Home Sweet Home: Watermelon

What comes to mind when you think of summer? Maybe things like playing outside, eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds in the grass until you were a pink drippy covered mess and then swimming in the pool to clean off.  This is the image that I wanted to capture in the bright cheerfulness of my watermelon "O".

I started with painting the entire block of wood white.  After a couple of layers I lightly drew lines with a pencil around the outside edge of varying widths and painted them with a light and a medium shade of green acrylic paint.  The watermelon pink paint I admit was a custom mixture of colors.  It took a couple pinks, a little red and some white before I found the right combination that made me think summer.

Once all of that was dry I sealed it with a satin gloss finish acrylic paint sealer and then hammered carpet tack nails randomly across the front for the seeds.  A big thank you goes to my sister Amber for the idea of the carpet tacks.  They look cute and it saved my from possibly messing the whole thing up by trying to paint on little black seeds.

You can check out the main post for this project and all it's monthly letter "O" links here HOME SWEET HOME.

Last Year's Pajamas Affect This Year's Planning

As Thanksgiving approaches this week, and my thoughts inevitably turn today gratitude and the upcoming holiday season I find myself thinking about the upcoming crafting projects that I should have started weeks ago and now only have a few a weeks left to get finished before Christmas is upon us.  This seems to be something that I do often as I looked back over last year's Facebook posts I realized that I am even a little ahead of schedule this year if I start on the children's Christmas pajamas anytime before December 10th.

Last year I was a little bit over confident in my time management vs. project size and quantity skills and I found that it got me into a little be of trouble.  I had previously made a set of fish pajama's for my daughter using Simplicity Pattern # 2481.  You can read pattern review and how that project turned out here.  It was such a hit with my daughter and such an easy project that I decided it was perfect for making in big quantities and I would be able to make three sets for my younger three child without any problem leaving me plenty of time to tackle a bigger project for my pre-teen and teen girls that are now borderline women's size clothing making their gift projects take longer simply because of their size.

Well it took me a week with a busy house and five children to get the first set of pj's done.  Red with blue Iron Man.  My youngest son Jeremiah was obsessed with super heroes at the time and I was really hoping he would like them.  But it took a whole week to make one set of pj's which left me on December 15th.

After the Iron Man pj's were done I was ready for a pattern switch and I cut and sewed the pink nightgown for my oldest daughter next.  It was a vintage looking nightgown New Look Pattern #6163.  This is an out of print pattern that I actually rescued from my mother's stash before she got rid of all her sewing patterns because it was a nightgown I had always wanted to make for myself.  Now the pattern is too small for me so I live vicariously through my girls by making it for them.

Their project ended up being a big recycle/up-cycle project.  Since that summer I had gone through all my sets of bed linens and set aside the ones that were worn out from age and washing or from our previous cats getting them with a claw.  So I took those sheets and let the girls pick the ones they liked best without them knowing why I was asking.  Then I matched them with a little bit of fabric and lace for the fancy old fashioned collars and this project was all set.

One Tip: when working with lace, especially if you want a layered effect and plan to put on a couple different ones.  Save yourself some time and at least look at the lace that comes pre-sewn and layered together for you already.  I know it is hard to see in the photo but the pink night gown has a three layer lace that came all put together and it was super quick and easy to sew on since it only took once around.  The blue nightgown however is the opposite, because it has two layers of single layer lace and I had to not only figure out how to layer it so it would look nice but I also had to take double the amount of sewing time to put it one since each layer was sewn on separately.

Everytime I got tired of sewing pleats or lace and ruffles I went back to crawling around on the floor to cut out sewing patterns. This gets harder every year and is honestly not something I am looking forward to doing this weekend as I cut out and plan for this years Christmas pajamas.  Unfortunately if I lay out the fabric on my folding tables it tends to slip and slide around and the pattern doesn't get cut out well.  Anyone have ideas for fixing this and helping me get off the floor?

My youngest daughter's pajamas from this pattern were a fun little up-cycle that ended up adding more time to the project than I had planned on or expected.  Originally they pink floral and blue butterfly fabric was part of a bedroom window curtain I had made for my girls bedroom clear back in 2005.  We have since moved several times and it never fit any of the windows right so I figured it was finally time to reuse the fabric.

Well this required a lot of seam ripping that I eventually gave up on and ended up simply cutting out the seams altogether because it was faster than using a seam ripper on them.  Once I got this set cut out and ready to sew I cut out my son's ocean themed set of pattern pieces.

By this time I was ready for a break and my knees were so sore that it took a couple of days before I was ready or willing to get back down on the floor to cut out the next couple of projects.

Honestly I am not sure how I did it, but I spent the morning of December 24th putting the finishing touches on one nightgown and two sets of shirt/pant pajama set and I was able to get them finished and wrapped just before dinner so that the kids could open them as their Christmas Eve gift.

Sewing the day of Christmas Eve instead of spending it playing games, singing carols and visiting with family is not something that I ever want to have to repeat.  And so it has me thinking about this year and wondering if I need to either get started sooner, or pick a different project to make for the kids that will still show them how much I love and care, without pulling me away from them during the holiday celebration.

