Holiday Card

I cheated a little on this card. I used a pre-made template from 2 Peas. I tweaked some of the colors a little and added the message at the bottom. I'll post pics from the photoshoot I did the other day. There was one - ONE - useable picture. My daughter was cooperative, but my 2 y/o boy was definitely not into sitting to have his picture taken. It was a nice cloudy day, which made for good colors and no heavy shadows under the eyes.

Back to sewing and scrappin'

This has been a productive weekend in terms of hobbies (now grading is another story). I spent four hours at the scrapbooking store with friends on Friday and got a total 5 12X12 pages done. Last night I finally got my first digi pages sent of to be printed. It's been over a year since I started. I need to see what they're going to look like. I also finished a couple pages that are posted above. They were quick and dirty, but I still like them.

I also worked on a skirt I cut out a while back. It's Vogue 8461. I has taken me a long time to get this project going. It's made from $2 a yard teal poly gorgette-like fabric from Joann's. I decided to serge the edges before sewing the skirt together, which might have been a mistake. I think it stretched one of my side panel pieces out of shape on the curve b/c the top of the two seams didn't line up. It's all good, though. I can straighten it out.

The instructions said to clip the seams on the front, but I didn't need to do that. Don't know why. Once I'm done w/the skirt, I may decide that the seams are not flat and clip. In the meantime, I don't want to mess with my serging.

Halloween Costume

I'll be making this for my Halloween Costume. I'm making it out of felt, not fleece, though, which saved me lots of money, but will affect the quality of the project. I have cut out the yellow and hope to do the black and lining this weekend. I'm skipping the hood; I plan on buying some of those headband antenna.

Some old pages

These are some of my first digital pages. They're a little crudy, but I like their simplicity. They're for the Disney album I'm making my parents.

Disney Book Rejuvenated

It's been a year since my parents took us to Disneyland. I need to get the book finished so that I can get it to my parents. Here's a page I put together today. I'm trying to keep the book simple - mostly blacks or whites and not overly bejeweled. This was a fun page to put together. The images are all brushes from the free "Proud to Be Digital" kit from twopeas. TFL!

Beading Digi Page

I created this this morning. I used the Martha Stewart freebie kit from twopeasinabucket.com. I was following their digital weekly challenge, which was to play with the paint brushes. I used the paint brushes a lot, but I wanted to use one I hadn't used before. The green circles underneath the title is a paint brush stroke that I think simulates the bead effect. TFL!

A bag and a new hobby

This is the bag I made using the tutorial I found online for the grocery bag pattern. You basically use a plastic bag as your pattern. I used a pair of DH's pants that had a tear in the tush area too large to patch. I thought he'd like the bag for shopping, but after he scoffed at the idea, I decided to girly the bag up by using a butterfly fabric for the lining, then fussy cutting some butterflies and embroidering a swirly design. I like it. So does DD who has inherited the bag.

As it turned out, the pants legs were not wide enough to use the pattern in full, so it's not really as big as it could be.

More pics:

I plan on making some more of these this month.

Now, I need a new hobby like a need a tall glass of acid, but here it is. I made my first piece of jewelry. Long story short: It's a very simple bracelet made to go with the blue top I made. I want to make some earrings to go with it. I'm hooked, though. I want to make more.

And here is DD making her anklet at the bead store.

Finally, A Finished Project

I finished my Simplicity 4076 top. I LOVED this pattern. It was easy and fast to put together. Plus, it looks nice. I used a soft rayon knit I found at Joann's for $2 a yard. I couldn't believe I found something that wasn't polyester and at such a great price. I made a size 14 in the shoulders and tapered up to a 16 in the hips. I added 1 inch for length because I wanted a longer style, and because of that addition, I add a quarter inch to the bottom width. It fits great and feels nice.

The one mistake I made was not basting the back neck area, as the instructions directed. As you can see in the pic below, I stretched out the neckline, but at least my hair hides it, and I'll be more careful with the next top.

This is the "right" side of the fabric, which I used as the wrong side. It has a bit of glitter in it which, believe it or not, actually detracted from the vibrance of the rich blue color. Fortunately, it doesn't itch at all.

A simple page redux

I reformatted the text in this version of the page I posted last. I can't figure out how to get Photoshop to both right and left justify text, so I did it on my own with spaces and font sizes. I think it looks a lot better than the previous. I'm not sure I like the fuzzy picture border, since the rest of the page is clean-lined. Comments are welcome.

