what are you doing Mom?

week of 365

2011-03-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

365:59

a project I managed to complete in one nap time

365:60

catching up on some shows and playing with camera

365:61

bruno

365:62

my view from bed

365:63

I had lots of company in bed

365:64

celebrating mardi gras

365:65

a spoiled bruno in bed

week of 365

2011-03-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

365:52

I love this picture! T just adores her dada and always shows it.

365:53

A little surprise hidden in the tree, can you see him?

365:54

as T would say: teeny tiny weeny snow man

365:55

yay for snow

365:56

a cute little keen footprint, t wore two different boots both left feet.

365:57

ahhh a clean house!

365:58

mama hand, baby hand

week of 365

2011-02-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

365:45

a little something I am working on

365:46

waterfall in forest park

365:47

Bruno

365:48

another walk in forest park

365:49

a rainy day drive across the bridge

365:50

little piano girl

365:51

noticing some blooms on our walk

week of 365

2011-02-14T19:33:00.000-08:00

365:38

Around the corner from our house there are words stamped into the sidewalk. I thought it looked awesome with this moss growing in it.

365:39

You can tell we have a lot of wet weather around here and moss just covers everything.

365:40

Little T helping Richard walk his bike home

365:41

Two sweet girls in the tunnels

365:42

This girl knows how to jam

365:43

she caught a bubble

365:44

Its always a good day when we say hi to our favorite rooster down the street

you make my heart beat

2011-02-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

These are the cookies I made for Richards med school class. 6 dozen!! Woah! Happy Valentines Day!

week of 365

2011-02-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

365:31

view from doctors office

365:32

west gate hotel in San Diego

365:33

Arkansas flag flying at our hotel in San Diego

365:34

birds of paradise

365:35

Richard and I

365:36

view from the presidential suite

365:37

back home to rolling on the floor laughter

week of 365

2011-02-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

365:24

my current work in progress

365:25

this little girl loves trucks

365:26

a new to us doll house

365:27

this is grainy but who can resist that face!

365:28

I love this dog- and his toothless mouth with his tongue hanging out

365:29

take only pictures leave only footprints

365:30

on our adventure though forest park

week of 365

2011-01-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

365:17

family slide time, action shot

365:18

at the childrens museum (were we caught the cold)

365:19

meet my little doggy

365:20

yummy cookies

365:21

love these little pony tails

365:22

back up to august in annapolis, sitting in her state

365:23

another august shot, taken while we were chasing butterflies

I am a few days late posting this because Tilly and I were sick most of the week. It started after we got home from the children's museum. A yukky stomach bug that was not fun at all. It was T's first time being really sick and it just broke my heart. So we spent a lot of time in our pajamas reading books and watching dora. I had to go back and get a few pictures from summer to share because I couldn't get it together this week. We feel much better today and have a few crafty things planned!

week of 365

2011-01-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

365:10

little T playing dress up

365:11

Yummy spice cake with cream cheese frosting

365:12

bruno lounging

365:13

buffalo burger with beans and cheese- YUM

365:14

wet nose

365:15

T being nice to Bruno but just for the camera

365:16

self portrait with bruno

It's been hard to keep up posting everyday. Last week was a particularly busy and had me playing with the kidos all day with very little time for anything else. I often find myself falling asleep right after I put T to bed. I have more free time this week and I am looking forward to doing a few crafty things. Hopefully I can get on a schedule with things including this blog- that would be fun!

365:9

2011-01-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

Ever since receiving her train set for christmas, T has really loved choo choo trains. She was super excited to get to see this one today, so I guess I am glad the children's museum was closed which forced us to walk around the area for a while.

365:8

2011-01-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Tilly made a new email account on her phone- only she knows the password!

365:7

2011-01-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

Last night we picked Richard up at OHSU. We have great memories at the hospital- Tilly was born there, we used to live down the street, and Richard goes to school there (T frequently calls it dada home). I snapped this with my phone and love T's smile.

365:6

2011-01-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

Testing the octopus at Sushi Land--she liked it!

365:5

2011-01-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

My dancing queen almost fell asleep on the dance floor last night.

365:4

2011-01-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

Sleepy is the word that sums up our day. After waking up at 4am and a short nap we tried our hand at a tea party. Tilly enjoyed her pears and sitting with her bears while I snapped away. After a while I decided I had to choose from what I had because I was to sleepy to figure out the lighting situation. I do love these big eyes!

365:3

2011-01-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

We took a new path in Forest Park today and found patches of ice to practice ice skating on. Tilly loves smiling for the camera these days!

365:2

2011-01-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

The majority of my time is spent in the playroom- today we were busy fishing for letters in the fish puzzel.

A New Year

2011-01-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

This year I am determined to do something with this blog, and to learn more about my camera. I am hoping to do something like a 365 photo challenge of my own. Taking meaningful pictures from my day and posting them un-edited here. So here is take one- a photo from our bike ride through forest park today. It was so cold and the waterfalls along the trail had frozen forming beautiful icicles.

Minnie Mouse dress

2010-09-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is not something I did for KCWC, actually I really struggled with finding an hour each day this week- so scratch that last post- I worked on putting the sewing room together a little each day, should have documented that with photos. But seriously I am really inspired by all the moms out there that create beautiful things everyday- I've just been reading a few posts of the KCWC and there is a lot of talent out there!! Where do you find the time!!

On to the Minnie mouse dresses- I did these while at my sisters house this summer. It was my nephews Micky Mouse theme 3rd birthday so I made Cece and Tilly matching dresses (they loved being twins).I didn't have a pattern just kept in mind the pillow case patterns out there. It was a quick project that turned out perfect for the party.

Kids clothes week challenge

2010-09-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

I just made the commitment to sew an hour each day this week. That means I really do have to dig up that sewing machine and all the supplies I will need to make T a few clothes. I'm going to concentrate on her birthday-halloween party. I'm not sure how much I'll get done but I am excited for the challenge.
Visit Meg's blog Elsie Marley for the details.

snow white

2010-09-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

That was a very long unintentional break from blogging! Some excuses would be that we left Portland for the summer and lived with my mom in Maryland while Richard did some work in DC. Another would be that we packed up our entire home before we left and moved it to a new home which we are now unpacking. But it's probably more like I have been lazy bones and not feeling like sewing after these long days- although I did sew a little bit while at my mom's house.
So the other day I was reading one of my fav blogs MADE and right now she is celebrating YELLOW! She inspired me to get my behind in gear and share some of the things I've been making. Yellow is my favorite color and I guess that I migrate toward it when buying fabric and other things. I have a lot of soon to be finished projects in yellow- I just have to get that sewing room set up!!
While in MD I made 2 snow white dresses. It began as one for my niece who is 4 but the size turned out to small so I made another bigger one for her and gave the smaller one to a friend. Of course I didn't get a chance to take pictures of them, luckily I got this shot of our friend in action.

Hopefully this will put me back in blogger mode and I will get sewing so I can share my creations with you!

Easter Dress

2010-04-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is the dress I made Tilly to wear on Easter. She looked oh so cute with white tights and a white sweater a friend made for her. We went on a sunny day to take some pictures of just the dress and had such a fun time wandering around. We have been really busy around here, I haven't had a lot of time to sew. With an extended vacation to see my mom and moving when we return, I have to put some things on hold so crafting will have to be one of them. Although I do have one or two projects I would really like to finish before we leave. I will definitely share them if I finish but it may be quite around her for the next month or so...

Finished Printed Tshirt

2010-04-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

The first shirt I made ended up going to a friend, so with the remaining soy fabric I made another one to print on. I think it turned out wonderfully, and his classmates did too! From the other post, you'll remember I drew a design based off an old photo from a class here at OHSU. I believe they have chosen this to be their class t shirt that they will sell to raise money. The question now is will I be printing the 100 something t shirts they order??

Bunny finger puppets

2010-04-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

Wow I haven't posted anything since Feb, thats crazy... I really thought I had. Hmmm o well I'll just have to make up for it this month. I made a few things for the Easter party we are going to tomorrow. We all bring 10 eggs filled with toddler appropriate things. I'm thinking there will be lots of candy, and since I will end up eating Tilly's loot, I thought I would make some bunny finger puppets to stuff in the eggs we will bring. The purl bee has this great tutorial for them, and they were so simple to make. It took me some time to cut everything out but once that was done I whipped them up in a nap time. I love how they turned out! You still have plenty of time to whip some up, I may even do a few more.

t shirt

2010-02-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I have had time to blog here. Its been a slow crafting month really- I am hoping to make it a daily thing because it makes me happy to work on things and especially finish a project. The blogs I read are so inspiring and I just don't know how these mothers of 2 or 3 do it all, they are amazing! I have got so much going on right now that I have to take it slow and not start to many things.

I went to mill end fabric store with my husband the other day and he picked out some soy fabric for a t shirt. I drew this design from this old picture of med students. His class is having a design submission so I figured I would make the shirt so they could see how it looks. I will print on the shirt when Richard approves the bone shape.

Princess Crowns

2010-02-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

It's always fun to celebrate a little ones birthday, and I especially love to give handmade gifts. I didn't think I would have time to make anything for a party last week so I ended up buying our now 2 year old friend a little something. But of course last minute I remembered the princess crowns and thought surely they wouldn't take to much time to make. I was right, I made 2 in one day. One for our friend and one for my neice who is now 4. I had bookmarked this page and used her flower ideas for the sides, I did not use interfacing and they help up so wonderfully I really don't think they need it. I hand stiched everything except the sides and bottom so that the elastic would be held on tight. Luckily I snapped this picture with my phone, to show my mom and sister, cus I forgot to take 'real' pictures. I hate not taking pictures of stuff I have made... it makes me feel like I never made it- no fun.

Art Case

2010-01-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

Our friend turned 2 last week, and for his birthday I made him a travel art case. Very similar to the other one I made. I think he will enjoy taking it places and drawing galore, maybe they could fit a little book in one of the pouches... it seems big enough.

Now I am working on a felt playhouse for T. I will be using a card table we have had in the back for ages. I have got all the material and plenty of inspiration from homemade by jill, now I just have to get to work! Hope to have it done some time this year ;)

Now I know my ABC's

2010-01-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas in Seattle with family. We saw lots of decorated houses, and went to see the lights at the botanical gardens, which was amazing! Baby T had such a great time looking at them. Christmas morning was so much fun, T says "awww" to just about everything now, so that was her reaction to most of her gifts when she wasn't trying to hug my aunt's white lab Lucky.

This is a present I completed in December for T. It was fun to make, I had seen a few tutorials online for magnetic abc's but I wanted something bigger. Something we could play with on the floor, spell words, and learn the letters. I made the template for the letters myself, I probably could have gone an easier route and printed out big letters but I had run out of printer ink and decided just to draw them out. After cutting out the paper, tracing it on fabric, sewing the fabric with fleece in the middle, I thought pinking sheers would be a good easy finish. I love the way they turned out and T and I have been having lots of fun with them.

09 Christmas Drop #182 for The Toy Society

2009-12-25T13:26:00.001-08:00

Check out the toy society for all the great drops this year! Mine was a simple Reindeer:

Dropped: Wonderland Carousel at Westlake Park downtown Seattle, WA

Number of Toys: 1

Made by: Mary

Dropped by: Mary www.whatareyoudoingmom.blogspot.com

When: Dec. 24th

And Mary says: After riding the carousel with the family we left behind a reindeer for another family to find. Merry Christmas!

Car Caddy

2009-12-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

I found this tutorial a while ago and then saw a different version of the car caddy by Jill onSYTYC so I had to try one for my nephew. I made it similar to Jill's because I loved the idea of reusing old jeans. I wasn't going to add the number's inside but without them it looked a little empty. I added a felt car on front and printed CARS on top. I love how it turned out:

The 8 O Clock Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-12-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share this with you cus I love this color!! If you haven't read her blog you should go check it out, and enter to win a few of her amazing giveaways. But not this on because I want it ;)

The 8 O Clock Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Wreaths

2009-12-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I went to a spouse group craft night where we made christmas wreaths. It was so much fun, I made 2 that night -one for me, one for my neighbor. They are totally addicting to make and if I had the time I would make a million more!

the winner is..

2009-12-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

Random.org picked #47 who said:

Jessica Christensen said...

I love the travel art kit. I am living in Texas right now, and I am making two quilts, three quiet books, an apron, a tutu, a doll quilt and problaby a pincushion before Christmas. Yeah, I hope that's all.

Wow, Jessica that is a long list... just as long as mine I think ;) Congratulation on the win! Please leave a comment with your email address, or email me at mecbruno(at)gmail(dot)com

It was so much fun to do this giveaway and read all the comments! You all have such wonderful projects going on right now! Have fun doing them!!!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

2009-12-02T08:52:00.001-08:00

Today is Sew mama Sew's giveaway Day, I will be giving away gifts for your little one:

A doll I have been loving to make from Stitched in time.

And something I just tried for the first time, a travel art kit. Right now it is stuffed with some markers and something to make the mama's laugh (a fashion citation pad). You can fill the other pockets with crayons, stickers, a color book, and/or some paper. I found the tutorial here, and I agree that it is a great go to gift.

To enter please leave a comment on this post. I would love for you to tell me where you are and what you're making this week, or just anything about yourself.

I will draw a winner using random.org on Dec. 6th.

Don't forget to check out Sew Mama Sew's blog and look at all the other giveaways!

Ornament 2

2009-12-01T20:18:00.000-08:00

The second cross stitched bird is complete for my nephew. I have had all my craft supplies out all day today with hopes of doing a few projects, but I was having to much fun playing with baby T. Now that she is sleeping, I would love nothing more than to go rest my eyes but I think I will stay up just a little longer and make a few things.

To wrap up the Movember month we went to a party downtown to celebrate the men with their mustaches. They had a contest to see who had the best mustache and R won!! This is R's second win in the mustache catagory, you may remember the prize I made for his last win.

Ornament 1

2009-11-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

I completed one of three ornaments I am making this year. I took over the handmade-mostly cross stitched ornaments for my sisters kids and mine because one of our fondest memories from childhood Christmas was getting our ornaments from our aunt and uncle. They have retired from the ornament making so we wanted to carry the tradition on for our kids. Previous years I copied some favorites of mine, and one year I knitted a little tree. This year I decided to do a bird theme, the kids will each have a different bird.