Home Sweet Home: Summer Sun

My children were watching Care Bears a couple weeks ago and the way they animators drew and brought to life the moon, sun and all the little stars are what gave me the inspiration for for the face on my summer sun "O".

I started with a yellow acrylic paint as a base color and let that dry.  Then I sponged a yellow/orange color around the sides and on the sun's rays and let that dry.  Finally I sponged a bright orange in a thinner layer around the sides and over the sun's rays and gave that time to dry.

Next it was time for the face.  I used a dot dash pattern around the edge of the sun's face and painted on the face with the smallest paint brush I had.  The white dots on the eyes I added very last with the tip of a toothpick.

It turned out so bright and cheerful, just like all those fun summer days I remember as a kid playing outside, eating popsicles and swimming in the pool.  A perfect project for a blustery fall day when you are missing the out of doors.

You can check out the main post for this project and all it's monthly letter "O" links here HOME SWEET HOME.

Home Sweet Home: Patriotic Star

Veteran's Day is coming up in less than a week and it has me feeling a bit patriotic.  So while I should probably be painting my "O" symbol for the month of December I couldn't resist the opportunity to paint my patriotic star for the month of July.

This Star has been one of my favorite "O" symbols to paint for this project so far.  I used a pencil and a ruler to mark the stripes Then I picked red, white and blue paint.  It took several coats of paint to cover up the pencil marks and I learned that faint marks on future projects will be easier to cover up.  I used some white sheer ribbon and some silver grosgrain ribbon to decorate the middle.  The stars were sparkly silver brads from the scrapbooking section of the craft store.  I cut off the prongs and glued them onto the wood with superglue.

I love how this turned out and I can't wait until July comes around so I can set it out and use it for the the month.  If only all of the "O" symbols for this little wooden sign turn out this cute.

You can check out the main post for this project and all it's monthly letter "O" links here HOME SWEET HOME.

My Little Pony Inspires a Rainbow Mask

I grow up in love with the movies and the tv shows and the toys that were such a big hit in the 1980's: My Little Pony.  My three daughters have fallen in love with the vintage toys and movies that I have kept or purchased from Ebay and they have recently fallen in love with the latest version of the tv show.

Since I started designing and developing children's felt masks for my mother's Etsy shop I was inspired not only by this particular childhood favorite but also by my children's love of bright colors.  My oldest daughter is a fan of wearing every color of the rainbow every day that she can.

So this mask is for all those little girls and princesses out there who love dragons, and unicorns, butterflies, rainbows and fairies.  You can look for this mask in my mother's shop here.

Home Sweet Home: Pumpkin

This simple pumpkin has been one of my favorite "O" symbols to paint for this project so far.  I used several different shades of oranges and layered along each of the black lines where the grooves and bends would be in a real pumpkin to give it depth and shadow.  At least as much as you can give depth and shadow to a flat piece of wood.  The layers of oranges are a little bit hard to see in the photos.

My sister Amber was the one who came up with the idea for the rafia ribbon along the top and the fall oak leaves that are coated in glitter and sparkle.  The green vine curls were done with florist wire wrapped around a pencil.

It turned out cute enough I am looking forward to putting it up in a couple days when we get to November and it is time to switch from Halloween decor to fall and Thanksgiving decor.

You can check out the main post for this project and all it's monthly letter "O" links here HOME SWEET HOME.

Home Sweet Home: Ghost

Fall is moving in and October is quickly blowing by.  Already is almost time for Halloween.  And what better time to add to my Home sign decor with with my ghostly letter "O".

This simple little ghost sure stretched my painting ability.  I have never before tried to paint fabric folds onto a flat surface before.  It made me wish that the 2 x 4 piece of wood his shape was cut out of had a wider base.

The idea for the patches I got after looking at lots of scarecrow pictures on pinterest and I decided that they would look cute on a ghost too.  I sanded the wood, painted with assorted acrylic paint colors and then sealed the paint with a satin finish gloss sealer.

Costumes for the kids have taken a really large back seat this year and I admit that they will mostly be reusing costumes from past years and hand me downs but none of them have complained yet so maybe that means I can let myself feel a little less guilty about not doing as much sewing and enjoy the painting I have been doing just a little more.

You can check out the main post for this project and all it's monthly letter "O" links here HOME SWEET HOME.

Guest Post on Colossal Skeleton Miniatures Painting

My sister Heather was recently here for a visit and graciously agreed to write a post about her favorite recent miniature that she has painted. It also happened to be one that she painted while she was visiting my house and we were painting one afternoon together or was that one very late night? Either way I enjoyed the visit and the time we had to chat and be creative and now you all get to enjoy her handy work as well. She is such a creative inspiration in my life and I am so grateful for that so thanks Heather. And without any further ado here she is.

When I first got into Dungeons and Dragons I swore I would never paint minis. It seemed like fun, but I already had too many hobbies and not enough time. Not to mention the monetary commitment it would take to really get started…. And I stuck to my guns. No minis at all. I mostly run my games with multicolored parcheesi pawns (different shapes for players/monsters) with a couple of bases to indicated size.

...Well, until July this year, that is.