A simple page

This is a digi page I made this afternoon. I wanted something clean, where the focus is on the content, although I am thinking I might want to add an embellishment like a ribbon between the journaling panel and the picture/title panel. Suggestions are welcome.

New Sewing Projects

Finally, school is pretty much over for me, with the exception of some projects here and there. That means I can start thinking about sewing. I haven't been able to do much for months and am looking forward to playing in my sewing area again. So this morning, I cleaned up my sewing area and made a list of some projects I'd like to complete:

• Curtains for the bedroom (Had the fabric for 2 years, time to get on it)
• A couple shirts for me
• Another Ottobre outfit for DD
• Barbie clothes for DD
• A dress for me

The list was longer, but I edited for a reality check.
What's up first? Barbie clothes for DD. She wants to help. I'm not sure what to do with her at this point. She's five and is getting to where she can do some things, but Barbie clothes require some precision. Yesterday, my friend cut out a couple items with DD and they "sewed" one of the pieces with fabric glue. Much to my surprise, it worked quite well. I may just do some gluing myself, and then DD can help with that.




For me, I am going to make one of the following two tops:

Both tops have gotten great reviews on patternreview.com. For the McCall's 5586, I plan to make make view A, the read shirt. I love how they embellished. Fun, but not too over the top. For Simplicity 4076, I plan to make the short sleeved version with the gathered neckline. I'll probably lengthen it a little, since the reviews indicate that it runs short, at least according to current styles.

Birthday Page

This is a page I made for my DD's birthday party. It was very quick and easy to put together. I used paper from 2 Peas and a Photoshop Elements template.

Picnic LO

I whipped out another page. This one was created with nothing but photos and the Two Peas overlay from the fall botanicals kit. Simple and a little more time efficient. I think I'm going to reorganize my layers so that the photos in the upper right hand corner are under the overlay.

Graduation 2008

Here's a layout I did with my pictures from graduation this year. I'm trying to work on making pages that I like but that also have more than two pictures on them. Our school colors are blue and white. It wasn't easy finding a background that I liked that had the right colors.

The photo of the students grouped together melts my heart! Their joy and beauty is indescribable.

I'm thinking that I need to add more of the painted border around the smaller pictures. Comments, anyone?

Back to Digi Scrapping

Here's the first digi page I have done in literally months. I thought digital scrapbooking would take less time than traditional scrapbooking. It takes at least as long to do digital pages. This one shown here is all made from Shappy Princess Sun Porch free downloadable kit. I still have yet to print any of my digital pages. I want to discuss it first with someone who has used a couple different companies. I want to make sure I'm getting my money's worth and that a half inch of my page won't be cropped out. Anyway, this page is simple, yet still took some time. I wanted to do it in blue and white, since it consists of pictures from graduation, but I am cheap and didn't want to buy any more kits right now.

Ottobre outfit

Within the next week, I hope to writing my review for patternreview.com, but here is belated pic of the full Ottobre outfit I made. My daughter insisted that her friend be in the picture with her.

Invitations

Thought I'd share the party invites I made for the birthday party for my daughter and her friend. (We did a shared party at the park, since their birthdays are two days apart and since we share the same group of friends.) I had fun creating it. My one problem was that the text in the circle looked readable on screen, but when printed was tiny and too faint. One of those things you get better at the more you do.

I needed the invitations to work for my 5 y/o girly girl as well as a quiet, shy 3 y/o boy whose parents are very earthy and not into licensed characters. The boy wears a lot of orange, so I went with an orange and purple basic color scheme.

Up and Coming

As soon as I have the time, I'll post pics of the completed Ottobre outfit I made my daughter and the corduroy tote I'm making for me out my husband's old pants. In the meantime, here's what I plan on making next with a stretchy, cheap knit I bought off the clearance rack at Joann's a month or so ago. It's simplicity 3775. According to patternreview reviewers, it's both easy and flattering.

Next up: grocery bag

Forgot to mention my next project. I'm going to make a grocery bag using a pair of DH's old corduroy pants and this tutorial: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.0. I may choose to use a cuter fabric later, but it seems too timely that DH's pants ripped, I did my consumerism talk, and I found this pattern.

Sometimes projects just hit you in the face.

