clutch

i saw this clutch and freaked out.

i follow homemade by jill's blog.

so of course i had to make it.  here is the tutorial that i used.  and funny enough, the clutch she made is in the same color i made.  it was so simple.  and so quick to do.  the only thing that i had trouble with was the ends of the zipper.  it is only the 2nd zipper i've put in.

i can't decide if i like the bow better on the side or in the middle.

which way do you like it better?

but my favorite part is the lining!

shower curtain.

the progress on my yellow and gray bathroom...  i finished the shower curtain!  i originally just wanted to do it in all gray with some kind of ruffles or fabric flowers in yellow, but i didn't buy enough gray fabric. and i'm cheap and just used fabric that i already had.  anyway, i think i'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  i might add some cool looking craftiness.  what do ya'll think?  any ideas? or do you like it how it is?

gray fabric up close.  kind of looks like O's for oregon, but it was the cheapest decent looking gray fabric i could find.  i told paul this is the closest we will get to having any type of DUCKS decor in our home :)

yep, we still haven't put all of our boxes away.

and i was thinking of getting this for the toilet bowl... i mean it's yellow right?

poop on michigan

table cloth

Grandma Helen is a beautiful embroiderer.  It is my mom's best friend's grandma.  Yep, I call her grandma helen too.  for our wedding, grandma helen made us the most beautiful table cloth.  and i just have to share it because every time i look at it i think of how beautiful it is.

ya, mad talent, right?  she made the design herself too!  i also have 4 matching napkins to go with it :)  oh, that i could one day be that good!

song of songs 4:7

If you come to our house and use our bathroom, you will see this right next to the mirror!  How easy is it to look into the bathroom mirror and pick out every. one. of. your. FLAWS.?  Well when you look in our mirror, you'll be reminded of what a gem you are!  

Song of Songs 4:7

(I wanted to put the verse in the left bottom corner, but i couldn't write that small.  haha.  also, do you like how the writing starts going crooked?  haha!  hey i'm the creator, i can judge it, right?)

This is also a start on my new yellow and gray bathroom that i am dreaming up! 

Ruth

so i was looking through a box of buttons that my mamaw gave to me and i almost cried when i found these...

yep!  tags that were my great grandmother's!  Her name was Ruth.  Like my mamaw and me.  i love these.

laptop cover.

first laptop cover.  it was pretty awful.  but i'll share it anyway. it was a birthday gift for my brother in law.  he is a barista and gives me a ton of coffee bags to sew with, so i had to thank him with a gift.  hopefully next time it will be a bit better.

sorry my posts are so few and far between.  it is a busy time.  we leave for oregon july 5th!  my. oh. my.  

maxi skirt

so i've been really crushing on long skirts.  i've had this green jersey knit fabric that i've been trying to figure out what to make into.  i don't love the color, but i got like 2 yards of it for $3.  spectacular deal.  it was a clearance sale at joann's last summer.

i follow The Chloe Conspiracy blog, specifically her outfit of the day section.  and in this particular post, i thought what a cute laid back outfit for almost every season of weather.  make sure you check out her blog!  here is a photo from her blog:

(source)

so here is a quick skirt i made for spring.  it is sooo incredibly comfy and it didn't take long. and it definitely didn't take 2 yards of fabric, so let's say it cost $1.50.  

lil shoes

i finally got to meet precious baby girl jocelyn!

how precious is she?!  So for my first time meeting her I obviously had to make her a little something.  some lil shoes like these from before.  do you like them?

(pattern)

sewing space

i got a place for my sewing machine and serger.  unfortunately, it is right next to the kitchen table, but at least it's not on the kitchen table like it normally is.  paul is especially thankful for that.  haha!  paul's grandma used to be quite the sewer.  sadly, because of her Huntington's disease, she is not able to sew anymore.  Grandpa Shenk was going to just throw these beautiful treasures in the dump.  Cyndi, my mother-in-law thankfully thought of me and my kitchen table sewing space!  They are just soooo beautiful and i am soo so so so thankful!  Since we are moving in 4 weeks, I haven't really made the drawers my space yet.  It's a bit pointless to unload all of my stuff just to box it back up again!  Anyway, what do you think?  you can come and join me in my little space any time that you would like!

apron

i've been making a ton of aprons, i know.  but i think it's really helping my sewing skills.  one of my friends is getting married and i made her this apron with some fabric i had.  i love ruffles!  i've made this apron 2 other times.  once for my friend beth's wedding, and the first time for myself.  i posted it a while back.  i got the instructions and dimensions from an apron book my mamaw bought me.  here is a pic from the book.

pardon my dead flowers, i don't exactly have a green thumb it's cold outside.  and pardon my gundgy outfit.  i left out the lace this time.

here was the one i made beth and never posted.  i used 2 of the same fabrics and lace on hers.

the end.

yarn wreath

alrighty ya'll.  i need your advice.


First of all, feast your eyes on these pretties.  yarn wreaths found  via google image search. i'm going to replicate one.

i am making a yarn wreath for spring!  i want it to be bright.  here is the color of yarn i chose.

it's a pretty yellow!  the yarn was on sale at joanns.  did you know that vana white had a yarn line?!?  me either.  that, however is not the point of this post.  the advice i need... what color flowers should i make with this purdy lookin' yarn?

blue-ish? i don't think it's too michigan like.

purple-ish?

OR

pink-ish?

i think all 3 colors is a bit much.