My sister, Tiffany (our intrepid blogstress) had begun painting minis and showing us her completed subjects over skype connection on game night. When I went out to visit, I knew it was a real possibility that she would be painting while I was there. I was determined, no painting with her. Period.

And I managed.

Until I didn’t.

The rest, they say, is history.

Since July, I have been happily submerged in mini-painting. I’ve painted some pretty awesome minis. Giants and oozes, Harpies and Adventurers… even an awesome Silver Dragon. My collection of painted minis grows, but not nearly at the rate of my collection of unpainted minis (as these things go).

It wasn’t until October 2018 that I painted this: 

Reaper Miniatures Bones Colossal Skeleton (77116)

I was once again visiting my sister (with one of my other sisters) and the three of us had been painting for a day already. The weather was wet, raining all day. Then we had some sun, just enough for long enough to prime a few new things to paint.

I had purchased this skeleton with the intention of making one of my campaign groups face it. So the paint job had to be epic. First came assembly. The Colossal Skeleton comes in four pieces. Two arms, a head and the body. I attached the head and the dagger-hand before painting. The nature of the tombstone hand means that it is easiest to paint if both pieces are painted simultaneously and then the arm attached.

After assembly came trimming any visible seams (of which there were few) and then priming. My preferred primer is Army Painter Colour Primer. They are designed to be both primer and basecoat, eliminating the time and paint for basecoating. I have found that they spray on smoothly and cleanly and I have very few problems with it. My preferred shade is Uniform Gray (CP3010).

After priming, the fun stuff starts.

I always start with the biggest areas first, leaving little details and the base for last. In this case, I began with the actual skeleton. I based him with Army Painter Necrotic Flesh, then dry brushed it in layers in the following order: Skeleton Bone, Drake Tooth and Brainmatter Beige. I then highlighted him with Mummy Robes.

Fun fact - I adore highlighting. It’s one of my favorite techniques. It brings emphasis to edges, curves and corners. One of these days I’m sure I’ll overdo it and end up making something look like a cartoon character. Until then, I’ll just keep trucking.

After that, time for the fabric. The reds used here are also Army Painter. Abomination Gore for the base, then Dragon Red for the middle dry brushed shade, followed by Pure Red. It was highlighted with Pure Red lightened with Matt White (just enough to make it a shade lighter, not pinken it.

For the browns in the belt, leather straps around the arm, neck and leg, along with the wood of the brace on the leg, I layered Army Painter colors in the order of Oak Brown and Leather Brown. I then lightened the Leather Brown with Banshee Brown and highlighted with Banshee Brown.

The hair of the orc head, the tombstone, the fur of the loincloth and the stones on the base were done with Army Painter Dark Stone, then Uniform Gray, then Stone Golem. These I chose to leave un-highlighted. The letters in the tombstone I painted with Matt White.

The orc head and orc hand on the back I painted with Army Painter Army Green, then Combat Fatigues and highlighted with Scaly Hide. The eyes were painted with Matt White, the tongue painted Dragon Red.

The rope wrapped around the hammer and the arms and legs I painted Reaper Master Series Auburn Shadow, which I lightened with MSP Amber Gold and then Amber Gold on its own. The highlights were done by adding a tiny bit if Matt White to the Amber Gold to lighten it a shade.

The dagger, chain loincloth, spiked ball-and-chain, and shackles were painted with Army Painter Plate Mail Metal, and accented with Vallejo Model Color Old Gold. Plate Mail Metal was also used to drybrush a topcoat onto the cross of the tombstone. I used the old gold to turn my skeleton into a pirate by giving him a gold tooth.

After this, he was nearly done. Just the base and accenting to do. For bloody accents I used Game Color Scarlett Red (My first time using this color, and borrowed from Tiffany. It’s a great red). I tried to keep the accents small and organic, but numerous enough to be noticed. The red dots in the eyes of all the skeletons were done using Pure Red.

For the base, I painted the dirt first. I used Army Painter Oak Brown, then Monster Brown then Banshee Brown. Unhighlighted, as it’s the base. I went for a grave dirt sort of effect. The grass was based with Angel Green, which I then lightened with Scaly Hide and top-brushed with Scaly Hide on its own.

Nearly complete I then had a decision to make. What wash to use? I was thinking Army Painter Strong Tone, but Tiffany suggested Dark Tone instead. Since she always makes great color suggestions, I decided to test the Dark Tone on a toe. It looked great, so that was the wash I used. For a finishing touch, we sealed him with a matt sealer.

Overall, I’m really proud of how this mini turned out. I’m really excited to present him to my players when the time comes, surrounded, of course, by an army of the undead!

Guest Post On Elemental Mini-Figure Painting

A huge welcome to my sister Jenelle for agreeing to do a blog post for us this week about her latest and favorite miniature that she has painted.  So without further ado here she is.

For many of us that decide to try new things, it is because someone we know has introduced us to that thing.  Well, a few months ago my sister Tiffany, started texting me some pictures of the D&D minis that she had started painting.  I instantly fell in love with all the texture and depth that she was able to put into them.

During the past like 6 weeks when I have been painting some of my own minis, I have come to discover that some of my favorite things to paint are elemental figures.  Therefore, my Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures "Unpainted Earth Elemental - Medium Size" is at the very top of my list of favorite things that I have painted.  I started with my base coat of  Army Painter "Werewolf Fur" to which I slowly mixed in drops of Army Painter "Monster Brown" and dry brushed approximately 5 different shades of brown onto the top of my solid base coat.  Each coat becoming lighter and spread over less surface to give the elemental the texture and depth of dry, cracked earth.

The very next thing that I decided to do with my elemental was to give his eyes a shine.  For this I picked out the Army Painter "Greedy Gold" color. As soon as I had that color within the eyes, I knew that I was not going to try to add anything else to the eyes for pupils.  This was when my sister Heather showed up and suggested that I use a darker, coppery color to add a little bit of veins into the cracks of the elemental's skin.  To achieve this I used the Army Painter "Weapon Bronze".  This difference is subtle, and unless you are looking closely you might assume that the eyes are the same color as the veins.

The next thing that I decided to do was to try and paint the crystals to look like quarts or amethyst. So once again I started with a base coat color just on the crystals this time. I used Army Painter "Alien Purple".  Then going into the dry brush technique again I build up about 5 layers of shades of purple slowly adding in Army Painter "Matt White" to lighten the purple as I went.  After the handful of shades of purple I took my white and added just the tiniest amount of the purple to it.  So that I had a faintly purple tinted white.  Then I dry brushed just the tips of the crystals.

Seeing that they still did not look as shiny as I feel crystals really do in real life, I decided to try a adding a very thin layer of Master Series Paint Reaper(MSPR) "Pearl White" to the crystals.  Well, this color went on way to thick to make me happy, So I only did part of 1 crystal with it and then I turned to MSPR "Shining Mithril" as I had previously used this color for a different mini and knew that it was a thinner color than the white. This new shimmery color almost accomplished what I had been hoping that it would.

The crystals were almost as shiny as I felt they should be.  So, I turned to MSPR "Sparkling Amethyst" thinking, or perhaps hoping, that this one would also be a very thin color and that it would finish off the sparkle that I wanted.  I painted just 1 crystal and had to stop.  This color was not at all what I imagined because it was coming out as a dark purple.  It was shiny, but I was conflicted.  So I turned to Tiffany and handed her the elemental.  Her reaction surprised me because she was impressed, and not conflicted at all about how much she liked it.  Then her comments allowed me to see the crystals in a new light.  She also suggested that I keep most of the crystals as they were currently painted and then just a couple here and there of the darker shiny purple crystals to the overall design.  This allowed me to really fall in love with the look of all the crystals.

After finally finishing the crystals, which took me double the time that the rest of the mini had already taken, I kept trying to decide if he was finished.  There was something that prevented me from deciding that it was indeed completed. That was when I realized that it was the rock in the hand of the elemental that needed to be a different color.  Up until this point the the rock in its hand was the same color as the main body of the elemental.  This was when I turned to both of my sisters, asking about making it grey stone instead.  That was when Heather suggested Army Painter "Rough Iron" and they both agreed that the rock in his hand needed all the veins painted with the "Weapon Bronze" that I had used previously for the hints of veins on the elemental's body.

The rock was the finishing touch that this mini needed.  I am super happy with the way that he turned out and since the time that I finished it only two days ago (at the time of writing this blog) I have continued to pick it back up and admire how amazing it turned out.  With all the thanks for the hints and tips provided to me by my sisters Heather and Tiffany.

Home Sweet Home

Well, it has been a long time since I sat down to do crafting or even think about crafting.  Let alone blogging about it.  Our family has recently moved and in the process of unpacking all the boxes and trying to find new places for all my crafts I came across a half finished project that I have pulled out and put on the crafting table with every intention of finishing it sooner then later.

My sister Amber and I years ago bought this little wood cut out project that spells the word HOME in big letters with a different shape for the O for each month depending on the season.  I am sad to say that it is not yet finished.  But maybe by blogging about it and sharing it with all of you it will get closer and closer to being finished.  So here is the first installment.  The letters themselves are painted a light brown with acrylic paint and then a black dot and dash line travels around the outside edge of each one.

The Apple itself a symbol of fall or school starting again I am honestly not sure which was painted in a custom mixed red that I like to think of as bright apple.  Then a little cream mark was painted on for the worm to exit from.  Seal it all with a satin finish wood paint sealer. Then add my favorite part and the finishing touch the worm itself.  It is made up of five green puff balls and googly eyes hot glued in placed.

Honestly I am not sure whether this lovely little apple should be used for the month of August or September.  What are your thoughts?

Home Sign Links for:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Learning Ripple Stitches While Sitting on Airplanes

Spent all of last week house hunting for our upcoming move. So I took a new crochet project with me for the airplane rides and evenings at the hotel. It is coming along nicely I think and it made the flight less nerve racking so double win.

