Been a While

'Member how I used to blog? Yeah, then I just stopped for months! Lame, I know. I've been doing a lot of thinking about making, but just not getting around to the actual making part. Some things I've been thinking about making...

Bakerella's Pillow Cookies (brownie and chocolate chip cookie all in one? Yes, Please!)

Home made basil pesto, with my home grown basil, which hasn't died! I'm not the best at keeping plants alive, but the Rock Star pretty much tends the garden, so this stuff is thriving.

I am in LOVE with these overalls. The print, the bow, the ruffles on the bottom? C'mon! I want to try and copy them. Mom, you may be getting some sewing related phone calls soon.

I'm also feeling so inspired by all the upcycling people are doing in the blog world, turning old and boring clothes into new and fabulous clothes. I have a few pieces set aside that will hopefully get a make-over soon. In the mean time, here are links to some of my favorites

1. Katies Scandalous to Fabulous Skirt

2. Ashley's Stained Shirt turned Shrug

3. Katie's Liberty Shirt Turned Skirt

4. Jess's Floral Refashion

5. Nancy's T-shirt Skirt

I Could Make That...

Oh man, I say that a lot when I'm shopping, or see something I like on a blog. The question is not whether I could, but whether I'd ever actually get around to it! But that was the first thing I thought when I saw these lovely, yet prohibitivly expensive letter blocks from the MOMA Store.


Cute, right? But they're $120.00! Don't get me wrong, I totally respect paying for a quality designed beautiful product. I just can't always afford it. So I might have to go the thrifty route and make some similar ones out of cute craft paper and modge podge. Nancy, you're my resident modge podge expert, what do you say?

Nursery Tour

Well, I finally did it, I finished the nursery! I wanted to make as many things in here as possible, so that's why it took me so long. And you thought I was just being lazy!

We'll begin our virtual tour where you first enter the room. On our left are two wall mounted shelves (painted with the help of the lovely and talented Nancy). Here we find a few familiar faces, the elephant shrew, the dachshund lamp, and Karla's elephant, along with a few new faces that include some toys that belonged to my husband as a child.

Moving on to the second shelf, is a stuffed owl I made, a pink rubber duck (everyone needs one of those, right?) and soft letter blocks that my mom helped me finish.

Below the shelves is an white dresser that I made into a changing station. I made the pad using some vinyl coated fabric I purchased at Corn Wagon in Springville (they have the cutest vinyl coated fabric around, if you're in the market) and I got the pad inside at JoAnn's. I also made pockets to go on either side to hold all my diaper changing necessities.

As we continue our way around the room, on the next wall hang a couple of needle point pieces that my grandpa made a long time ago. (Yes, grandpa! He was one of my biggest crafting inspirations.) Next to those is a nice bright window with a patchwork curtain. This was actually the first decor item I made for the room, and was the fabric inspiration for most everything else, including something hanging from the ceiling to our right.

The mobile! I made the birds for the mobile using a pattern I found here, and I attached them to an embroidery hoop, trimmed with pom-poms, fabric, and ribbon. I got the idea to use pom-poms from Lovely by M's mobile. And my mom helped make the bias tape that covers the hoop.

Below the mobile is the crib, a gift from my husband's parents. Hanging on the side of the crib are a couple of afghans my husband's grandma made, and a quilt from Nancy is there to prevent soothie's from falling behind the crib. Yes, this happened once in the middle of the night. Not fun. Around the base of the crib is a crib skirt that is made using the same fabrics as in the curtain. (Okay, so part of the reason everything is made out of the same fabrics, is, well, I bought way too much. I'm really bad at trying to figure out how much fabric I need for a project, and tend to buy about twice as much as I need. Let's just say, I still have more. Maybe I'll make a quilt or something.) To the right of the crib is a painting I did in high school, that happens to co-ordinate with the room. Awesome.

And down inside the crib is the best part of the nursery. :)

Thanks to everyone who helped me finish all my projects!

Little Joys for You!

My uber talented friend, Karla, is doing a lovely give-away on her blog, Little Joys. This girl has serious skills in all things crafty. Just look at the baby present she made me!

Remember what my stuffed elephant looked like?

Yeah, she's good. So be sure to check out her blog and enter her giveaway!

Online Fabric Sale

Lot's of cute fabric and notions on sale here.

Found out about the sale here.

Free Downloads

Just found this blog, Heirloom Paperie, via How About Orange. They have a free template download every Tuesday. Cute stuff! I might just have to plan a party so I can use the invitation template from yesterday.

New Years Day = Sewing Day

The rockstar was gone all day Thursday. He drove all the way to St. George with friends just to go golfing and drive back. He's crazy, but that's why we love him! So I spent the day sleeping in and sewing. I know, it doesn't look like much when I say I spent the whole day, but I'm not the best seamstress. There's a lot of unpicking and re-doing involved when I sew. Plus, I was making up the patterns as I went, which means even more unpicking and re-doing. But I'm happy with the end product.
First, I made new Christmas stockings. Yeah, Christmas is over, but I knew if I left it until next year it wouldn't happen. We've previously just been using generic red and white stockings. I like these much better. I got the fabric and trim at JoAnn's.

