Mom’s Day Gifts

I was able to send some great things back to Idaho for Mothers Day. Sadly I didn’t take any pictures of a bunch of Button Towels I sent to Jackie, except some on my phone-but I haven’t transferred them here yet. Other than those, I was able to send these things home:

Camera Lens Bag
My sister wanted something smaller than her big camera bag to carry her extra lens and battery in while she’s out on a photo shoot. So I made this little pretty thing up. It’s got a very sturdy outside to hold it’s shape.

There’s a cute pink layer to the flap on the inside. There’s a padded individual case for the lens and some little pockets that are hard to see for the battery and cards.

I also sent her a matching camera strap!

Pot Holders
My mom told me to not get her anything for Mothers Day. She would rather I save money for whatever we need. I know she’s been needing some hot pads so i used this opportunity to try a new idea with them, used some scraps and the same insulated batting (2 layers) to make her these. They are nice and thick and a little bigger than most to give her plenty of room to use them. She’s lost most of her sight so I wanted them nice and big and no chance of anything getting too hot while holding it. She was surprised and very excited to get them!

finally!

I finally got some gifts sent to my friends Seri & Matt for their new baby. I didn’t want to post them until they got the package-which lived in the post office a few days waiting patiently :)

Their theme is mario for the baby’s room. Along with some burp cloths and baby hats was this:

Bag and Mario softies!

I’ve heard they like them! I hope so-I thought they were cute.

I packaged up the gift set and typed up the description of each item with pictures. I hope it sells! April 9th is the day…

There IS another thing I am dying to share----but it must wait until my sister gets it :) I just made it today-and hope she loves it! Watch for it here soon…

It’s ready!

My flirty Kitchen set is done :)

I wrote a summary of the items that I will send with them so they can put up as much information as they want… I’ll copy it here and add some pictures

Flirty Kitchen Set

Perfect for any woman needing a little refreshing in the kitchen! Remember-Mother’s Day is only a month away!

This matching set features a table runner, a set of two pot holders, a full front apron, and a set of two button-down kitchen towels.

All items are the original design of Michelle Bell and were made using high quality Heidi Grace designer cotton fabric. Everything is hand made, machine washable, and comes from a smoke free home.

Table Runner: Measures 36”x12” perfect to add some charm to any table. Top features random striped quilted pattern and was machine quilted with a meandering stitch through a low-loft premium polyester batting. The binding is hand made and attached by machine. The bottom features a beautiful print and decorative stripe-it’s pretty enough to be reversible!

Pot Holders: Each measures 7”x7”. These two matching pot holders are reversible with the same quilted pattern on both sides. Instead of the typical checker quilting pattern, these were quilted with a meandering stitch to match the table runner. They were machine bound for added durability. With a specialty Insul-bright batting, they are heat resistant and have a nice trim design.

Flirty Apron: This full 25” tall apron will help keep your clothes food free in style. It has a flowing skirt for a fun feminine touch. Long ties make it fully adjustable for your comfort, and the seams are machine serged for added durability.

Button Down Kitchen Towels: Never pick your towel up from the floor again! These towels are perfect for hanging from a drawer pull or oven handle. They’re made with a simple large button attachment, and a layer of fleece in the top panel for a thicker look and added strength. A soft towel is always within reach!

 

I am excited by how it turned out. Please try to ignore my crooked cabinet it the above picture…not sure what’s going on there… :-/

What do you think? Are my descriptions okay?

I will soon be done with another project-for a friend. I actually have a giant list of stuff to make that I fear will never end…I just keep adding more and more before I get done what’s already there!

Help a good cause…

AND ENTER TO WIN…

visit this link for details :)

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/03/15/need-a-new-camera-camera-giveaway/

getting there!

I’ve been busy learning while perfecting my flirty kitchen set for the auction! It has been a lot of fun so far.

So far I have finished the tablerunner and the apron! They are both my original design :)

I need a model for the apron…someone that’s not me! Oh and josh took this pic from the couch-pics at that level aren’t very flattering :-/

Next will be pot holders and button down towels-all to match!! :)

New things all around :)

Well I’ve been busy trying out all sorts of new things. There’s a first time for everything-right?

Well I tried my hand at a new type of creation. My mother used to crochet all the time and make beautiful things for people. I never really picked up on it when I was a little kid. When I became older she couldn’t see to do it anymore. My sister has been making the cutest things lately and really inspired me to give it a shot. I taught myself with a little help from her via facebook chat. There’s probably easier ways to learn to crochet…

Here’s the scarf I made. Found the pattern online…I can track it back down if you like, but I’m too lazy at the moment. It was on the Lion Yarn Website. Yes-it’s supposed to be curly :). If I wasn’t totally gross right now, I’d model it for you.

It took a while, but I had a lot of learning to do. I don’t think it will be the last thing I crochet :)

I also have been working on a requested item for a friend. She saw my wallet and asked if I’d make her something similar but as an expandable file with 10 pockets. (whoa!) So I said I’d see what I could come up with.

The design took me forever to come up with, but I eventually figured it out. I got to use some denim I got from Joanns, and practice with my binding skills.

Features a magnetic snap for ease of use :)

Check out all those pockets! all ten! (felt like more)

Each individual with it’s own expanding side panels.   

Hope that fabric didn’t make you dizzy!

Today I was working on part of a big project due in less than a month.

To make a long story short: Josh is in charge of planning the Annual Open House for the Veterinary School this year. (CRAZY huh!) It’s a huge event with tons and tons of people and activities. Following the open house is a benefit dinner called the gentle doctor benefit. He will be honored there for a moment for planning the Open House. Since he’s involved with that and also friends with the person planning the Benefit-he asked if I could make some things to donate to the silent auction portion of the event.  They requested pretty much anything-including ‘crafts’.

I agreed and plan to make a ‘kitchen gift set’ which includes a tablerunner, apron, button down kitchen towels, dressed-up dish towel, cloth napkins, pot holders…

I’ll probably also donate a camera strap or two :)

So I picked out some cute fabric and planned my tablerunner today. I looked for a design online I wanted, but nothing was quite what I had in mind. I’m sure this isn’t the first one like this-but it is an original design by me :)

I pieced the top today. It is turning out better than I hoped. It’s hard to imagine the finished product from these pics of the top, but I’m excited!

 

I was really hoping that I might be able to get the courage up to do some free-motion quilting on this sucker. I LOVE how things look with it. I even had already got the foot for my sewing machine but never made anything with it. Tonight I cut some batting and used some scraps to practice. I’m definitely not a pro (yet!) but I’m so excited by how well I was doing! I think with some more practice I can pull this off on the tablerunner. The pic is hard to really see what I was doing, but you basically sew around in a random pattern. You have control over where the stitches go. It’s tricky because you have to time the speed and motion just right, and keep your design smooth. This is far from perfect-but an exciting start! I tried a ‘meandering’ method-as its called- and a few swirls :) Some people draw beautiful pictures with the stitches-I don’t think I’ll make it that far.

Here we go!

Here’s my first batch of camera straps I plan to put up for sale. Not sure exactly where or when…but I’m starting my inventory! (And my product photography skills. Please ignore any stray threads I didn’t catch before taking the picture…)

Enjoy! And feel free to comment :)

 

Wallet

This is my first wallet. I followed a tutorial I found online. It came out pretty good! I might change a couple things for the next one but overall I’m happy with it.

Front

Flap Side

Top flap opened. Features a magnetic snap  

Top and bottom flaps open. Features 6 card slots, zipper pouch, and ‘receipt’ pocket.

different view of zipper pocket and extra pocket.