For those interested I am using the following materials for this project:

• 50 Ripple Stitches (Annies Attic: Crochet) by: Darla Sims pg. 30
• Caron Simply Soft Yarn: Pagoda
• Caron Simply Soft Yarn: Soft Green
• Premier Yarns Deborah Norville: Snow White

An Outgrown Cello Shirt Becomes a New Upcycled and Resized Cello Shirt

And another t-shirt comes into being. My daughter outgrew her favorite cello shirt and since it wasn't one the other kids would wear I turned it into a new shirt.

This project took a bit of searching at the craft store I must admit, because I wanted to keep the upcycle in theme with the previous shirt that I was reusing.  We found some musical ribbon and buttons to help finish off her shirt much to my daughter's delight.

I cut the front of the shirt out with the words and designs and then cut the rest of her old t-shirt into strips.  The strips I sewed together end to end and then folded in half and sewed the ends to make a circle.  I also sewed a loose straight stitch along the outside where the two folded edges meet so I could gather, and gather those ruffles for the sleeves.

Once that was done I took another shirt from the local craft store and ironed the previous t-shirt front to the front of the new shirt and sewed the ruffles onto the inside edge of the t-shirt sleeve.  After the ruffle was attached I sewed on the ribbon to the top of the sleeves where it would cover the stitching from adding the ruffle and around the bottom edge of the shirt, because we had the ribbon and because my daughter asked me too.  Finally I attached the buttons I could with my sewing machine and then attached the others by hand.

I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out and my daughter couldn't be happier.  I also think these little projects might just be my answer for conquering stress.

An Old Paint Stained Pair of Sweats and a New T-Shirt

My daughter had this pair of sweat pants that she had used to help paint the chicken coop and in the inside of the house and various other projects.  So they were paint stained in places.  She also put on a growing spurt recently and they had become too short for her.  So I found I had two choices.  Toss them out because lets face it her sister would never want to wear them or as she put it save them for me mom, they are my favorite pants.

So I got creative.  I removed the ankle cuffs.  No paint on those and they were in good condition.  Then I cut out the cute glittery words and accents on the pant legs.  How she managed to not get paint on those I will never know but the designs being paint free are the only thing that made this t-shirt upcycle possible.

Once that was done I played around with placement until we both liked it then I ironed on the designs to a t-shirt I bought from the local craft store when they were on sale.  Then I sewed the ankle cuffs to the sleeves and satin stitched around the sweat pants designs to give it a puckered wavy look.

She loved it and I got to be a bit creative today.  Win, Win.

Artistic Pursuits of a Young Artist

So Kyrilene came to me this afternoon when quiet time was over. I had just finished telling all the kids to pick their next thing from their lists for school, and she says: "Mom, I need to paint. That is my job." I loved this and she had a great time watercoloring scribbles all over her paper.

It reminded me of a quote that I love and wanted to share: "We might as well declare that a child should not speak unless he put his words into poetry, as to declare that he should not draw because his drawings are not artistic." Anna Botsford Comstock

What an wonderful reminder that a toddlers self expression with paints is just as important to her as my own artistic pursuits and attempts are to me.  I need to give my children art supplies more and chores less.

A Toddler's Art Appreciation

Many years ago my Grandma Marilyn Cowley painted two canvases with children's toys on them.  Toys I remember playing with when we would go to visit her.  When she passed away several years ago, these paintings were something that I inherited from her.  Up until now I have been storing them and waiting to get them framed before hanging them up.

On a whim after our recent move I hung them up in our youngest daughter Kyrilene's room.  And she reacted in an amazing way.  Immediately she was telling me thank you for her pictures and describing them to me.  She is only two years old.  This has gone on every night for a month now, until yesterday.

Our A/C died five days ago and we have had all the windows open trying to keep the house bearable until the repair can come out to fix it.  Well yesterday we had a good breeze going and it managed to knock one of the paintings off the wall.  I decided to leave it down until the wind stopped.  Poor Kyrilene was beside herself lamenting the loss of her picture and wanting to know where it went.  Logically explaining wind and why we didn't put it back up went right over our little girl's two year old head.  Eventually I distracted her with a treat and this morning the first thing we requested was her picture.

Once I put it back up on the wall she was beaming her smile at me with tears in her precious little eyes and saying "thank you mommy, my picture" or over and over again with little toddler arms wrapped around my legs hugging me with joy.

I never expected my children to become so attached to paintings I appreciated because of my childhood memories.  Especially not the child who never even got to meet her Great Grandma in person.  I would like to think that they must have had a special relationship in Heaven before our little girl joined our family.

It also reminded me of the crafting heritage I learned from her.  Grandma was an artist in every sense of the word.  She was always creating something whether it was a new painting with her artist league or the Christmas ornaments she made each year for all of her extended family.  I always looked forward to our big family Christmas dinner and seeing what beautiful creation she had made that year.  She was an amazing example of someone who was not afraid to try making something new.  It taught me that you don't have to be afraid to try something you have never done before.  This lesson has helped me teach myself many things:  cooking, sewing, drawing, painting, scrapbooking, writing, canning, blogging, gardening and even homeschooling my children.

After 10 months of Withdrawl I Finally Get to Sew!

