A new toy...

Santa did a good job this year thanks to my rad sister-in-law.  She planted a little seed in my mom's ear that this was something a crafty girl might like to have. I think I have the best sister-in-law ever basically (and not just because she knows how to plant good gift seeds in my mom's ear-she's actually really fantastic anyway)

I freaked out when I opened the box since I've never mentioned one to my mom before and I couldn't figure out how she even knew what it was in order to think to get it for me.  I believe I've entered every bloggity giveaway for one of these because I would never really allow myself to entertain the luxurious notion of actually buying one.  There are just too many other more practical things I feel like we need to buy so I never have even really contemplated putting it on my wish list.  

Now my dilemma is hooking everything up in a non cluttered way in my little studio corner.  My Bernina embroidery machine uses a computer and so does the Cameo.  Unfortunately my Bernina software isn't made to work on any Windows operating system after XP (which no one sells computers that run that anymore) and the computer that I've used thus far is so darn old and ssssllllllooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

 I'd rather not use it.  I found a website that said how I can still do it on our Toshiba laptop that runs Vista but so far I haven't been able to get it to work. Blah. 

But I'm really excited to get to playing with it!  

Homemade Gifting

I posted previously about this idea for homemade mugs and it just seemed like a great gift idea.

I went to Goodwill and picked up two white mugs and for family night we set to work.  Luckily my husband has a collecting bug so we had basically every color of permanent marker available on the market.  In the original post I got it from they just used black markers but I thought color would be more fun for the boys.

I also took some creative liberties with the directions and instead of using carbon paper to trace the pattern on the mug I used masking tape and a scrapbooking cutter dealie (not really sure of the official name of the thing, a razor blade I guess) and cut out the letters to create a negative space cutout of the letters we were doing.

(does that make sense?) I figured that would make it easier for my little guys (3 1/2 yrs old and 18 months) to keep things looking like letters.  It worked like a charm and they just colored to their hearts' content and then we peeled off the tape and there were the letters.

It was a fun project and I think my little C had a great time doing it.  Highly recommend this activity.

Ideas for a homemade Christmas: Design Mom via SouleMama

Image from SouleMama.com

I saw this really cute idea over on SouleMama yesterday and I thought it would make a great Christmas craft for my kids.  Here's the original link up over at Design Mom.

I think when we try it I might try to use contact paper or maybe even a wide masking tape since my guys are so little.  I don't know that the carbon paper would work for us.

A season of hope and miracles

This morning an old friend from high school is giving birth to her sweet baby Anna Joy.  This pregnancy started as a miracle and despite the bumps in the road, we pray for another miracle today.  Their faith is so inspiring and as a mother, particularly a pregnant mother her story is particularly precious and heartwrenching.  She's been on my mind all morning as I'm praying for strength for all that my friend and her husband will be facing today.

If you feel so inclined, read her story and join me in prayer for this sweet little family.

http://www.babyannajoy.blogspot.com/

A new baby snuggler

The other day I was at the fabric store looking for some great fabrics to make a snuggle quilt for a new little baby girl of a friend of my parents.

I saw this whole line in a little shelf and fell in love immediately.  I bought a quarter yard of each right there.

We were going to be with my parents for Thanksgiving so it would be a great time to pass it on to her rather than having to wrangle two little ones at the post office to mail it so I stayed up late last night to finish it.

I really liked the end result.  Its not as large as a typical quilt and not as small as a typical snuggle quilt.  I like to think of it as large enough for a little one to sit under and snuggle with but small enough to tote around without being too cumbersome.

Minkey is a tricky and stretchy little monkey to work with and because of that and the fact that I didn't stop and iron like I usually do it ended up a little scrunchy which I actually kind of like.  It gives it a puffier look without adding the weight of puff.

Its super soft and snuggly and I think this is going to be the pattern for a baby quilt for our new little one.

Back in the saddle..

Lately the blahs and the blech's of that first trimester of pregnancy have been letting up a little and I can feel my spark back.  I've started having little ideas of projects I might like to pick up again.

And it feels good.

A week or so ago Joshua brought home a box of blank lab coats for a friend of his from work and asked if I'd embroider the doctor's name on them.  Josh ordered some for himself a month or so ago and I guess he's started a trend at the clinic.  

It felt good to bust out the embroidery machine and get to doing something creative. 

And that gift certificate the doc gave us for doing it for him will be fun to spend together too.

Here's to starting to feel like myself again!

The Cog and Wheel: Complete!

And just to show that there's no need for concern from my last post, here's the Cog and Wheel.

Did I sound depressed or something in my last post?  My dad called this morning to make sure I was okay after reading it so maybe I did?  Unintentional I assure you.  The truth is I'm 7 weeks pregnant and feeling a serious case of the blahs.  This happened with my last two pregnancies.  The first trimester it seems all my creative energy gets poured into my uterus instead of my sewing machine.

Never fear, it passes along with the first trimester.

Anyway.

 Here she is!  Complete and all quilted up and ready for snuggling sweet little ones in.

I love how bright and cheery it turned out.  The yellow felt a little risky but in the end, I really like it.

And while we're here, let me take a moment to draw your attention to the book on my nightstand

This one.  Its called 31 Dates in 31 Days and it was written by a friend of mine from my NYC days.

Check it out here on Amazon.  Its fantastic, a true story and will leave you feeling like you just spent time with your best girlfriend in some great girl talk.

And here she sits in her new official spot in the playroom.  She's the snuggle with mama on the rocker and read quilt.

We're all quite glad she's finally done!

Today I'm linking up with: