Gettin' Crafty

Yesterday I found some time and energy to do something creative. First off, I made a few cards. Remember when I used to do that? I haven't had a lot of time for cardmaking since last summer, but I am able to squeeze in a card here and there. My aunt is in the hospital recovering from surgery, so I made her a card to brighten her spirits. It's the same layout as this card but more feminine.


In the afternoon I decided to sew a large receiving blanket for the baby. We took a class on newborn care a couple of weeks ago and the class strongly encouraged swaddling for your baby in the first couple of months if they get fussy. The class also mentioned how quickly newborns outgrow receiving blankets, so we'll need something larger. I got some flannel and had the store cut it as long as it is wide so that I ended up with a square. Then I just hemmed up the edges with a zig-zag stitch and we're all ready for a snug, cozy baby!


This is technically the boy fabric that I selected, but I think it could work for a girl too. To me it's more "cute" than "boy." I wouldn't wrap a boy up in a pink blanket, but girls can wear a little blue sometimes can't they?

Finally, I wanted to mention a creative blog that I've recently discovered called Little Birdie Secrets. The blog features sewing, quilting, and other fun projects. Check it out here if you're interested.

I'm off to my doctor's appointment to see and hear Baby!

Boot Camp and Blankets

This morning A had a class at our doctor's office called "Boot Camp for New Dads." It lasted three hours and was all about current dads giving new dads advice about babies. I wish I could have been there to hear the "inside scoop" from a dad's point of view!

While he was gone, I took care of some things around home - namely baby laundry. I have a baby shower on Monday and I still hadn't washed the things we received at our first shower, so I thought I'd better get going on that. I don't think I have ever had so much fun doing laundry!!


I love that everything is so little and soft and in such sweet, pastel colors!


Jasmine helped out as best she could. I like to pretend that this means she's excited for the baby, but it's more likely just something new that she wanted to check out.


Call my crazy, but this just makes me HAPPY!

I also took some photos of the baby blankets I finished up yesterday. Seriously, these are nothing special but they were quick which is what I needed. I just took two pieces of coordinating flannel and sewed them right sides together, then turned them inside out and zig-zag stitched around the edge. The finished blanket is about 35x42 inches. I made two girl blankets and two boy blankets.






I hope these will be a useful size and that they'll hold up well. Guess I'll find out when our baby makes its debut and I take one to use one with him/her!

Baby Preparations: Crafty Style

We are having a windy afternoon here today - must be something moving in! Jasmine and I are on the couch having a cozy afternoon, plus I'm trying to be extra good about my bed rest today since my 35 week check-up is tomorrow. It's just me and Jasmine this afternoon because A was feeling better this morning and went to work. I'm SO GLAD that he's doing better and thanks to everyone who prayed for him!

Before I was put on partial bed rest, I had a bazillion craft and sewing projects planned for the baby. Blankets, burp clothes, nursery decor...you name it. And then my hours at the sewing machine got cut back severely. I've accepted that I won't be able to have everything I wanted done before the baby is born, but I've also resolved to be very wise about the free hours I do have in a day. Since my mom was here last week and got lots of meals cooked and frozen for us, I don't need to focus as much time on dinner preparations and as a result, I've gotten a little more crafty the last few days...

I have GOBS of cute baby fabrics and have been trying to make a dent in that stash. Not all of my projects will be for our baby, but I'm getting stocked up on baby gifts as well. Once our baby is born and we find out its gender, I'll probably go "shopping" from my gift stash and select some gender-specific items for our little one. In the meantime it is fun to pour lots of love into each project, wondering if it will be for our baby or another family's bundle of joy.

This first project IS for our baby since it's gender neutral and Classic Pooh. I found this cute Tigger flannel at JoAnn fabrics and couldn't pass it up. I turned it into a snugglie blanket and two matching burp cloths:




I love this next fabric which I used to embellish some cloth diapers to make them into cute burp cloths. If we have a girl she is SO getting these!



Sunday afternoon I made a fleece tie blanket that I bought before I knew I was pregnant (this one is for our baby too since it's gender neutral). It's a kit from the craft store and it was on clearance for $6 or something, so even though it isn't Classic Pooh, I couldn't pass it up.


This last project is for me, but it does have to do with the baby. On the hospital packing list, it is suggested that you bring no-slip socks. I know what kind of no-slip socks the hospital gives you and they are U-G-L-Y. Last fall I saw an idea and tutorial on "homemade by jill" for this very thing! She had a baby boy in October and made these for her hospital stay. Since they're so easy and cute, I decided to do the same. They're just puffy fabric paint on the bottom of whatever socks you like!



I guess most of the stuff I've made recently is for our baby, but I promise I have other projects in the works that are not. I'm still working on some flannel blankets that won't all be for our kiddo and I may make a set of flannel burp clothes too - can you tell I love soft, cuddly flannel for baby items? I'll post those once they're finished.

I'll update tomorrow after the doctors appointment!

Monday, Monday

It was hard to say good-bye as A went back to work this morning. The end of Christmas vacation always comes too quickly. What can I say - I love having my man home! I do enjoy having the bills paid too though, so I can't complain too much. :)

This weekend we started our baby registry, did some organizing/purging in the office-soon-to-be-nursery, and enjoyed some quality time relaxing with a movie. It was a great way to wrap up our Christmas season.

I made a few Christmas gifts myself this year, which isn't really out of the ordinary for me. Now that it is after Christmas and the gifts have been given, I can preserve their memory on the blog.

1. Keyhole scarf for my aunt

2. Assortment of cards for my mom

My mom has been asking for a selection of handmade cards almost since I started making cards as a hobby. When I make cards, I always make them in an even number, even if I only need one card, so a lot of times I have extras. This collection is 30 of my extras - for birthdays, thank you, encouragement, baby, and wedding. A lot of them are blank on the inside so she can make the card appropriate for whatever she needs.


I had three boxes left from our Christmas cards this year that I recovered with scrapbook paper to package the cards. Each box contains ten cards and envelopes.




3. Scarf for my sister-in-law

My sis-in-law just moved into a new home and has been working hard getting everything sorted, organized, and put away. I wanted to give her of a "cozy night in" sort of gift so I bought her a good book, a box of yummy dark hot chocolate, and knit this scarf for her. I hope she enjoys curling up with all of them on a chilly January evening and taking a break.


I got back in my card studio (if you can call it that) last week as my grandpa had an accident with his table saw and messed up his left hand pretty badly. He's had two surgeries to repair as much as possible and is now in the wait-and-see-how-things-heal phase. All I had were get well soon cards and I didn't think that sentiment fit the situation just right, so I made this card to send him. I hope it cheered him up a little bit!


Happy Monday to all!

Baby Announcements, Twisted Peppermint, and Orange Chicken

This morning I saw the cutest card on a blog that has totally inspired me to start thinking about baby announcements. The card is by Debbie Olson at Thinking Inking - you can see her post about it here. I love the sentiment on the front of the card: Our Family has expanded by two feet! I'd never heard that before today and I think it's just about the most precious thing ever. I had to order the stamp and it comes in a set so it's versatile for lots of different baby cards. The centers and borders aren't attached and can be mixed and matched however you please.


My only dilemma is how to handle the gender thing. I'm thinking of using generic baby colors on the front of the card so I can get all that work done in advance, but then using an "It's a boy" or "It's a girl" stamp inside to announce the gender, which I can stamp pretty quickly after baby arrives.

I ran all over town today and did a bunch of Christmas shopping. I'm happy to report that as a result, we have the shopping for all but two family members taken care of! Hip hip hooray!

While I was out I got some of this at Bath & Body Works:

This stuff is heaven in a tube to me right now. I enjoy wearing fragrant lotions, but my pregnant nose does not. Thankfully I'm past the point of those scents making me nauseous, but the right combination can still trigger a pretty powerful headache. I've been searching for fragrances that are light and clean enough that they won't affect me adversely. Enter Twisted Peppermint - it's perfect! And oh-so holiday which is even better!

I also got to splurge on one of my favorite fast-food treats today - orange chicken from Panda Express! One of my former coworkers affectionately refers to it as orange flavored breading balls since there really doesn't seem to be a large amount of chicken in each piece. I don't care though because it is YUM-MY!


I also finished our Christmas cards today so that is one thing completely crossed off my list. Only about a hundred more things to go!



(orange chicken photo by cjanebuy)

Bridal shower invitation

In November, I am helping to throw a bridal shower for my brother-in-law's fiancee (which would make her my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, I guess - how's that for a lengthy title?). The shower is being held at my in-law's church, which is also where the happy couple currently attends, so most of the guests will be invited through an announcement in the church bulletin. However, there are a few friends and family members being invited who don't attend the same church and we needed a few invitations to mail to them. The wedding colors are red, white, and black which was the inspiration for the invitations, plus a wedding theme of course. I kept the design simple since I didn't have a lot of time to put into them. Here's what I came up with...


(you can click on the photo for a larger view)

The cake and flowers are from PaperTrey Ink. I love the simplicity of the images and yet to me they look so classy and elegant. Once I got going on all the invitations (I made 10) they really only took me about an hour to make - perfect!

I bought red envelopes to mail them in so the whole thing will look coordinated. Being coordinated is pretty much my life's theme, I think!

We're doing more shower planning after I get back from my trip. This is the first shower I've ever thrown and planning it has been so much fun - I'm always up for a party!

Just a dab will have to do...

I have had very little time to craft, make cards, sew, or cook/bake lately - basically all my hobbies have been put on the back burner for the time being. I'm pretty okay with that since I know it's temporary, but the past couple of days I've especially missed being creative. This evening I sat down and made a birthday card for my sister-in-law. Her birthday is in October but I am taking her gift to her this weekend so I needed to get her card made.


The image is Lattebella from Stamping Bella. My sis-in-law loves coffee and Starbucks so this bella girl is perfect for her!

A couple of weeks ago I needed some thank you notes so I made these. The card design is quick and simple, which is what my schedule needed! The image is from Stampin' Up and the paper is from the DCWV fall 2007 paper stack.


I'm looking forward to having time for my hobbies again, but in the meantime these stamping interludes will just have to make do!

Staying cool...

I realize it's been over a week since I wrote much of a blog post. As I mentioned in my last post, I am enjoying a much slower pace of life right now. The weather here has been HOT and when that happens I spend a lot more time relaxing with a good book or crafting. God had such a blessing in store for me when we bought this house and the most logical place to create my crafting space was in the basement. I actually get good light in my corner of the room and it's the perfect cool retreat in these warm summer months.

So since most of what I've been doing is reading and making cards, with a little sewing thrown in on the side, that's what this post is about.

I've made a few cards lately and a few of these photos are cards that I didn't get posted previously. For example, this first card was the Fourth of July card that we sent to friends and family, but I'm just now getting it on the blog.


These next cards are baby cards that I had to stock up on after depleting my stash this spring. They are all copied from designs on Mish Mash's blog. She is one of my favorite card designers because her layouts are simple and stunning at the same time.






These next three cards all use stamps from PaperTrey Ink (PTI). I am never disappointed with PTI's stamps, paper, ink, and ribbon. Everything they make is phenomenal - not only in keeping up with the trends and colors in papercrafting, but also in making such high quality products. I would own everything they sell if I could!




The first design is another of Mish Mash's and the other two are Nichole Heady's. Nichole is the stamp designer for PTI and her sense of style is amazing! I always find inspiration at her blog.

Have you noticed that I very seldom create my own card designs? :) It's so much quicker to take a great layout or design from another stamper and put my own spin on it. Of course I always try to remember to give credit where credit is due. I would love to have the talent of these ladies, but for now I am happy to let them do the hard part.

This last card is actually one of my own design - shocker, isn't it?! I actually made this card last fall to send to my book group as a reminder of our upcoming meeting.


Speaking of reading, this evening I finished the latest Sisterchicks book by Robin Jones Gunn. I have a special place in my heart for Robin because her Christy Miller series was instrumental in leading me to Christ, but that is a story for another time. I've been reading her work for over 15 years and I enjoy everything she writes.


Now I have to get going on our book group selection for next month. It's a little intimidating because it's almost 700 pages long, but I know it's going to be a good read. I'm already a little ways into it and I really enjoyed the movie, so I'm looking forward to getting "lost" in 16th century England.


Finally, I took on a little project this week that turned out better than I had hoped.


I made a dress!! I have only made one other article of clothing and that was probably 5 years ago and it was a costume for an Easter cantata at church. Needless to say it's not something I generally wear on a regular basis. But this! This is cute and I will wear it! In fact, I have it on right now. Oh how I love my sewing machine and my new sundress!

So that's what I've been up to this past week. I hope you are staying cool wherever you are - or if not, I hope you enjoy the heat!