I'll try this one.  

Oh, and more great crafty news... my application for the licensing program at Sublime Stitching was accepted!!!  Yay!  Once I get my shop all caught back up, guess what's next?  Keep your eyes peeled!  

I'm gonna leave you tonight with one more beach photo... this is one of my very favorites.