Been doing some sewin'

Sew happy to be sewing again! I forgot how much I enjoy it. I spent a great deal of my spring break sewing. I made DD's Ottobre "Hug" T-shirt and am still working on the coordinating skirt. I posted the pattern in my last blog.

Right now I'm working on the skirt from the Ottobre pattern I posted earlier. Here is a close-up of the front skirt pieced together. It's been a lot of fun putting this together. I'm hoping to finish it sometime in the next couple days. I'm a very slo-o-o-w seamstress, so I won't hold my breath. Here's a close up of the shirt binding.

And here's a picture of the finished shirt. DD loves it and wore it two days in a row, which is nice, considering that she doesn't always like what I sew for her.

Up Next

I got tired of waiting to finish the skirt that isn't working out so well. So, today, I cut out the pattern for the outfit on the right. The top will be a pink interlock purchased at Joann's with a black and white gingham binding. The skirt will be various black and white prints. I only had to purchase the binding for the top. Everything else was in the stash.

I have to admit that so far I'm not that impressed with Ottobre. It took me forever to figure out what to trace, where to add and where not to add, and to actually trace and then cut the pattern. The fabric is still in folds. I'm sure next time it will be faster, and I've promised myself that if I like these two patterns, I'll sew them as much as I can until DD outgrows them.

Now, that Butterick skirt . . . it's a dud. It isn't pulling together. I ended up taking four total inches off the circumference. And, as it turns out, it isn't a very good marriage of fabric to pattern. The skirt just shoots off at my hips and continues to shoot out . I look like I'm part bell. Not flattering. I do still plan on finishing it. You know how sometimes things just pull together once they're hemmed? I'm holding out for that.

Haircut page

This is a page I worked on tonight. It completely transformed from its original layout and color scheme. Not sure what I think. I'm open for suggetions.

More Traditional pages

Scrapbooked a week or so ago at the school for a fundraiser for the culinary program. It was four hours with lunch in the middle. Seems like a lot of time, but it only meant a few pages when all was said and done. I got some pages for my son's 1st year album done.

Light Parade Part II

I think I finally got this page done. The pictures don't seem to want to look nice in a layout. I played with this for hours and finally decided on this version. I'm looking forward to moving on to more fun layouts. Sometimes they just don't seem to come together well.

Hopefully, I'll get this Disney album done soon so that I can give it to my mom for her birthday or mother's day.

Play House 12X12

I'm not sure how much I like this layout. I changed the background about five times, changed the layout, changed the embellishments. Something isn't quite working, but I'm not sure what it is. The paper and embellishments are from Sande Krieger from 2 Peas.

Baby Shower Invitation

This is a baby shower invitation I made for my friend's shower. The funky pregnant chick and the snowflake overlay all came from 2 peas. It was fun to make.

Snow Day

This is a digital page I made recently. I used a hodge-podge of kits, all from 2 Peas. I'm not sure if I like the font choices. Feedback would be appreciated. The page was fun to make, but it took longer than you'd think.

Friday Night Crop

Friday night, I had a crop-night with my girlfriends. We went to dinner and to the scrapbooking store in town. If you're ever in Carson City, check out County Purr Farm. It's a great store and a ton of fun hang out place.

I got very little accomplished - two single-page spreads and two cards, a veteran's Valentine's day card and this simple, thrown together card. The veteran's card will be mailed to a veteran. Thanks to County Purr Farm for giving us that opportunity.

The pages are for my son's first year album. They're of his 1 year birthday party.

Wish I had gotten more accomplished, but - hey - something's better than nothing.

This is a page I made this morning. I had a lit of trouble with it, trying to figure out what looked best. I started with a black background, and the pics looked really flat. So I played around and finally decided to use the a bit of one of the pictures as the background. I just now realized I need to fix the edges of the lower left hand picture. It has only partially been softned to blur into the background. The l/o will hopefully look a little more cohesive when that's done. All in all, I don't really like this page, but until I think of something better, it will have to do. I am open for suggestions.

Another Disney Page

I am enjoying posting to my blog every day, even though I'm the only one who reads it. Maybe some day someone will go back and read these posts. In the meantime, it's like my online journal, only with more moderating whining.

This is one of the pages I made for the Disney album.. I like the way it came out. I had forgotten I was doing an 12 X 12 album and did some 8X10 layouts. Oh, well. I can print them as 12X12. For some reason I think the 8X10 is more aesthetically pleasing.

Digi scrapping = fun