Well after 10 months or more I am finally settled enough I spent the day unpacking my sewing and doing a little bit of mending. I had forgotten just how much I enjoy to sew. Just hemming cut off jeans and sewing buttons back on was fun and I feel like I accomplished something. I will never recommend that anyone leave their hobbies entirely in storage while they move and sell a house. They are definitely my stress relief.

Typerwriter Art What a Talent!

While puttering around on Facebook this morning, checking in on family and friends posts and dropping notes to say hello I came across this news article that really inspired me.

Here is a man who faces challenges and struggles every single day of his life.  Yet he is inspiring people and using his talents and determination to create beautiful works of art to share with those around him.  I would never before have considered using a type writer of all things in the way this man can, but I am inspired by it.  So take a moment to watch this news story and let yourself be inspired too.  Then look at yourself and your life and answer the question he poses:

“What Can You Do?”

Just as Paul knows his gift for typewriter art is a talent from the Lord, each one of us has talents.  And it is our job to figure out what those talents are.  Once we know what we can do, developing and sharing those talents with others strengthens us and allows us to grow.

Thoughts While Mending

Okay I know and you know that my recovery process is not what this crafting blog is supposed to be about, but bear with me here.  As the dust from the recent trip to the hospital has begun to settle and the pain meds have started to kick in enough I can bear to sit up for longer then it takes to crawl to the privy,  I have had a lot of time on my hands to think.  And today something someone said to me as a reprimand really stood out and made me think.

“Tiffany you shouldn’t over do it like yesterday.  It will just make healing harder and take longer.”

Yesterday, I had a seven month old little girl, who was congested and running a slight fever, fussing, crying and unable to sleep unless she was being held in a semi-upright position.  She weighs enough that after a major abdominal surgery last Thursday I am not supposed to pick her up or hold her for the next six weeks at least and probably closer to twelve if I strictly adhere to the doctor’s wishes.  But there is something about a mother’s love and instinct that is tenacious and doesn’t care what the Doctor says if it goes against what you think your child needs.  Even when it goes against everything a doctor tells you that you should NOT do in order to help yourself recover and heal.  After what felt like forever but was probably more like fifteen minutes with her Gramzie I couldn’t take it anymore and had to hold my little girl even though I am not supposed to right now. Those tears and cries broke my heart, so we piled on the pillows and hoped it would protect me while I attempted to soothe my little girl.  Eventually though my body could take no more and I had to once again give my precious daughter to her Nana who took her from me and promptly got her to sleep.  The moment her Nana swayed back into the room rocking Kyrilene in her arms the innocence in that little sleeping face began to melt all the pieces of my heart right back together again.

Exhausted and in pain I rested now that I knew my daughter was sleeping comfortably, and when my four other children arrived home from school I was able to sit up and hug each of them and ask about their day.  They were all chipper and after a quick snack dove into their homework.  Not long after that I noticed my six year kept sneaking in to “check on me” and give me another hug.  Sneaking I think because his Gramzie was trying to entertain and distract the kids for the afternoon while I rested.  By about the third hug I knew he needed time with his mom.  At which point I also knew I had a tough choice to make.  Over do it and pay for it with extra pain that night and probably the whole next day or send him back downstairs with his unspoken needs unmet.  We spent the afternoon playing UNO and Monopoly and my six year tromped on me, but I blame that on the meds.

Eventually their daddy got home and he called them all downstairs for dinner and I felt an overwhelming sensation of being caged.  Here I was hurting and facing another night eating what little I could in bed in my room alone.  The struggles with my health have become chronic over the last sixteen months since we found out we were expecting our youngest daughter and I was definitely feeling sick to death of hurting and eating dinner without my family at that moment.  So I said a silent prayer asking for the Lord to sustain me through the meal and went down to dinner, to the shock and delight of my entire family.  It only lasted 15 minutes while we ate and I had to have help getting back up to bed but for that moment in time we had our family back.  Since then I have been flat on my back aching and wishing the pain meds would just take the edge off the swelling and pain so when I was asked this morning how I was doing I  was honest and said I over did it yesterday and I am hurting today because of it.

So back to the reprimand.  Was it given in love?  Yes, she just wants me to take it easy and allow myself to heal.  But it also required a carefully thought out response as well.  Over this journey with chronic health concerns and life threatening moments it is no longer about the hope of complete recovery or all the things I will be when I am back to quote unquote “normal“.  For many who struggle with chronic issues they are the new normal and you have to learn to deal with, cope and hope even though they are with you every single day.  I realized yesterday with my daughter and my son that I have a choice.  Put off the needs of those around me because I am suffering or focus on what I could do to emotionally to lift them up and let the cards fall where they may.

Holding my daughter was about me telling her that I was here and I loved her especially when she was hurting.  Because even though my broken and bruised body wouldn’t let me do it for long, it would let me do it for a little while.  I love my children so much I am willing to personally suffer just a little more to show my love for each of them and isn’t that exactly what the Savior has done for each one of us?  Our Heavenly Father loves each of us so much that he gave us a Savior who suffered all things so He could bear up our burdens.  And if He loves us enough to do that then how much does He ache to hold and comfort us when we are sick and hurting ourselves; the same way I ached to comfortable my little girl.  Just as I could not turn away the need for love and comfort that my son so meekly asked for by checking on me, I also can not think of a single time in my life when I have gone to Lord needing comfort like my son came to me and have not been overwhelmed by feelings of His love for me.

