blue floral - yep, i did it again

This is the "Lauren" dress by Olabelhe Designs.  I made it up in a blue floral from Heidi Grace, with a coordinating green for the underskirt, tie, and pockets.

The pockets are HUGE and perfect for sticking your hands in while you swirl and twirl!!!

See... look how big they are!!!

The tie is so long, I was able to wrap it back around front to tie it.  I'm not sure I like it that way, I was just experimenting.

Here's a close-up of the fabric and buttons on the back.  It's mostly a blue check with blue flowers on top.  Most of the flowers had green centers, a few had white centers.  It just felt right :)

blue floral, yes indeed

Yes, I have actually been doing a little "fun" sewing this summer.  Between being a mom, custom orders, and random outings, my sewing time has been significantly less this summer!  Today and tomorrow though I'm doing a little showing off.  This is an "Amelia" dress (with bubble skirt) by Olabelhe Designs.

I have no idea what she was doing with her hand.  Silly pose, right?  I love the simple silhouette of the dress, but the scoop neckline seemed a little deep for her, and when she sat down I was wishing the skirt was a little longer.

She loved running around in it, her play shoes matched nicely, and I figured out how to get a pretty bow in back!!!!  It went together very quickly too, because I just made two for a customer, and I'm pretty comfortable with Dawn's designs at this point.

i love patty young

I'm sure you've all heard of Patty Young, right?  Patty Young of ModKid?  Well, it just so happens that she and her studio are about 2 hours from me and my studio (basement workspace, whatever).  What better way to spend a Friday afternoon with my mom and kids than to take a little roadtrip?!!!  After a quick stop at Dairy Queen & a local park, we were off to her Sample Sale and Open House.  We met her, her husband Jon, and two girls.  {Bad blogger, no pictures.  I didn't want to be too celebrity-crazed or whatever.  Probably should have just taken the camera, right?}  I just was so happy that my kids behaved and that I got to have a (short) chat with her.  She loved seeing my Abby in her Abigail dress, and I loved showing off, who am I kidding.  The dress had gotten a little short on her, but still fit in the bodice/shoulders.  Woohoo!  Then my mom and I did a little shopping.  I bought a sample ribbon box and some patterns, and my mom got Abby a Frida dress.

The bodice on this one is a light jean fabric.  My mom and I loved the cute buttons and the neckline.

You can't really see in these pictures, but there's ties on each side.  I'm looking forward to making her one or two more!  I might try it sleeveless with corduroy and see how it works.

purplicious

My niece loves purple.  She loves to read.  Her birthday's coming up.  Must mean there's a new dress on the way!

Using "Purplicious" by Victoria & Elizabeth Kann as inspiration, I knew I had to include an art palette.  She loves to paint!  Each color patch has been free motion appliqued onto the skirt with a small heart in the middle.  Her name was stitched inbetween the colors.

 The dress itself is a dark purple with sparkles all over it that just didn't show up in the picture.  It has gathered sleeves, elastic at the arm band, and a zipper in the back.

Can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you, G!  It will be purplicious!

cheesehead

My college roommate is having a baby!  Her first baby shower was this past weekend, and I put together a bag of lots of goodies for her - onesies, fleece hat, fuzzy cube, etc.  They are all cute things, but the onesie I love the most is this one!  I used my yellow heat transfer material for the first time on my Silhouette.  It cut so cleanly and easily, ironed on with no complaints, and was generally a breeze.  It even gave me the reminder to mirror my words if I hadn't already (which I had).
Oh, and yeah, she married a guy from Wisconsin.  This just seemed appropriate.
Congrats A&B!  Can't wait to meet the little guy!

peter pan collar, attempted

Her nails were recently painted pink, and that was quite possibly more exciting than the new dress & "pearls"!  The pearl necklace is actually fake pearls strung on elastic stretchy cord and tied to be an easy on-easy off for her.
The pinafore on top has ties at the shoulder and a lined bodice.  The fabric is a very light white cotton with pink flocked dots.
The dress has a Peter Pan collar - woo hoo for new skills! and elastic on a short gathered sleeve.

 The back of the pinafore has two buttons with a loop closure.  I am not happy with how the zipper lined up at the top on the dress so I made sure not to really show it.  I'm not sure if it just wasn't lined up to start with (I thought it was!) or if I messed it up when I was putting the collar on.  Either way, I'm happy with how the collar lays, so that is a big deal!

 The kids decided to take her dolly for a little walk before church one morning.  So cute :)

twirly skirt, take 2

I love Hobby Lobby coordinating and fabrics and ribbons - so I've been busy playing with them!  The bow was made using this tutorial.  Mine doesn't quite look like hers, but it was a good place to start from and I'm excited to keep practicing.

I made a flower and put it on a tank to match.  The center is a sparkly button.

