Thursday, January 29, 2009

Win a Valentine Sock Monkey Shirt!

My first giveaway on another blog! This adorable blog from a customer of mine is having a giveaway - win one of my Valentine Sock Monkey Shirts for your little one!

Visit Jackson and Jacob to check it out!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

My studio...the growing stash.

About eight months ago, I thought it would be fun to post a "tour" through my sewing studio. I often look back on that post and realize that my fabric buying has increased exponentially in the past year.

I have ideas swimming through my head on a daily basis, and I'll spot a fabric that fits with one of the ideas and, well, there goes $20. I rarely buy just one piece, often coordinates, and often at least a yard. It gives me options, especially if I don't know exactly what the project will be with the particular fabric.

I thought it was time for a "re-tour" of the studio...to see what's changed. My hubby thinks the fabric multiplies like rabbits.

From the entrance:

Walk around the white cutting table, turn to the right and...

Look a little to the left to see the back of my sewing machine (swoon, I love my machine):


And, turn around 180 degrees to see the ironing area, with drawers packed full of my other hobbies:

And newly added...head out the door of my studio, and just in the hallway is my new shipping area! My dad made the table many years ago, and I love it. I'm so excited to have a dedicated area for shipping. I'm sure I'll add more shelving and such as I determine my needs, but for now, this is perfect.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Cupcake Snack Bags!

Computer problems today, took forever to get everything uploaded and posted, but I'm so excited about this cupcake set! Each bag is listed individually, so you can buy one, two, or all five!

Enjoy!
:)

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Going Green with Sandwich Bags

We've really started to make a lot of eco-friendly changes in our house...and a few weeks ago I was noticing the abundance of Ziploc bags that I was using. Every time I leave the house with my two young boys, I bring snacks. The 3-year-old gets an apple or some cookies or goldfish. The 1-year-old gets cheerios, graham crackers, maybe some soybeans. We always have something to snack on, and it was always in a plastic baggie.

I realized how wasteful I was being and knew there were better options out there. So I made some reusable baggies. Cute prints, lined with waterproof PUL (polyurethane laminated knit - used in cloth diaper making), and with a hook and loop closure (Velcro).

If they get dirty, they just drop in the washing machine (and can be put in the dryer too). Since they're lined with a waterproof material, it's easy to tote around healthy snacks like carrots, apples, soybeans, and more.

My studio has been buzzing with sandwich bag creation - so I thought I'd post a few photos!

(You can see these and more bags in my Etsy shop)







Photos.

I got a new camera in 2007. It is nice, really, really nice. It takes fantastic, high quality photos. And those photos take FOREVER to upload. Like hours. So I got behind in uploading photos. Then Small Fry was born, and I got even more behind.

In what seems like no time at all, it's 13 months after I got my new camera, and I realize I haven't had any photos ordered from the beautiful pictures I took. So I made a mission a few weeks ago to get 'er done.

I ordered photos last week - 2031 photos to be exact. Shipped in two boxes weighing a total of 16 lbs. Now I need MANY photo albums. But at least I can fill empty frames and actually have pictures of Small Fry hung around the house.

Some of my favorite photos:
I made the Small Fry a sweater. But he's cuter than the sweater.

The Monkey LOVES the snow. He could sit in the snow all day long and eat it (but he does know not to eat the yellow snow - he'll tell you that).

I know, I know.

I'm neglectful of my poor blog...I know :) I have all the good intentions but I guess that doesn't get you too far when you run out of time.

Lately my days have consisted of being awoken by one of the two little monsters, spending some time waking up while the Monkey watches Thomas the Train or Bob the Builder, and Small Fry plays in what hubby calls "the holder" (it's an exersaucer - keeps him entertained and contained - very helpful contraption).

After I finally muster enough energy to move, the boys get a fresh diaper, clothes for the day and then breakfast for the boys quickly comes next. Some days the boys are lucky enough to get some cereal and cartoons (or even eggs), but mostly it's breakfast on the go. The Monkey loves his Z-Bars (he'll tell you that they're organic), and Small Fry is a fan of waffles, really anything that he can feed himself, but waffles are mostly clean, easy to make, and travel well in the car.

It's often off to pre-school for the Monkey, he loves it, is learning the most amazing things, it blows my mind when he can lead the prayers when we light the candles for Shabbat. He's so cool, and I love dropping him off and picking him up every time from school, full of stories about his day.

When the Monkey is in school, Small Fry and I head to work. He's getting more adventurous and we've decided that our "gated community" must once again be erected (it's gates that keep him in two offices that are essentially baby-proofed. Today I found him under the lunch table like a puppy searching for scraps. I feed him, I swear.

After work and school, it's 35 minutes to home again. Over the next few hours both boys nap, although rarely at the same time. Hubby comes home to take over and I often head to the studio to sew. Of course then comes dinner, play time with the boys, cleaning, bath, bed, and more studio time.

And suddenly I find myself at 2 am again, saying I'd go to bed early, but just not getting everything done. Knowing I will awake no later than 8 am the next day, I finish the essentials and head to bed, thinking of all the things that were once again neglected.

So tonight, I decided the blog needed some TLC, some updates, some photos! Enjoy some updates :)

Monday, January 5, 2009

A photo book



My only niece (I have two nephews), is turning one on Wednesday and I wanted to make her something special. I know how much babies (including mine) love to look at pictures, but all too often, whatever they are holding ends up in their mouth, gets some Cheerios "goo" on it, gets dropped on a dirty floor, etc.

So, I wanted to make her a photo book that you could not only switch out the photos (because likes and interests change quickly in a baby's world), but something that could be tossed in the wash when it met the "too messy" threshold.

From all those requirements, this adorable photo book was born. It is approximately 8" square, and has 10 vinyl pockets each sized to hold a 4"x6" photo. The front and back cover feature some dots with coordinating fabric from the inside pages. Photos can easily be inserted and removed, and the entire thing (minus the photos of course) is machine washable.

Enjoy!