HELP!

baby mobile for baby davis

remember all of those pretty fabrics i posted a while back?  this weekend i got to see mommy to be Amy Dizzle!  (man, i love that girl!)  I made most precious baby girl davis a mobile.  i used this free pattern to make the birds. they're attached to the inner ring of an embroidery hoop with pink embroidery thread.  it's so bright and happy.  the ribbon was my mamaw's idea.  i hope the colors make you as happy as they make me.

the tops of the birdies

and the birdie bellies

and the pretty ribbon

keep growing healthy, baby girl!  we can't wait to meet you :)

hat&gloves

i complain about how much i hate the snow.  the one thing good about the snow is that i'm getting a lot of use out of one of my birthday gifts!  a hat and gloves that my mamaw made for me!  i LOVE them.  and they are seriously super warm.  I'm being optimistic about this lying ground hog (especially since I woke up yesterday morning with snow in my front yard).

excuse my fat fingers :)

oh and how do you like my roots growing out! hahaha!  i'm growing my hair out and not dying it.  this is after over a year of not dying my hair.  Paul swears to me that it doesn't look that two toned in real life... that it's just the picture.  hahaha!  

jocelyn

my friend diane is having a baby girl named jocelyn!  diane just had her baby shower and unfortnately because of how busy i've been, i wasn't able to make it.  but i made her a little decorative pillow for the nursery to go along with some baby supplies that i bought her.

it was the first time that i made buttonholes by myself. it actually worked out alright.  except the first hole that i ripped, i ripped through the buttonhole thread.... oops.  the nice thing about thread is that you can just sew over it again.  can you see which one was the mistake?

and of course i had to add a flower because i love girlie stuff! but hey, at least there weren't any ruffles... haha!

thankful.

remember my post a couple days ago about making a pin cushion because mine is terrible.  well for my birthday my mamaw made me two!  they are the most BEAUTIFUL pin cushions I've ever seen!  I just have to share them because they are so beautiful.  I almost cried when I opened the one that says 'Remember Me'.  they are so thoughtful and meaningful.

(you can click on the picture to make it bigger and see them better)

look at the beading detail on the round one.  i love the glass candlestick and the wooden base as well.  it is an old 'pig scrapper'.  my mamaw had to explain to me what that is!  haha!  and they are super cushy and easy to put a needle and pin into!

thank you mamaw!

bedroom

i've been really wanting to make a duvet cover.  i found a great tutorial on how to make this anthropologie bedspread.

i am in love with like 3 duvet covers from anthro.  i also LOVE this one. (i really like ruffles and girly... poor paul)

and i just saw on this blog a CUTE room redo.  she got her bedspread idea from urban outfitters.

check out the entire room here.

Unfortunately, we can't do a white duvet cover because our BLACK dog sleeps on it all of the time.  he's dirty quite often.  so we were thinking of doing like a slate color... i would really like to go with a purple themed bedroom, but i don't want to make the bedspread purple, i want it more neutral so we can switch colors when purple goes out of style.  What do you think?  I need your feedback and suggestions!

pretty colors

i have a special lady friend who is having a special baby girl.  i'm not naming any names, but her name rhymes with Ramy Ravis.  Some of you might know her.  i've been working on a special gift for this special baby girl.  here's a picture...

oh come on, you didn't actually think i'd show you the project.

but this may or may not be some of the fabric i'm using.  i promise that it's not mismatched. i promise.  i'll show you all after this special mommy-to-be sees it first!  it's not done yet anyway.  

mooooahahahahaha. (that's my dr. evil laugh)

let's just hope baby girl doesn't end up being baby boy or he's going to have to be really comfortable with his manhood and pink.

unfinished business

so the pin cushion i have sucks.  it is not very "stuffy" or full of the soft squishy stuff to put your needles in.  it's like putting a needle into wood.  hey mom, if you were still looking for a great birthday gift, i would LOVE one of those awesome cushions mamaw made you!

so i found some tutorial on how to make a pin cushion with a little baggie to catch your thread and scrap fabric.  i started it like 3 weeks ago and got most of it done, i just haven't finished it yet.  oh my.

don't look to hard at the ruffle around the pin cushion.  i didn't realize that the corners of square things are actually rounded until after i tried to sew the ruffle into the square.  haha!  but i'm too lazy to rip it apart.  i'll probably just make another one.  either way, it still does its job and i'm not giving it to anyone, just using it for me, myself and i.  nothing wrong with that, right?  ;-)

my new baby

so for Christmas, my parents and my mamaw got me a new sewing machine!  i LOVE it.  it just sews sooo smoothly compared to that old kenmore of mine.  I was soo surprised.  I didn't even ask for a new one.  I was perfectly content with my old one.  But now that I have this new one, I am soo in love with it.  AND it is still special because my mom and mamaw bought it for me.  the first time i sewed on it was at my mamaw's house with my mom and mamaw... just to add to the special-ness of it!

Feast your eyes, my friends!

my mamaw made this sewing machine cover just for me as well! How cute?  I love the ruffles & lace!

ta-da!  isn't she beautiful?!  you can borrow it any time you like.

THANKS MOM, DAD AND MAMAW!

cushion recover

just a quick post of what i've been up to lately...

i recovered some cushions for my patio (or front porch) furniture

BEFORE:

and after....

sorry, des really wants to be a doggie model so he has to be in every picture.  he just got his nails cut because he is a demon when we try to cut his nails a pedicure today.

i think i need some mums.

Paul and I are vegan... well a lot stricter than vegan (engine 2 diet) again for the next 28 days. Check out the diet here.  In July, Paul's cholesterol went from 136 down to 83 in 28 days!!  Anyway... i'm in the middle of making some yummmy nutrient and iron rich KALE chips.... Two blue lemons is where we found the recipe.  they have some really good recipes...

anyway... the recipe is a cinch... a bundle of kale, a TBSP of olive oil and some sesame seeds

(before the oven)

Put them in the oven at 250 for an hour.  and voa la!  a super healthy snack.. you could even have some hummus (for more protein and more iron) and some red peppers (some vitamin C to enhance the absorption of the iron).   yummmy.