I will be participating in Sew Mama Sew Giveaway on Dec 2nd. I will have to whip something up for it tomorrow so check back on the 2nd to see what it is!

this is me journal and high chairs

2009-11-23T23:02:00.000-08:00

One of the first blogs I started reading was Thismamamakesstuff, I thought it was wonderful, it opened my eyes to the world of blogs. She has amazing ideas from everything to where to donate your halloween candy to baby clothes to triathlon advice. She is also the creater of the This is me journal for kids. I was lucky enough to win one on twitter during her week of giveaways. I can not wait until T can start to draw, She has held a crayon to paper but still can't get past the urge to taste it. I have been recording on a weekly bases milestones and funny habits and games we play since birth in her book, the new baby's baby journal and when I saw the this is me journal I knew it would be perfect for helping T and I record her life.

Last month she blogged about a fabric high chair she recreated from a 70's version. This high chair is just amazing and after countless nights at friends houses of

just letting T roam around while we eat, I thought this was something I had to make as soon as I could. She created a tutorial for it and I got to work. It was very easy to follow and did not take a lot of time. I made one for T and another for a friend. Definitely go check out her blog!

getting back to sewing

2009-11-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

I am slowly fitting sewing into my day again. Baby T is getting to be a bit more independent but still needs a close watch so I have a little more time to sew while she plays, but then quickly have to put things down when she starts grabbing doggie's (which she screams) legs to pull him off the couch. I think I have organised enough that I can in fact have my stuff here and there and be able to put it all away and come back to it during a quite time. That being said I did have to ditch some things on my list from the last post. I'm not going to be able to make the advent calendars in time, sorry Mc's I'll do one for next year!! I've still got the ornaments, and card table playhouse, and of course I have added a few more.

Today I finished a doll and 2 frogs for a Christmas project R's school is doing. The doll you have seen before, the frogs I freehanded a pattern based on this one from Lil Blue Boo -a blog I adore. I double stitched around, filled the mini frogs with barley and finished them on their right foot. These 3 things went in a snow man bag with some crayons and a notebook. I hope someone will have fun opening there gift!

* R is still going strong for Movember, he has been so busy its hard to get him to stay still for a picture..

Movember Sewing

2009-11-10T10:10:00.001-08:00

On my crafty list this month:

Card Table Playhouse for T's christmas present
Advent Calendar for The Mc's
Advent event banner for us
C, M, and T chirstmas ornaments

All the while I will be crafting and of corse playing with T, R will be growing a mustach for movember. He started the month clean shaven, and shaved for the first time yesturday. He grows a beard in less than a day so it should be interesting to see this stash grow. You may remember he won the mustache march contest a while back. I will keep a weekly or maybe more tab on him and let you know how it grows.

Halloween Baby

2009-11-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

Oct. 31 2008

I got up at 5am with contractions and walked around to the song vogue by modanna playing in my head. I woke Richard up around 7 excited to tell him the contractions had been going on pretty steady. We called the midwife on call who told us to take a walk and try and wait to come in til my appt. at 10 if I could. After a walk under the big umbrella holding bruno on my big belly we packed the car with our things just in case and went to our appt. Cathy, the midwife, told us we would probably have her the next day, that I was only 2 centimeters. After that R took me on the longest walk up tons of hills to 'do errands' (he works at the hospital), 2 hours of walking the contractions got more intense, I remember walking on the bridge to the library having to hold R's hands who was walking backward, and thinking the people around me must think I'm in labor. Well I was! We made our way to the delivery room and 40 mins later we had our little girl.

Oct. 31 2009

Just as much emotion, we set up for our party while baby T took a long nap. The guests arrived, we played games, opened presents, ate great food, and handed out some candy. It was a beautiful day shared with some great friends and family.

The weeks prior to the party I had been working on a few crafts:

First up 'Pin the Smile on Jack' The orange material is from her carrot blanket costume we wrapped her in at the hospital last year

Halloween Banner with her name printed on one side

Trick or Treat bags for guests

and of course baby T's costume she was a plane and R and I were the pilots

Portland Fashion Week 09

2009-09-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

I am still out of town but will be back in time for Portland Fashion Week. I have worked with them for 3 years now and it is always exciting to get so close to the event (Oct. 7-11) and see everyone's hard work come to life. Not to mention all the fabulous designers spring 2010 collections. If you are in the Portland area you should definitely check it out! You can save 10% on your ticket purchase by buying them online and entering 'bruno' in the promo code area. Check out http://portlandfashionweek.net/ for details!

And if you come to the event make sure you come say hi!!

Bellatrix Lastrange

2009-09-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Oh no its Bellatrix Lastrange, Draco's nasty aunt from Harry Potter! No its just baby T!!

My sister is having a Harry Potter theme 30th birthday party at the end of the month, baby T and I are flying in for the occasion. We needed something fun but comfy so decided to go with mean ol bellatrix breaking out of prison. I will be going as her nephew Draco with a suit and cape and slicked back blond hair =) I made this little get up for baby T along with a bellatrix doll from the scraps.

We are in a transition with sleep patterns and moving and all sorts of other things around the household, so it leaves me little time for sewing and even littler time for blogging. I am currently working out a schedule which will hopefully help me do more of both.

Banner

2009-09-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today is the start of my sisters birthday month. Baby T and I are going to fly east for a big (harry potter themed) birthday bash at the end of the month. You see in our family we believe in celebrating a week, or better yet month of birthday fun. Which is why I decided I had to make a birthday banner. I loved it so much I left it up for a couple days to celebrate the last few days of my birthday month :).

This was super easy to make. I made the triangle pattern on some paper then cut out twos of 10 different fabrics. Serged there sides then printed them with there letters, made some bias tape and sewed away. Alright it was pretty time consuming especially because baby t only took a short nap but I did finish it in one day. I feel like I want to make more of them! Want one?

Birthday and Toy Society

2009-08-25T10:13:00.001-07:00

I turned 27 yesterday. We started the day off with breakfast, got up and went swimming. We came home and I finished up a little dress for another doll I made, then went for a walk to drop it at an outside play area in doernbecher childrens hospital. R left us to go study at the library so baby T and I walked around the area so we could check back by and see if someone found it. As I left the play area a family had arrived, by the time I got to the elevators that look at the area they had found it =) Hope they open, keep it, and love it!!

For this doll I changed it up and made her naked to begin with in hopes to make cute clothes for her. That didn't go so well, the body is just to hard to fit. I ended up making a dress with an elastic top out of some scrap bamboo fabric. I think she turned out pretty cute!!

The rest of the day was just as fun, and it was wonderful to celebrate with my little baby T, its her turn next. Only 2 more months... YIKES!

Easy Skirt

2009-08-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

While in Manzanita, OR I stumbled across a wonderful fabric store 'Creative Fabrics'. They had such a great variety of quilters' cottons, a lot of fun handmade things, oh and an amazing view. Baby T picked out a finger puppet and I picked out 3 different fabrics. One was this wonderful Alexander Henry 'favorite things' print. I got it out today and whipped up a very easy to make elastic skirt. I like it a lot but maybe I should have gone with a different look. Maybe put in a few pleats and a different color waistband, or just some darts and a facing.... I am going to wear it like this for a day or two and revisit it later.

*Just outside of the fabric store above the quilt hanging up was a bird's nest with the sweetest little babies waiting their turn for food from mama. I was able to capture this after my dorky pose in front of the shop =)

Wedding Recap

2009-08-20T09:03:00.001-07:00

We had a lovely time at the coast with our friends. It was a beautiful wedding on the beach and perfect weather for the occasion. I wore my hemmed vintage dress and got many compliments! Thanks for all your comments, they are probably the reason I wore it! Before I left I had enough time to whip up a little skirt for baby T out of the remaining fabric. Since it was a windy day we paired it with a long sleeve onesie (I was going to doll her up with a cute top but I had to be practical) The onesie did say LOVE on it so I thought it was appropriate. Here are a few pics of us in our matching outfits, which got a lot of ohhhs and awws.

throwing sand (yes she ate some)

on our way to reception
meeting the princess

Vintage dress shortened

2009-08-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

I have a wedding to go to this weekend at the coast. I have a few go to black dresses that I may end up wearing but saw this vintage dress in my closet and thought I would at least try. My mom was here all week (she left today) and she helped me pin the length. I cut and sewed it in no time, and I think it looks pretty cute now! I just have to decided if it is right for a Sunday night wedding on the beach. Any thoughts?

Just can't do it...

2009-08-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

I totally wanted to post everyday this month with some progress of a project, but my plans have not come to reality. My mom is in town and we are in constant motion. We have been crazy busy for 3 days straight with no plans on slowing down. So posting on here is harder than I thought.. I have been working on things but will have to postpone my plan of doing this daily til another month. I will go enjoy the family, and the doggie in diapers now!

Bruno Bruno

2009-08-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

One of the loves of my life:
*He is almost blind
*He has selective hearing (can hear the word treat sometimes)
*He has a back problem and all sorts of stiff joints

*He tinkles where he should notHe is 16, we got him when he was 12 in Princeton, NJ. I don't know what my life would be without him, he is what completes the Bruno family. I mean how could you not love a dog with your last name. So to help Bruno out we are in need of doggie diapers. I made these, but think I may need to purchase a real one and copy the pattern. These are just a bit to baggy and seem pretty uncomfortable. So I will have to check out some pre made, or try and find a pattern... which I have not had success with so far (know of any?).

Yesterday

2009-08-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they are here to stay.

We watched a funny beatle's movie called Help the other night, writing the title to this post made me think of it then I had to sing it, and now it will be in my head for the rest of the day. GREAT!

So yesterday T and I had a full day of playing, not much sewing happened. I cut out a few pieces for the doggie diaper I am making, layed them out, and figured a few things out.

On todays agenda is to pick mom-mom up at the airport. YAY!! We also picked a few apples from the tree to make a pie.
But back to mom-mom! Since my mom is in town I am hoping to get a few projects done!! (seems like I write that a lot) We have a couple things planned but I think I can sqeeze in some sewing. We will have to wait and see!!

slow sewing

2009-08-03T21:56:00.001-07:00

I only managed to sew the parts for another doll today. That was after some frustration trying out shirring or smocking on an outfit. I had everything right (I think) but the top thread kept looping in the bobbin, was my tension to loose?! I tried several different things but nothing seemed to work so I did the quick sewing of doll parts. Any advice or wisdom would be appreciated, I really want to get this right!

I also got a bike today! I'm pretty excited about it, can't wait to take a ride. We have some bonding to do but I think she and I will like each other a lot. =)

Happy August

2009-08-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

August is my favorite month! It is my fav. number (8) and has my birthday at the end (24th), it also is usually filled with fun parties, sunshine, and good fresh food from the garden. I have decided to challenge my self to blog everyday this month, hoping that they will be filled with fun craftyness or just updates on what I am working on and how it is going. Obviously I didn't get a great start as today is the 2nd, but I was working on something yesterday until I got invited to one of those fun summer parties! I had the intention of posting last night but did not get home til 9 o'clock and I only had the energy to sing my sweet baby to sleep then fall asleep myself.

Today I am anxiously waiting for R to return from his conference, 5 days is to long! I do not know how my sister does it with a husband gone for 6 months over seas (he is in the navy)!! *4 more weeks J!

And for my craftyness today I will continue where I left off of the muslin I was working on yesterday, hopefully get that done so I can go pick out some cute material sometime this week. I will also make a cake, maybe even decorate to say ''glad you are back", because really you should have a cake to celebrate everything!

Also just to let you know I have some rhyme to my reason, I have planned out this month by picking 20 things from my never ending list to finish this month. Some are really easy, quick projects others will take some time. I mapped out the supplies needed for each project and I feel like I can get everything done, I think posting everyday will help push me to do a little bit each day =)

Just one more thing, On our walk this morning we went by the playground at dournbecher just to make sure the doll was gone, she was!! When we walked back home we passed some art work in the hospital. All ages with epilepsy and some with autism find there relief with drawing. Some had a little blurb written with them that was pretty inspiring. It made me want to make another doll and leave it next to the paintings....

Here is a picture (taken with phone) of a 4 yr olds drawing. Written below said that this was a self portrait with tears because some time seizures make her cry.

The Toy Society

2009-07-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

I found this street art blog on twitter and was so impressed. I immediately thought I had to do it. It was the perfect quick project (not on my list) that I needed to get back to sewing. Those t shirts really wore me out!! I also really wanted to try one of these nutcracker dolls, so I got all my supplies out and worked it up while T was sleeping. It was mostly hand sewing, very little on machine. Once I finished all the details I printed out the papers to go along, with her and placed her in the playground at doernbecher childrens hospital. I was so excited!! I sat inside for a little bit to see if any children went out, but no luck. I had to leave not knowing if she would be found at all, but I'm sure she will be! I am prolly going to go for a walk tomorrow to see if she is gone =) So I loved doing this, giving something for nothing, thinking that I would make some little ones day! I may have to do it again soon. But for now it will be on with my list, to which I have just added about 10 of these girls for all my little girl friends!

Cross Family Reunion

2009-07-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

I am sad that I won't get to attend the reunion on Saturday! I had fun and not so much fun making all the t shirts, and I am hoping they will be put to good use... spilled drinks, wearing them with no pants on, etc. So to all my Favorite cousins... have a great time and don't forget to take a group shot or 2 =)

Why I have not been posting:

2009-07-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

silk screen saturday

2009-07-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Cross Family Reunion is quickly aproching, and although I will not be attending, I will be making the t-shirts for everyone. Today I am working on all the screens. Monday I will be printing with help from R. I'm not sure why this screening process is so difficult for me this time around, in the past it all seemed to go well. Maybe it is the fact I am running off of very little sleep....who knows?! Anywho, I will get back to the screens.

Downtown Portland or Bust

2009-07-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

After I heard Dave Chappelle gave a secret midnight show in Pioneer Square last night, I decided to take baby T around downtown to see if we might run into him. No dice. So we headed over to Pioneer Square because I heard a rumor that Ben & Jerry's was giving away free scoops today. No dice. Then we went by City Hall because we heard that Zipcar was doing a promotion and giving out $10 in driving credits to members. No dice. After three failed attempts, we decided to meet hubby for happy hour down at 3 Degrees on the waterfront with his med school buddy and his wife. This 3 was the lucky number because we had a lovely dinner (R had the burger, I had the penne--both $3 items).

Of course it was WhatchaWearinWednesday, so we took this shot. The entire day was gorgeous.

Lists, and Loot

2009-07-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Alright, I have a to do list of craft only things that's 2 pages long (they are small pages but 2 of them!) I also have to find a routine for me and this kiddo of mine that lets us both get the sleep we need, while being more domestic, and trying to get out more and/or having more people over to enjoy company. I've been working on this for a while but I get so lazy and put things off for 'tomorrow'. I've made up some excuses like having family in town for a week, and the weather changes, but I decided I can't do that anymore. I have got to get to work and scratch some things off the long list. The most important project at the moment is printing t shirts for the family reunion next month. I am trying something new with them so I hope it all comes together nicely! Once I am done with those I am hoping to get some projects done for me (ie: skirts and dresses) I've been reading this blog and was thinking I should do something similar to her 31 outfits in 31 days. Although looking ahead at the calendar it seems like it would be to overwhelming. At the same time it does sound like a fun challenge and I would love to push myself that way. I certainly have enough supplies to keep me going for a challenge, which brings me to my loot from today.