Not for a single moment do I regret my choices and the extra pain I am in today because they are reminders of the love my Savior Jesus Christ has for me and the love I have for my family.  Did I over do it yesterday?  Strictly from a physical standpoint, yes I did.  Am I paying the price for it now?  Yes I am.  But from spiritual standpoint and loving the journey despite the heartaches yesterday was the best day ever and I would totally do it again in a heart beat.  I simply hope that others who suffer with challenges and chronic issues whether they are spiritual or physical in nature can learn one thing:

It doesn’t have to be fixed and we don’t have to be back to “normal” to continue to love and show love for those around us.

So I hope and pray that each of you will not put off the help and love you can give to others just because you are suffering too.  Each and everyone of us is suffering and struggling with something.  It’s how we choose to handle it that builds our character and makes us who we are.

Beginner Friendly Skirt Project & Pattern Review

My husband is the oldest of nine children.  I know what you’re thinking “WOW!”, right? and” How did his parents keep their sanity?”  Well, fortunately they did and I happen to be lucky enough to be married to a wonderful man.  There are about eighteen years between him and his youngest sister.  When she started planning her wedding, most of her older siblings had already married and many had children of their own.  Since this created a challenge for large family photos and knowing who belonged to who, she came up with a wonderful idea to color coordinate each family so you could tell who belonged to who in the photo’s.  My family got burgundy red.  So Zephanie ordered matching burgundy ties for my husband and our two boys and I had a choice to make.  Do I shop and shop and shop until I find the right color dresses for both my girls and I or could I get creative and make something to match in time for the wedding?

I bet you can guess which option I chose.  I had previously purchased some burgundy rose fabric I had planned for a different project.  Using it for the wedding though was a chance to good to pass up.  I had a daughter who refused to wear dresses under almost all circumstances so I knew I was going to have to compromise and we settled on matching burgundy skirts with white blouses.
I chose two different patterns for the same style skirt for this project Simplicity #2576 and New Look # 6762.

If you are looking for a great beginning project look no further.  The skirts in these two patterns are simply quick and easy and are great for building confidence with your sewing skills or for a quick and fun weekend afternoon project.

Things I loved about this Simplicity pattern:  With only three pattern pieces to deal with, cutting out the pattern and prepping it for pinning to the fabric was a breeze.  The first page of the directions goes over the steps of picking the right size for you, how to prep the pattern pieces and the fabric, and how to cut the fabric.  Definitely a great choice as a first project for a younger sewer as well, because it explains the reasons for each step along the way.  My TIP:  Once you pick out your fabric, take it with you and take the time to browse the trim and ribbon sections of the store.  It may surprise you with what fun and beautiful options you will find to make your skirt one of a kind.  Overall I give this pattern 5 out of 5 stars because of the ease of the project and nice clear instructions.

I am always finding the cutest clothes when I shop for my girls and very rarely do you ever find the cute stuff in the women’s department.  I don’t know about you but I don’t mind ruffles and bows, bright colors and fun trims from time to time if done well.  Since I am still a beginner myself when it comes to altering patterns, trying to re-size the pattern I used for my girls was just not an option. So I was so thrilled to find the exact same pattern in a large enough size for me.

Things I loved about this New Look pattern:  Since I purchased this pattern specifically for the skirt to match my daughter’s, the included patterns for shirt and pants were just bonuses.  The shirt is a raglan style, with the slanted sleeve seams which is in style right now.  I am looking forward to making a few of these after my surgery that is coming up this week.  The directions for the skirts are written with slightly different wording but they are the same steps as the simplicity pattern.  Overall, I give the pattern 5 out of 5 stars because, although I haven’t made the shirt yet, the skirts worked out nicely and quickly without any issues or confusion.

So, if you were to compare the two patterns skirt for skirt, I have to say I liked the simplicity one just a little bit more, because the directions were written just a little bit more clearly, which made them faster to put together.

The good news is I got the projects done in time for us to head out for the wedding.  The bad news is we got down the road and clear up to Provo, Utah before I realized that after packing my garment bag with our dress clothes, I gave it to my husband who hung it in the coat closet so it wouldn’t get wrinkled while we packed; then, both of us neglected to get it put in the car!  With over 12 hours of driving there was no way we were going to turn around and go back for them.  That is the bad news.  We stayed with family in Salt Lake, Utah that night and spent the next day shopping, finding suits for my boys, and trying desperately to find something that might come close to the right color for the girls.  We weren’t able to find burgundy but we were able to find red dresses for both the girls and amazingly enough I not only found a burgundy skirt, but a nice blouse to go with it for the wedding.  I count my many blessings for that small answer to prayer.  How did the wedding turn out you might ask?  Well, things went off without a hitch and the pictures turned out great even without my girls matching us exactly and that is the saving grace.

• Did I have fun making the skirts?  Definitely.
• Would I make the skirts again?  Of course! Especially to teach my girls to sew.
• Do we wear them often after the wedding?  Quite a bit, they are super cute and work great for church on Sunday’s.