I also made a new purse. My old one was getting pretty dingy. I got the fabric at the fabric store in Gardner Village, and made the pipping out of spare fabric. It's pretty small, but it fits everything I need, and has a special pocket inside that's the perfect size for my phone. The orange looks pretty bright in the pictures, but it's not quite so psychedelic in person.

Handmade Christmas...Again

I've sent out this years Christmas cards.

I made a stamp using one of these and some carving tools I hijacked from my mom. My oldest sister always says she wishes I would send a picture, but she just saw me so I figured she didn't need one.

Shamless Sibling Promotion

My incredibly talented, beautiful, nice, funny, sister Nancy is selling some of her famous bags! And if you're lucky, you get a pendant to go with it. Hurry! And if they're all gone by the time you get there, tell her you want one. It makes us crafters feel good to know that people like our stuff. That's why we blog! The green one's my favorite, and you can see more pictures on her blog. Check it out!

A Little Stitch

I made some more embroidered onsie's for another pregnant sister! Becky is a fan of all things beach, so I decided to go with a ocean theme on these. My favorite is the octopus.

Craft for the Road

So remember how I said I wanted to learn how to embroider? Well my sweet and talented mother, from whom I have learned pretty much everything, said she would teach me. I embroidered some little baby shirts for my sister who's expecting her third boy. I just found images on the Internet that I liked, printed them in the size I wanted, and traced the image onto the shirt using a washable marker. Then I just followed the lines using the stitches my mom taught me. I learned in the car on the way to Waterton, and actually did two of the three in the car on the way home. I'm definitly a beginer, but it was fun to learn, and I think they turned out pretty good.

I'm looking for a teacher...

I've been admiring a lot of hand embroidered things lately, and I want to learn how. Does anyone know how to embroider? I mean, it seems like it's probably pretty self explanatory, but you never know.

Picture found here via here.

Going Once, Twice, and Sold!

Last night I was in charge of a service auction at church. I was able to make some cute auction paddles with the help of Karla, who loaned me her Martha Stewart stamps. I might have to buy some myself!
I also made a few items to put up for bid: a Chocolate Cheesecake, a Plain Cheesecake, and a pair of earrings (and Michelle was the lucky winner of the earrings!).

She's Crafty!

Come one, come all to the first ever monthy Craft Night, this Wednesday at 7:00pm in Provo. This month we are making throw pillow covers at Karla's House. Check out her blog for details and to sign up!

Image found here.

Conference Weekend

Had another lovely Conference Weekend. There were some great talks, and it was wonderful to hear from our new Prophet and new apostle. I think my favorite part about Conference weekend is that it is spent with family. I usually try to keep my hands busy while listening, so I made a new necklace.
It's a turquoise pendant with faceted citrine nuggets. I actually bought the citrine beads this weekend at a bead fair in Salt Lake. I went with my mom during the priesthood session. They were a little spendy, but too pretty to pass up! They're quite large (the turquoise pendant is about 1.25" diameter to give you an idea) so it's a pretty bold piece, but the design is still simple.

I also went for a walk with Brian on Saturday afternoon to take pictures for photography class. Here's a picture that I took:
And here it is after some Photoshop action:

And here it is after A LOT of photoshop action:

The second one is my real assignment. The third one was me showing Brian all the cool things you can do with photoshop. Please note the twinkle in the eye, and the bling on the finger. I think I'm better at the jewelry "art" than the photography "art", but it's been a fun class.

*Spell check does not recognize the word "bling".

Calling all Local Girls...

So my good friend Karla is really great at planning things and making them happen. I'm more of a dreamer myself, but Karla gets it done and does it fabulously! She has decided to start a Ladies Craft Night, where once a month we get together and learn from each other. Doesn't that sound awesome? I can't wait to see what she comes up with to teach the first month. Read more about it on her blog here, and sign up! Here are a few pictures of some of Karla's sweet skills. She made this package of beautiful things for me as part of a "Pay it Forward Swap". Here's the description:

PAY IT FORWARD: I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (so, you must have a blog to participate.) I can't wait to see who I will be giving to. To join, just cut and paste and comment away. so get posting.

Now that she's given me my package, it's my turn to pay-it-forward to three people. Anyone interested in this swap comment on this post and let me know! And go sign up for Karla's Craft Night so you know how to make something awesome!

*Just a clarification, you need to be a "local girl" to be a part of Ladies Craft Night, but not for the swap.

Big Finds at the Bead Show

Last weekend I went down to sunny AZ (oh, it was beautiful!) to visit family and go to the International Gem and Bead Show in Tucson. It was awesome, as always. I spent all of Friday with my mom and two sisters perusing isle after isle of beads and gems. I make most of my bead purchases for the year at this show. There are thousands of booths literally piled high with strands of beads and gems. It's somewhat mind boggling. Here are pictures of some of my purchases:

(clockwise from the top left: dyed jade, dyed jade, opal, chalcedony, rose quartz)

(clockwise from the top left: dyed jade, dyed jade, pink peruvian opal)

(left to right: garnet, carnelian, citrine, apatite, moonstone, black garnet)

One of the purchases I'm most excited about was actually not beads, and was my least expensive purchase....

A neck!

I've re-taken pictures of the three necklaces I have for sale in my etsy shop because they look so much better hanging on the neck. What do you think?