A lady was having a crazy fabric sale, she is moving and had to get rid of her 20+ boxes of fabric!! There was SOO much, I wish I had taken my camera this morning to show just how much there was. Some was good, some ify, and since I didnt have a lot of time I had to run through it all pretty quickly. I got about 10 yards of different fabrics and some blank t-shirts for $6!!

So now I am off to plan my week and hopefully fit in some projects, friends, cooking, and cleaning, and more projects?! Now that its all written I have to get to it. Right??As for sleep, my day will come soon...

Catching up

2009-07-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have not have much time to post recently but I have been plenty busy. I finally have a moment to catch up and post all the pictures that have been waiting.
Here is R's father day present I made him. Swim short or running shorts which ever he prefers. They came out wonderfully and I had a lot of fun sewing them!

This is the skirt I sewed along with presser foot blog's sew along last month. The pattern was Butterick B4686. I changed the waist band to have the pleats peak up and I think it looks cute. I don't think I will end up wearing this a lot, I'm not sure what it is I don't like but it's something. I also need to hem it!
This is one of my fav. grocery bags! It was so big and sturdy but unfortunately it got beaten up and had a hole near the bottom. So.....

I made this out of the bag. It is a brush case for a wonderful friend who happens to be a wonderful artist. I think it turned out great, and I will prolly have to make a few more of these!
I think that sums it up for now. My in laws are in town for the holiday and we are going to the coast and some other sights around the area this weekend. Should be beautiful weather for it so I am looking forward to it!

Best DADA Ever

2009-06-21T20:54:00.001-07:00

Today T and I spent the morning making pancakes, singing, and dancing waiting for R to get up. After making the yummy pancakes we thought it would be wonderful to make a little cake for dada. We had seen this idea on martha stewarts website and thought it would be fun to make the top of the cake to look like the 16th hole from the masters (its a theme for our lives really). I whipped up the ingredients for a carrot cake only to find out to late that we are all out of carrots! Being in to much a rush to actually go get some, I just used coconut flakes that I had. It turned out to be pretty good, I also added in butterscotch chips and walnuts. The blue icing is obviously the pond, the green and tee are dyed coconut, the little sand traps are grahmcraker, and a little toothpick flag for the hole. We ate that for a late breakfast and headed out to enjoy the sum what sunny day. When we got home we grilled up some wonderful steak, baked some potatoes, and caramelized some onions. It was a fabulous meal only to be topped off by a fabulous desert, raspberries and strawberries in marionberry ice cream (brought to us by our lovely neighbors). I believe he had a delightful first fathers day.

Thank you R, you are the best father I have ever known!

*I also made him a bathing suit which I will have to post later. We didn't have time for pictures.

pie makin' apron

2009-06-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

After looking over my long list deciding what I should do next, I thought it would be fun to do a quick project something that isn't on my list. So I took a thrifted pillow case and turned it into an apron. I have been reading this blog recently and decided to participate in it's latest theme Pie Makin' Apron. I made this pie twice already and the one I ate was amazing! I was out picking more rhubarb to make another, but it started to rain on me so I will have to get more later. The apron was simple, I serged the edges, added a long tie, and used some of the left over ruffle for a pocket. It is pretty long, so I like that it can tie either above the waist or above the bust. It sure is great for makin' some strawberry rhubarb pie:

preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

place in the pie shell: 4 cups diced pink rhubarb. (it's really a
recipe for rhubarb pie. i think i probably used maybe half rhubarb, half strawberry, totalling 4 cups.)

combine and beat:
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks (save the whites for later)
0.5 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons milk
optional 3/4 tablespoon nutmeg

spread these ingredients over the rhubarb.
bake 20 minutes at 400
degrees, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and
bake another 5-10 minutes.

MEANWHILE, while the pie is baking, make the meringue...
whip until frothy: 2 egg whites
add: 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
whip them until they are stiff, but not dry;
until they stand in peaks
that lean over slightly when the beater is removed.
beat in, 1 tablespoon at a time:
3 tablespoons sugar or 4 tablespoons confectioners sugar
do not overbeat. beat in: 0.5 teaspoons vanilla

AT THIS POINT, the pie should have been at
350 degrees for 5-10 minutes.
it still has 10-15 minutes to cook,
but you want the meringue to cook
for 10-15 minutes. so take out the pie,
spread the meringue on it, and
stick it back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes

All in a days work

2009-06-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

I managed to accomplish quite a bit today. I started early and had the whole day to sew. I finished up the Sewn Giveaway prize for Linda and put it in the mail today. I made a hemp clutch with a design on it for her and a little dino (made from eco friendly felt) for her baby on the way. Thanks for playing Linda, I hope you enjoy your gifts.

I also finished a smock dress (obviously didn't iron it) and a surprise project that you can take just a peek at. I'm finishing a lot of things for etsy and hope that I can post all the things shortly. I am having a lot of fun creating everything, and hope I can keep up the momentum.

We have been having just a bit of bad luck today....not really bad luck but just frustration with things that should only take 15 mins but instead take about 5 hours!! Like the itunes not installing correctly and day 2 of R figuring it out he had to call apple support. You know something has gone wrong when he calls for support, seriously the man knows everything about computers...or almost as much as one of my fav. cousins in law does. The other thing was threading a drawsting (part of that secret project) through the waist... it is still sitting there. I have had to seam rip areas to get the safety pin through, and it's just annoying.

Anyhoo... I had a fun day, and I hope you did too.

also I believe it is my friend KJ's birthday, Happy Birthday!!

Distractions

2009-06-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

I made my list last night. It is still being added to at this very moment with things that pop in my head when I look at something random like the camera case that is black that reminded me I wanted to write down to fix R's bag strap. Some things are mending, some are refashions, and others are from scratch. Right now there are 22 things on that list, 12 have to be completed this month! I work well with time lines so I know that I can make it happen. I got some things cut out today but then was distracted with a bbq party and fun photo shoot with baby T. We had a wonderful day soaking up the sun and smelling all the roses. Tomorrow I plan on an inside day and hopefully baby T will help me mark some things off my list.

Lists

2009-06-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

We are back from our trip. Made it home safe and sound, and its good to be home! I have a list a mile long to do but have just been bumming around all day. I think the problem is that my list is all in my head. I can see what has to be done around the house so I have been doing that little by little. The sewing list is what is so long, and I don't even know what is on that list! I will see something online or at home and think "I should write that down, I want to get that done soon" but I don't write it so I lose it until it comes back to me. It's like comedian Mitch Hedberg once said "I sit at my hotel at night, I think of something that's funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen is too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny". So I will go write my long list, and start the projects because it is just to much fun not to!
One thing I know will be on my list is joining in the Presserfoot sew along! I had so much fun sewing the bow tie for the burda style sew along that I have been looking for another one, and bonus this one is for me to keep.

Sewn is up... and I have a winner!

2009-06-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

Random.org generated the number 19...and the winner is...Linda T who said "Count me in - and I do have a baby. One on the way; I don't know if it's a boy or girl yet. That surprise is the most fun of all!"

