In which I express my need for a time machine

I keep meaning to post about the glorious bag I won from LeeAnn at MintBasil. However, I have been so busy using it while getting ready for my WEDDING this weekend that I haven't had much time. I will say that it is more gorgeous in person and huge enough that I can take it bra shopping with my wedding dress in it so I can try it on over bras! Aww! Bag perfection! Apparently I'm not totally addicted to teeny tiny bags.

Felix has also been a big handful. He is currently using a measuring cup to ladle water out of the dog's bowl to drink it. I am usually able to get him to stop, but that doesn't mean he won't be doing it again in a few minutes.

I'm part way finished with making four creatures for four little friends. I'm not sure what they are. I was thinking bears, Josh thought monkeys, but I do know that they're cute. I got a bunch of felted wool sweaters off of freecycle a while ago and only recently rediscovered them while cleaning up the basement. They are snuggly soft and warm, but not put together all the way yet. I hand sewed one yesterday, but I'm not sure that I'll have time to do them all by hand. I am a little scared of shoving all the felt into my sewing machine, but I guess it's worth a try for the sake of getting them done by tonight!

There are still a bunch of pieces of the felted sweaters precut into squares (not the same size, unfortunately), and I'm thinking I might need to try one of those felted sweater blankets. That sounds like a good cozy project for this fall.

So the point of this rambly, picture free post is that I'm leaving tomorrow and might not be posting until I get back from my fabulous honeymoon. I'll try to take a few pictures today and get them posted. I'm not sure how all the great crafty mama bloggers get everything done that they do. If there's a secret time machine that they use, I'd like to know where I can get one!

Also, special thanks to my main man Chainsaw for sprucing up my page so that my pictures don't get cut off on one side. He also made me a sweet banner. There are definitely some perks to having a geeky boyfriend!

Attack of the wristlets

I taught myself how to install a zipper last week. It's still a bit tricky for me, but I am loving it. I made this little fella out of new Heather Ross Mendocino fabric:





It was the perfect size for everything I needed to go out. I'm a big bag kind of girl, but I have been wanting something smaller for this very reason. A lady doesn't always need a purse big enough for a few diapers, wipes, leaky sippy cups, and a baggy full of Annie's bunny crackers.

I am somewhat addicted to making wristlets now. I polished off this beauty this morning:





I freezer paper stenciled the lightning bolt. I thought it needed a little majesty, and in my mind lightning bolt=instant majesty.

I also finished a tote bag yesterday made with more Mendocino. That fabric was one of my sole reasons for buying fabric when I did. It was love at first sight! I wish I would've gotten more, but I think I'll just be keeping the things I've made with it so far. Then I can look at it whenever I want!





I probably should have given it another quick iron before I took its picture, but oh well.

Also, please behold one of my labels doing its job:





I think they turned out super cute.

Today I was super mom!

Today I accomplished these amazing feats with TWO children:
1. I changed 4 poopy diapers (2 belonging to a child that is not my own)
2. I somehow convinced Felix to spend only 1 hour playing in his room before taking his nap. He took a beautiful nap from 2-4:30. I can't remember the last time that happened.
3. I observed, clapped, and offered special treats after Felix peed in his potty. It has been many moons since this has happened.

I also finished up a tote bag, pieced parts for a wristlet (and freezer paper stenciled it!), made a strap to finish a bag that has been laying next to my machine unfinished for a while now, and managed to break a needle on a giant button. Have you ever broken a sewing machine needle? It is scary. S-C-A-R-Y! One time a piece of one actually flew up and hit me in the face right under my eye. It stung. I was thankful that it was my cheekbone taking the hurt instead of my cornea. Luckily today's accident involved no shooting sharp things, but created a half finished top stitching nightmare. I really don't like it when that happens.

I successfully finished my first creation from Japanese sewing book on Saturday with good and bad end results. I'll see if I can get Josh to take a picture later.

After all this potty business and danger talk, I better leave this with something awesome.
Behold Ross!





Ross belongs to my dad and stepmom and could look either very cute or very creepy in this picture.

Rainy days

I was just complaining to Josh that I can't remember our last good rainy day. For weeks it has threatened to rain- a big black cloud, a few growls of thunder, maybe even a 5 minute sprinkle, but never a good rain. Today (or last night I suppose) the clouds decided to stay put and drizzle on us all day so far. I have embraced the cool temperature by dressing Felix in his Wranglers, cowboy boots, and bull rider belt that it has been to hot to wear. I took a hot shower. I can't even remember the last time I had a hot shower. With no air conditioning, it's been lukewarm to cold showers only.

My to do list today:
1. Wash the fabric I bought months ago to make shirts/summer dresses.
2. Decipher the Japanese sewing book I bought last winter. I've been reading and rereading label-free's Japanese Crafting How-To all morning and think I'm ready to tackle such a challenge!
3. Clean something. My kitchen table/center of my sewing universe was slightly cleaned yesterday. Slightly cleaned as in I put all the fabric away I no longer needed for upcoming projects. Unfortunately I only transferred other stuff like important documents to the counter. I have clutter issues. By issues I mean I have it. All over.

I'll leave with a picture from last week. Today's light is no good for new pictures. I love the light in this picture of Felix.

Working hard or hardly working?

Things seem to be going at an unreasonably fast pace around here lately. Felix won't take naps, and I am spending half of my day walking up the stairs to settle him back into his new race car bed. It's not working very well.





When I'm not busy wrestling 30 pounds of overtired two year old, I've been doing my best to get as much sewing done as possible. Joshua has been encouraging me to get going so I can open my own shop. He helped me make my own labels (I'll take a picture later) and get my etsy store set up. I think he volunteered to do it because he knows I'm the biggest procrastinator in the world! I think this is my current favorite:




Looks like it's going to be another busy day. I have bathrooms to clean, mountains of laundry to fold, and bags to finish.