The skirt is Little Lizard King's peek-a-boo skirt, more commonly known in our house as the Twirly Skirt.  It is really full and SO much fun to twirl in!  (First time sewing it was here.)

Happy Birthday, T!  Thanks for letting Abby model it first.  She's tried it out, and it's totally twirl-worthy for you!

activity book

Have you seen Crayola's dry erase crayons?  I think they'll be fun for a car activity book, don't you?  I bought a 5-1/2x8-1/2 binder and filler pages.

I added a little embellishment to the "mitt" that came with the crayons.  That way she can cinch it shut and it can be kept in the binder.

I filled the pages with downloaded coloring pages of some of her favorite characters. (Also included - Minnie, Cinderella, Ariel)

 I sketched a butterfly, a face, and a house for her to color in.

I also used Picnik's pencil sketch feature and made a few family pictures for her to color.

Other pages included:
-a page with her full name and address so she can practice writing it.
-alphabet
-numbers
-cupcake to decorate for her birthday, and the birthday date next to it
-flowers
-a blank "paper doll" to dress

When she's done coloring on the plastic page protector, she can erase it and draw again another time!  Her father is quite an artist too, so he can add more pictures any time.  As her favorite characters change, they can always add new characters too.
Have fun, T!

bunny cards

I realized I never shared the invites and thank yous from the bunny party.  I cut out the bunnies with my Silhouette.  You can tell I used the same bunny outline for both, but with the thank you cards I cut the words out of the middle too.

The styles are pretty simple, I just used some pinks and greens I had in my stash.  Don't you love the little bunny brads on the inside of the invites?
I used a little green rhinestone on the thank you bunny eyes.

hemp & purple

I really love trying out new to me crafts.  I got some hemp, some big beads, and got busy.

I followed the directions here and due to some measuring and counting issues ended up with an anklet for myself instead of a bracelet.  Abby liked it too, and lucky for her it's a perfect necklace/choker (not too tight) size.  I did decide that if I make another one, I will not use beads that are that round because the strings around the side keep slipping.  It was also pretty important to pay attention to which side I knotted on so I didn't start a spiral.  All in all, I'm happy with the result!

rainbow vanity

We haven't transitioned Abby to a big girl room (yet) but when we do it is (probably) going to have a lot of rainbow in it.  We ordered a chair and vanity from Total Class Creative.

Shawn set up a spray paint area in the garage for me.

Then I got busy and painted a rainbow on the table and a rainbow on the chair.  I did a clear coat and put the pieces together.  The "mirror" is white like a cloud... right?  The base of the table is white too.

I hung some 3M hooks on the wall to hold her necklaces and gave her a small box to hold a couple hair clips and bracelets.  She loves dressing up now even more than before!

birthday cake

I actually made this for my mom's birthday a few weeks ago.

The cherry blossoms on the side were probably a bit much, but it was fun to make and delicious to eat!

bunny birthday beauty

This is the bunny birthday dress.  I patched the skirt with a bunch of fabrics to match the bunnies.

The pattern is Jillian's Jumper from Olabelhe.

 

Just a few more pictures of the birthday girl with her fancy hair clip swirling about in her special party dress...

bunny party

Abby's 3rd birthday party was all about bunnies!  The treats were on a bookshelf in our kitchen.  There are some mossy bunnies from Pier One, a couple white wooden bunnies from Total Class Creative, the bunny cookies, some bunny-shaped SweetTarts, and pink bunnies I made from Wilton molds & chocolate melts.

I love tulips!  They opened up even more throughout the party.  We had some on the table too.

The kids hunted for an orange carrot outside, then came inside and opened it to find beads to make a bunny necklace.

A little rabbit food for our guests - a salad bar, a couple muffins to choose from, and a couple pre-made salads on the other side of the lettuce.

The birthday bunny and her brother and cousins!

bunny cookies

I have been wanting to do some fancy royal icing style cookies for a while now.  I found a stacking Bunny cookie set and got to work.  I tried a new cookie recipe (as in from scratch, not from the tube).  It was a little dry but I got it to work.

I mixed up some royal icing and piped the edges.  After (painfully) making it around one bunny, I watered it down some more and piped everything else.  Much easier with the right consistency!!

I let the icing dry for an hour.  Then I watered it down some more and flooded the cookies.

Then my new photographer took over the photography responsibilities.

Always interesting to see things from his perspective!

taken on my iPhone

He staged these next few shots:

 The bunny whiskers were drawn on with FoodWriter markers.

 Then we found a Peter Rabbit plate for this picture.

 Abby was feeling left out so I took a picture of her, and he had to jump in too. :)

Lessons learned:
Wilton recipe books aren't always all they're cracked up to be - sometimes the internet IS more reliable. (the internet recipe called for more water, which ended up being the right choice)
Trust my instincts - more water IS ok, despite all warnings to the contrary.
My son may have a future in food blogging, photography, or cookie eating/drooling.

More bunny party goodies coming up soon!