SO Linda T I have a plan for what you will get, and as soon as I get home this Thursday I will whip it up and put it in the mail to you. I am sending you an email to get your address now=)

Thank you to all who participated! It is fun sharing craftyness... I will post what I send Linda when I get home from this trip.

One more thing SEWN is up and running now so go play around!!

Have a fun day!

Sewn - a fun new australian fashion site

2009-06-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

SEWN is being launched tomorrow or should I say today since on the east coast and several other places it is already June 8th! I'm way late to the party, but better late than never, right? They're having a lot of giveaways, on their site as well as tons of bloggers which end tonight. But since I'm late my giveaway will stay open until midnight Monday PST. I'll post the winner on Tuesday! I'm not even really sure what I'm giving away but I promise it will be good... Think eco friendly fun!! (you can let me know if you have a baby...I will do something extra for the little one)

SEWN will "have just about everything you can think of that you would want online as a sewer. There are forums, online advice from industry experts, conversion charts, colour wheels, free patterns and class listings.

There will be interviews with all your favourite designers, quilters, patterns makers and authors. There will be tutorials with me and with other sewers from here and overseas, podcasts and coverage from shows and articles about all manner of exciting things.

Best of all, there are great unique gadgets - Fabricmatcher, which is an online tool which lets you match patterns to fabrics and see what your project will look like without sewing a stitch, and Find Fabric, which is the niftiest thing that will find the fabric you are looking for without you having to search for it for hours on the internet. It's so clever it even searches shops in your vacinity first to save you on international postage. How cool is that?

Plus there will be an online buy and sell area called SEWiNg, which is where you can sell the stuff you sew to the people out there who don't sew - and some of the ones who do :)"

To enter my giveaway, just leave a comment. (you have until midnight June 8th PST)

Sewing Day

2009-06-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

It was a successful sewing day. I think I completed everything I had planned to. I am starting up an etsy store, getting all the things done that need to be photographed. I won't show you all the tricks I have up my sleeve, but here is a little something I am particularly proud of. I drafted the pattern for these baby pants, great for crawling which baby T has been doing now for a week! I need to tweak one thing when I sew them but for the first pair they turned out GREAT! What do you think? I love the bottom of these pants--it makes it easier to turn them up and get more use out of them as baby gets longer. After a great sewing day R, baby T, and I went to go downtown for a scavanger hunt fittness challange. When we got on the tram it was a nice day out--but when we got off the tram at the base it was crazy windy and looked like rain was going to pour down on us any second. So we headed back home watching the porta pottys and long fences blow over as people stood by taking pictures and trying not to get too much pollen blown in their eyes. All I can say is thank goodness we had the rain cover for the stroller! We made it home right before the rain came but boy was it windy!!

WWW/T

2009-06-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

I had every intention on posting last night for WWW, uploaded all my pics and had everything ready. But instead of writing I sat outside with R and talked the night away. So here it is a day late, I wore my hemp pleated skirt that I made a while ago. It's one of my fav. skirts and I made it without a pattern... which I regret now because I would like to make another one. It couldn't have been that difficult so when I find the time I will have to copy it. I would put a pic of what I am wearing today but really its a tank top and stretch pants, and I can't think of anyone who would want to look at that sight! Today is my sewing day. R takes care of baby T all day! They are outside watering the garden right now. I have a few patterns to make and hopefully will have time to create them. Maybe I will have stuff finished and ready to post again tonight... I will make that my goal! Until then...

sheet shorts

2009-05-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

I wanted to change a shorts pattern I had into something a little more fitting for me, so I needed to make a test pair first. I still had plenty of sheet material from this dress so I made them out of that. They turned out great and I kinda like the shorts in this material, I have already worn them twice. I am wishing I had not used the bright blue zipper....but I don't think anyone can see it. I also made a crafty apron for a crafty friend with scrap materials. I am finally getting into a routine that allows time for sewing and I have a list a mile long, so hopefully I can get things done and post a lot of fun things!

Bestie's Birthday

2009-05-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Baby T's best bud had his first birthday party yesterday. It was outside in the lovely weather and the kids played in the kiddie pools. Baby T had a great time! Birthday boy fell asleep before opening presents but this is what he will see when he opens this one.

gift for mom-mom

2009-05-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

My sister and I made this for our mom while I was at her house. We gave it to mom-mom when we went up to her house. She loved it of course! CC even helped out with the paint, so that made it extra special. The back of the bag says MOM-MOM to give a personal touch...Happy Mothers Day!!

divot

2009-05-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

I am STILL unpacking our house... you really don't realize how much stuff you have until you move. I for some reason have saved the sewing room for last, prolly because it has the most stuff. I plan to get it all set up soon. I do have a lot of crafts to get on with. I was sitting and thinking that I wouldn't get to blog for awhile if I don't get it unpacked, then I went out side to enjoy the sun with Bruno and T, I noticed that Kenny Perry's divot from the 16th tee at the masters is growing. We were handed this by Terry the Fore Caddy we made friends with. We didnt expect anything to happen so it was exciting to see it growing! It's like we have our own little piece of the masters, from the spot where we started our lives as a couple.

Hide your Hooters!!

2009-05-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

My sister and I have a lot of friends having babies these days, so while I was at her house we made a few hooter hiders. I love mine and use it as a blanket, a burp cloth, a changing pad, I even used it on the plane so that T would be able to sleep without all the distractions around her. The one I made for myself way back when I was about 8 weeks prego has boning that happened to bend in the right place. I was thinking it would be nicer to have something that could shape easier and remember a brilliant friend I have had wished hers had wire. So this time around I made them with wire, and it turned out wonderful. I made 5 I think, all reversible. I think I am going to have to take the boning out of mine and change it to wire!!

Expelliarmus!

2009-05-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been a while. I got back home after my trip out east a couple days ago and have been unpacking the house to make it our home. Really I have been procrastinating unpacking and reading the twilight series my fav. sister got me for mothers day. However I got the urge last night to sew a few projects, but I can't because the sewing machine is behind a few unpacked boxes so I decided to put the book down today, for awhile, and start unpacking.
Besides that, I was going to try and blog while I was away but I was having too much fun. I did a few crafts while I was there for my sister, she wanted a few t shirts with some logos on them so I got to it. Here are the photos:

"Nobody puts baby in the corner"
Expelliarmus! (Hogwart's Gryffindor crest)
"You're Killing Me Smalls" from the sandlot

Masters Moon Pie

2009-04-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

At the masters golf tourney you can eat a great meal for about $3.50. Its amazing!! I found this masters moon pie in my hip bag's pocket the other day and was excited to have it as a snack outside of the masters. They offer basic sandwiches and other snacks along with beer and soda. The best combo is to put the chicken breast sandy on the pimento cheese sandy, YUM! I believe my mom came up with that combo. One of the mornings I was there around 6am they were serving breakfast and I decided to put the sausage from the sausage biscuit on the egg salad sandy..... It was delicious!! So if you every find yourself there try these combos, you will be happy you did! Here are a few of the pictures we took from the practice round on wed. april 8th.

The tables with the logos

Arnold Palmer

Justin Leonards kids as caddies

the leader board

Goats, Snakes, Giraffes Oh MY

2009-04-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the zoo today, and stayed for what seemed like a long time. We are all wiped out now! We had so much fun seeing all the giraffes, armidillos, lions, and pigs to name a few. I am here for 10 more days and plan on doing some crafts sooner or later, right now I am just enjoying being with my sister and her kids. I love them!

