Post a Day in May #7

Is anyone else out there stressed over Mother's Day? Seriously? Anyone??? Maybe, just maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself for something I *know* will not be saved and looked at for only a day or so and then thrown away. Maybe. But at least I have now finished up the Mother's Day gifts!!! They are so sweet! Of course they won't be getting into the mail until tomorrow at this rate, so I am making my husband call up his grandma's and telling them it's on the way ... so they don't think we forgot them.I used a quick fill set of pages from the shabby princess' site. Love the name badge kits! They weren't very much money and two pages fit on a single 4x6 card so it was very inexpensive. I picked up the vinyl name badge holders from Office Max for $4.59 for 12, so each one made 2 sets of gifts. Seriously, inexpensive and so sweet looking! Then I just tied some ribbon I have around to add a little funk. I love, love, love the shabby princess' designs. Seriously, her stuff is so great, the attention to detail and colors and quality are fabulous! No, unforunately I don't get anything for advertising for her like this ... I only wish I was good enough to join the ranks of her talented scrapbook team. But, you seriously should check out her stuff sometime, fabulous! Total it cost $25 for all five sets and I have enough left overs to make myself one ... which is what's on the plan for today. :)

Post a Day In May #6

I may have mentioned this before, but I am seriously lovin' the fabric choices for this block-a-week program! And even though it might be insane to not finish all the other projects I have going on first, I've decided that I NEED to make a second quilt with this fabric. First off, I am lovin' the colors and reproduction fabric and second, I am sooooo cheap. Seriously, I don't spend money on fabric and there's enough from each fat quarter to make a second block and still get my little bag for my blanket (I think). So, it really cuts down the cost in my mind for this. I just need to go pick up some more white background fabric this weekend for it.

Post a Day in May #5

So I may have already mentioned this, but Mother's Day & Father's Day get kind of intense for me. Gift wise that is. I always want to come up with something original, fun and unique. But something that also fits within our budget and that will work for all five women (yes five ... no not in a polygamy kind of way ... but in a gotta give something to the grandma's and even one great-great grandma kind of way). So, last year I had this CRAZY idea to make tissue paper flower bouquets. Which doesn't sound too intense, until you realize that I decided to include my children in the idea and they got to pick the flowers and do all the work with me at a more supervisory/helping role.
So, each color choice on the flowers was just excruciating for them, trying to make sure they ALWAYS made a good color combo with not too many dark colors and not too many lights. Seriously, I started on them in early March and worked on them EVERY single day with Hunter while his sister was sleeping for quiet time. I barely got them in the mail in time for Mother's Day.
Anyways, I of course do NOT have a picture to be found of the 70 tissue paper flowers that I made (I'll have to remember to take a picture of them at my Grandma's house next time we're there ... she saved hers), but I did find a cute tutorial for you to try these yourselves!
Hopefully tomorrow I will have finished the Mother's Day gifts for this year and can show them to you! :)

Post a Day in May #4

Okay, so this is hard coming up with something crafty for everyday! Especially, since yesterday I had 102+ fever and was sooooo sick. My sweet husband took the day off of work and took such great care of me. He finished all my laundry, swept, cleaned, vacuumed, seriously the works. Still not feeling very good today, but SO much better thanks to him. :)

So ... I wanted to share this cross-stitch (sorry for the funky photo ... I was trying to avoid the glare of the sun). Each baby has had one (I'll share Savannah's another day ... when I'm desperate for a posting, ha!), and poor baby #3 still isn't even close to finished (honestly it's barely even started). This one is my favorite, partially because it was the first cross-stitch I had ever really finished, and also because I genuinely just love the bear on the moon. Hunter loves that he has a special thing that Mommy made just for him when he was born. :) **Even though it did take me until he was 18 months old to finish it!**

Fantastic-y Goodness!

So, I know better than to sign up and commit myself for things. I tried desperately to do the photo a day last month & failed miserably. It didn't seem too difficult, but then I saw all the fantastic photos being produced & placed too much emphasis and pressure on myself to get "good shots". And as a result, I ended up not finishing it. So, when allsorts wanted others to sign up for the post a day during May I figured I could do it ... but NOT sign up for it and just see how it goes. :)

Today I HAD to share some fantastic-y goodness!!! My friend Mati gave me all of her Martha Stewart Kids Magazines!!! Can you believe it?!?!? Seriously I am soooo in love with these things! I keep looking through them over & over again the last couple of days. So amazing! :) Then, on the exact same day my other friend Megan came over for a bit and gave me this fun book! I love, love, love Christmas and can't wait to try out some of the ideas! :)

Block One Finished!

Yesterday while I was out shopping with some friends, one of the gals commented that I seemed to really like retro-ish fabrics. I hadn't really thought about it at all, but then I started looking more and more at my choices in the past and now and I guess she is right. :) So, it hit me exactly what theme to use for the block-a-week with crazymomquilt's! I bought a bunch of reproduction-ish fabrics and made block #1! I have enough I could *technically* make two sets of each block and give the second blanket away as a gift (already pre-thinking for Christmas) ... but then of course my husband looks around at all the other un-finished projects and reminds me to take it easy & not over-commit myself. LOL. :) I love the little tiny cowboys on this fabric, so sweet! :)

How does that saying go?

When the Daddy's away, the mice will play ... is that how it goes? Definitely true, with Ryan gone for the night, it means a very late night of being freaked out by every little noise & lots and lots of sewing time! And man, it felt sooooo good to sit down and actually make something again!!! It's been way too long with no creative juices flowing or anything productive getting done! But, I had to at least finish up the quilt block for this month's block a month program at a local quilt store.... and I also finished (finally) the quilt top for Grandma to tie ... there's lots of other things that are almost finished too now, but not quite ready for showing. :)

Then I bought some fun, new fabric today! I needed some fabric for the block a week over by Amanda Jean & I really, really like the colors I picked up for it. I am planning on making a cute matching bag to hold the blanket in (just like she did) and making this our official picnic blanket. I also got that cute lightning bug fabric on clearance (for $5 a yard)! Planning on a baby sling for that. And then, this is quite the departure (color-wise) for me ... but I really, really LOVE Eric Carle stories and this fabric was so fantastic and even better IRL. Jeanette (a gal I went with) had a fantastic little strip sewing quilt out of that and I am so excited to make this for my daughter. Mati suggested the idea of buying a couple of panels and giving these as baby gifts ... maybe that's a good idea for one or two?