Sunny Day

2009-04-17T17:05:00.001-07:00

After nap time we went out side to enjoy the sun. My sister has a great swing set out back and all of us were enjoying playing on it. We also drew on the pavement with chalk. C was able to write a part of her name, and fill in all the hearts she could find. We had a blast, and got all of our clothes very messy!

WWW

2009-04-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

So... we made it safely to my sisters house after a weekend of fun in Augusta, GA where we watched the Masters. It was a great game this year, 3 way tie for first with the argentinian, Angel Cabrera, winning in the playoff. We had so much fun! If you were watching, you may have seen us on the 16th tee (yes we like to sit on the very spot we got engaged every year we go). Today we took the kids to get pictures taken in our matching easter outfits. It did not turn out so great.... C (3yr old niece) did not want to be there or wear her dress for that matter. So we are going to try agian when mom-mom is around to distract her. That explains my WWW for the day. Baby T and I dressed in our matching outfits.

Doe Bay highlights

2009-04-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

While I am still enjoying the beautiful scenery of the masters golf tourney, I am also reminiscing about the wonderful time we had in doe bay with all of our good friends! I was looking at photos today and decided to post a few so you could see what fun we had.

frozen lake on the way up to mt. constitution with tree in middle of it
our friends who walked with us
on top of mt. c (the people pictured biked up!)
R and baby T looking at the view from top of mt. c
view from up top mt. c (mt. black in distance)
the subcons playing the first night

Baby T checking out the view from doe bay resort R and baby T enjoying the view from doe bay resort

R and baby T on ferry

anniversary

2009-04-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

4 years ago today I was sitting at the 16th tee at the Masters between rounds with my boyfriend, he looked like he was going to pick something up off the ground and was going to get his pants dirty so I told him to stop. He said wait wait, got down on one knee and asked "mary will you make me merry and marry me?" pulled out a ring box and opened it! I was so excited I pulled the ring out and put it right on my finger, I forget now if I even bothered answering...he could tell from the joy he caused that it was "Yes." 3 years ago today I was getting ready to walk down the aisle at the church I had once upon a younger time mopped the the entire floor of. It was a beautiful rainy day and from my point of view the best wedding I have ever been to! Today we got to take our baby T to the spot where R asked me to marry him. It was a beautiful sunny day and once we dropped baby T back home with a babysitter (first time, I was a reck) we walked the course for the last day of the practice rounds. We all had a blast and it was amazing to see all the pros play with there wifes and children. Now it is time to sleep!! We are worn out from a wonderful day. Happy anniversary R!

doe a deer

2009-04-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we traveled a lot today and are winding down now. Settling in the house in Augusta, GA, going to the practice round tomorrow. It was so wonderful to see my mom and sister and her kids, I missed them so much! Today I was checking some emails and got a few from some of the people we got to share the doe bay trip with. That really was a great trip, so many people came, and so much fun was had. I will prolly have to document it with a stick figure t-shirt=) (thats what I did for our 2nd doe bay trip last year...will post a pic later) We also went through the pics of the trip today and remembered the first day we were there we looked out of our cabin window and saw a little deer. He tinkled and it looked like my dog when he tries to squat (bad hips) The deer saw us and we looked at each other for a while until he ever so gently trotted away. Oh doe bay, what a wonderful place.

doe bay doe bay doe

2009-04-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

Right now I am sitting in the library at doe bay resort, the cafe is upstairs and The Subcons (R's Band) are upstairs playing. T and I came down around an hour ago because we wanted to hear them play and be in a quite setting. She fell asleep the minute we came down here. It has been a wonderful day, we hiked up a mountain (not that far) we went for a dip in the pool, we sat in the bench overlooking the most amazing view while she napped and I read. I am sad to say we leave tomorrow. Last night we listened to the band play in the yoga studio for mostly friends...we had the mustache contest, R won!!! Yay I get to keep my teeshirt =) It was a fun fashion show of facial hair...everyone's was amazing! or rather as amazing as mustaches can be. I have been so busy lately with moving and packing for this trip.. and the next trip (leave in 3 days) I havent had time to post the band's shirts that I printed. Here they are, the drawing is from an old arkansas map that had these men standing with shot guns. R and I transformed them to guitars and they took on the characters that make up The Subcons! I have plenty so if you find yourself just really wanting one of these beauties they are 15 dollas...please feel free to ask! I will post more of our trip when I can...this is the first time I have used the wifi here, and there is not very good service (makes for a more peaceful vacations)

MMMM Champ

2009-03-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know around here we consider march to be Million Man Mustache March. Thanks to a few friends, R decided he should join in on the fun(whoopee). This is a man who can grow a full beard over night(very Italian) so he started about mid month and has a pretty full on 'long schanks/handle bar' mustache going on. Since some of the men playing along will be going up to doe bay with us, I decided I should make a t-shirt for the champion. Not just print on a t-shirt but MAKE one!! Who knew you could make a t-shirt and it would be so easy?? I got the pattern here and whipped it up in no time! I am truly excited about how it turned out and secretly hoping everyone shaves but R before the trip so I can keep it. Here is a pic before I printed on it, and after(you can see the handle bar mustache he's got. OH and it is MOVING DAY today!!! We will be moving the big stuff over and I am pretty excited to get there!

scrubs

2009-03-28T21:19:00.001-07:00

We have had a wonderfully busy week in our home. The move is going great, its been the easiest we have had in a long time. I am still finishing a few projects that have to be done by monday, so that I can help on the big moving day. I just finished the silk screen for the bands t shirts, and will hopefully print them tomorrow. Also after mending R's scrubs last week, I decided he needed a new pair. I finished these a few days ago, and gave them to him today (his birthday) they are made from thrifted sheets. Baby T has a little cold so I have been up long hours and cuddling with her a lot. I am surprised at how much I have gotten done over the past few days and am so excited for my vacations coming up!! first doe bay, second augusta, ga to see the masters with my family! It will be fun.

Happy Birthday My Love!

WWW

2009-03-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Today we packed up a lot of things and took a car load over to the new house. While we were out we went over to the library to have some quite time for baby t, borrowed a few books and came home to pack more. I did not get any projects finished, but I started the work for the bands t-shirts I will be doing this week. And since it is Wed. and I have already changed to my comfy outfit, I'll share my comfy knit house shoes...that need some patchup attention.

Not Finished Yet

2009-03-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be the day I finished all the projects I wanted to get done before we leave for vacation, but it did not go as planned. I did manage to do a lot of stuff, just not what stuff I wanted to do. The only thing I finished was the baby onsie for a friends shower. She is moving to Wisconsin where some family is and so I decided to go with the outline of the state and 'say cheese' saying. It turned out pretty cute I think! The other stuff I did was mostly housework, and I don't think that is all finished either...there are a few diapers waiting to be folded =/ Anyhoo... I will just hope that tomorrow I can get a lot done during the day. Maybe baby T will take a long morning nap, she only just went to sleep about 30 mins ago (its late). So now I have a little over a week to pack for a trip to doe bay, a trip out east and to pack for moving into our new home all by April 1st!!! Wish me luck!

prep for tomorrow

2009-03-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the day out getting the ingredients for carrot cake, and red velvet cake to make for R's joined birthday party with Alison. I made both from scratch and it was crazy. First up the carrot cake- I built up my arm muscles grating carrots!! I also bought to many carrots, looks like we will be cooking with carrots for the next few weeks=) With that in the oven I started the red velvet and ended up with red fingers. I made the coco red dye mixture and it got everywhere!! It's more fun when you get messy right?! Then when everything was baking, I mixed up the frosting. Cream cheesy goodness! I added some blue dye to just a little bit of it and somehow got blue fingers. This is the result. I'm proud of it, its def the prettiest cake and cupcakes I have ever made. I had planned to do a few projects tonight, but it is late and I have a lot to do tomorrow so projects will have to wait until monday!

TA DA

2009-03-20T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today was filled with TO DO's being TA DONE!! There are still a few left to do, mainly things that I need and exacto knife for (I swear I had one somewhere) so I will save those for tomorrow when I can get to the store and get one. I ironed and mended all the scrubs for R, and they really needed it. I made bias tape (with the amazing bias tape tool) for 2 little girl dresses. One of which I will take with me and finish at my sisters, and they other I finished today. The finished one is made from the sheets I used on this dress. Now mommy and baby will match... we will have to find a fun place to go and show our cute selves off, maybe R's b-day party this weekend!! Anyhow, I feel really good about what I accomplished today. I can cross things off the list, and I can start to see packing in my close future. Oh and I also completed a silk screened Tshirt for a friends b-day present. She plays dodge ball and the tshirt is a ball hitting a mans face, with the slogan 'Dodge This'
And I got some inpiration from Grosgrain when I saw her refashion here:
Summer of 69 Thrift Store Refashion Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

WWW #3

2009-03-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

OH jeez its wednesday again?! I'm boycotting this watcha wearin day because it is making me realize I need to stop wearing sweats everyday! Baby T is going to take my place today because she got dressed in real clothes today... not just a button down sleeper but pants and a shirt!! She is so cute in her "p-town" top, white pants, and those puma sock/shoes. Just precious, and she goes along with the theme of left over st. patty's day. I just loved getting out today, seeing people at the bus stops, walking or biking still in their green. They must have had just as good a night as we did. We attended a potluck style party with some friends at the funky church. We all had so much fun with the accordion player playing her irish tunes and eating all the irish food we could. I had made some irish soda bread and attempted to add green food dye but it ended up looking weird (still tasty though). And after staying out a little later then we should have, we came home for bath time and had a great irish sleep!

Paper Crane Frock and Bread

2009-03-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

I made some bread the other day. It was so much fun, and turned out lovely. I ate almost the entire loaf with nothing on it, but today I made a turkey, hummus, lettuce, mustard, avocado sandwich on it and it was soooo yummy! I can do a lot with a sewing machine but i am just realizing what i can create in the kitchen. I've got a long way to go but I'm gettin there.

Also here is another lovely creations found on the blog grosgrain. Such beautiful dresses!!
Paper Crane Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sheets

2009-03-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

I finished this dress made from sheets today, it is so comfortable I have been wearing it around the house all day long! It has buttons down the front which are great for easy access while I'm nursing. I am really happy with how it turned out.

I also did a little side project while baby was sleeping and bruno the dog was barking at my heals. I made him some rain booties! He didnt mind wearing them... it was raining today and he was happy to be dry. Other than that I still have a lot of projects going on, and hope to finish them within the week.

Things for Easter

2009-03-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

I just finished appliqueing some polos I picked up at the good will. These are for our Easter photo, and they match my nephews shirt I made as well as the little girls dresses I made for niece and baby T. I had to take in R's(my husband) just a little but all in all it was a fun easy project.

I am also done with baby T's dress that I am very happy with. I feel like I kept putting it off, mostly because I couldnt decide which dress to make, in the end I went with this cute smock style. Its the first time I have used bias tape in a while and I forgot how lovely that is to work with. I am looking forward to a busy next couple of weeks, and I will keep you posted on how things develop.

WWW #2 and more aprons!

2009-03-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Last night my sister called and asked if I could make a cow print apron for the new Commanding Officers Wife(COW) . Of course I took the challenge and ran to the fabric store. I put the finishing touches on them this morning, even while not feeling that well. I had enough cow print to make 2 aprons so I figured she could keep it for the next COW. So here are those pictures as well as the other now finished aprons I made for her and her friend. It's also watcha wearin wednesday so I have included a picture of my drab outfit of sweatpants and hoody and my best accessory baby T!! Who is wearing a pink lady bug sleeper and a I heart NY onsie =)

Bow Tie

2009-03-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today I finished the bamboo bow tie for the sew along. It was a really fun little project! I wouldn't have had the urge to make a bow tie otherwise, so I am happy I got the chance. They both turned out great, I made one to keep, and I will send the other one in. I'm not really sure how to tie a bow tie but I did my best. I'm still working on T's dress for easter, and I have added another project for our easter pic. This one should be a quick project, so it wont be long til I post it.

Nephews shirt

2009-03-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

I finished my nephews shirt last night. It was just a basic button down pattern I have done on a larger scale many times before. It was fun to do everything so little. My fav. part is the applique, a deer cut from the dress material I used for my niece and T. I think we will have one of the cutest easter pictures ever! I can not wait to go visit them, I can't stand that they are 3000 miles away! So now I have to finish T's dress, and a few other projects.

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress

2009-03-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is a wonderful blog! She is an amazing seamstress, and she has many many giveaways of her work and other things beautiful. I will probably be posting more and more of her amazing things.
I suggest you head over to her blog and check it out, enter a few. But if you win this dress you have to give it to me=)

WWW watcha wearing wednesday

2009-03-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Today is a basic t shirt and jeans day, like every other day these days. At least I got out of my pj's! We had a 4 month check up today that went great, except for those shots, why oh why do they have to give babies shots! anyhoo, this is what i am wearing on this wonderful wednesday.

I am still working on projects, no great progress to report on. And now I am going to go relax a little bit before baby wakes.

Great Day

2009-03-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful day today! Baby T woke up early so she and I cuddled up together for a while. We got dressed and went for a nice walk. We came back and got dinner going in the crock pot with a recipe from the crock pot lady. Then we left to go see a friend and had a great time playing. Molly our friend, was so sweet. She shared everything with T, even tried to feed her some of her oatmeal! It was so much fun. Then we went in to quickly visit with Molly's mommy while she was at work. We got home and played with dada and bruno and have just been hanging around since then. What fun we had... only I did not get any of my projects done, woops!
to top off our great day, everyone is coming over for dinner tonight =)

happy b- day dr.

2009-03-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

Today is Dr. Suess' 105th birthday! We decided to celebrate by reading I wish I had duck feet while wearing our knitted duck feet that a friend made for us. We also plan to start on my nephew's shirt and T's dress for our easter photos. My niece already has her bamboo printed dress, T's will be the same bamboo material, different style, and my nephews will be green bamboo with an aplique to match the girls. It looks like we will have a fun day!!

a request

2009-03-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

Last month I created custom t shirts and bags for a military auction. The t shirt went for $20, and the bag went for $25. They were very fun to make and I hope I can do something for there next one. The bag I created was wonderful, based on my fav.

shopping bag, I will make many more of those! Someone at the auction thought it was an apron from a glance, and asked my sister (whom this was all for) if she could get me to make him one.

So here it is, without their emblem printed, I made it with red thread to match there color scheme (red and black). The bag and apron material is untreated cotton the shirt is american apparel. If you have any custom logos you would like printed on t shirts, homemade bags, or anything else you can come up with, I am always up for a project!