Up-cycling Window Valances into Toddler Dresses

My baby girl is finally getting old enough that it was time to move from a portable bassinet for sleeping to a more permanent crib.  While getting the location of the crib cleared out and the bed set up I pulled out the bag that I had stored my baby girl bedding in since our family’s last use of it.  Tucked in with the sheets, bumper, and bed skirt were three valance curtain panels.  These panels had been perfect when I first set up my eldest daughter’s nursery years ago, but after several moves and some custom bedroom paint they just didn’t fit the room the new baby was going to be in at all.  My first thought was to put them in the bag of clothes items we had outgrown and were getting ready to donate.  But before I could actually bring myself to do this pinterest struck again.  I had been posting ideas for up-cycling different types of clothing all week on my sewing board and the idea of up-cycling these darling window treatments was too irresistible to pass up.  So I dug around and looked through my baby and toddler patterns until I found something that I thought would fit the length and width of the panel well.  I ended up choosing the pinafore dress from Simplicity Pattern #2461.

After cutting out the pattern pieces and looking over the sewing directions, I decided that I only had enough fabric to do view C out of the curtains because sleeves in view A or B would not work right because of the style and layers of the panels.  The pattern itself also called for an open and curved back on the pinafore which worried me because the layers of material weren’t going to look right with a curve and a ruffle in them.  It was easy to feel a little frustrated and I went back to my pile of patterns and tried to find one that might look better.  I didn’t have anything that I thought would work any better than the pattern I had already chosen.  Which meant at this point I was going to have to be creative or give up on the project.  These curtains I admit hold a great deal of sentimental value for me and the idea of giving them new life and letting them be used one last time had me determined to figure out how to make this project work.  After some serious thought and moving pattern pieces around a bit I decided to alter the dress style itself.  I left off the back sections completely and opted for two front pieces.  One front piece to work as intended and one to work as the new back piece so these curtains would work out in the design the way I wanted.  Since this pattern is a multi-size pattern it gave me the flexibility to choose the size 3T that would fit exactly with length of the curtains.  I cut the two front pieces out one curtain and had just enough at the top for the yoke sections as well.  It surprised me that I was able to get an entire pinafore out of one panel and after looking at the other two panels I decided I would just be crazy enough to try mass production sewing on a small-scale and make three dresses at the same time.  Looking back on the project now I can honestly say I am not sure what I was thinking.  By using pre-sewn curtains it actually took quite a few of the steps out of the project and made it faster to complete, but I now had three of them to make so I am certain it didn’t save the kind of time it would have if I had only been making one.

After finishing the pinafore itself I knew I was in it for the long haul because I wanted the cute under dress with the short sleeves to go with it.  So I ended up using a 40% off coupon at JoAnn’s and found some really cute moss-green fabric to match the valance colors.  While I was shopping the color choice I wanted brought my fabric options down to three, satin which dries with definite water spots when it gets wet so not a good choice for a baby who drools and spits up, an acetate which can only go to a dry cleaner also not the best choice for a baby or toddler, or a pretty cotton poly blend that was machine washable.  I can’t stress enough when you fabric shop for small children always take the time to read the care instructions on the end of the bolt.  It will make you happier in the long run so you don’t accidentally ruin all your hard work because you forgot to read it and washed something that shrank or stained.

Things I loved about this view A & B dress pattern:  I really liked the short sleeve vs. long sleeve option.  Living out here in the desert we don’t need long sleeves very often and this versatility was nice.  I absolutely loved the way they used the bias tape along the neckline and collar.  Collars are always something I have struggled with a bit and the directions and bias on this section really made this collar much easier to put on.  Things that need to be fixed about this dress pattern:  In step 16 where it goes over the sleeve directions it doesn’t reference which sleeve option the directions apply to or that they apply to both.  You have to read ahead to 17 to figure out that it applies to both sleeve options and a little clarity here might be useful.  My Tip:  For the step of hemming bottom edge zigzag stitch the very edge and set you stitch width to the 1/4 inch they say to press.  This will give you automatic fray prevention and a fold line so you can skip ironing those teeny tiny edges and possibly your fingers.  I figured this out the hard way.

Things I loved about this view C pinafore pattern:  This particular dress has an option for a super cute butterfly shaped pocket.  I know I didn’t use it on my up-cycling project but it is really cute and I definitely see myself using it on a future project.  The pattern sews together well enough that I had no problems switching the back section out for a second front piece allowing you to substantially change it into an almost completely different dress giving it extra versatility.  My TIP:  After sewing my yoke section down completely my stitching line across the front as not completely straight.  I covered this with cute little green daisy flower trim.  You will want to be extra careful when sewing this down to keep the fabric from slipping around at all or be prepared to cover that seem with a bit of trim or ribbon.  I also used a package of bias tape in a matching color along the arm holes for the shoulder ties instead of fiddling with making my own ties.  If you opt for this short cut be mindful that bias tape does come with random seams in some packages so be prepared to cut around those or use them.  I cut my bias tape to the length they had you cut the fabric for making your own ties.  I also recommend that you cut them a little longer than this.  It will give you a slightly more draped bow when you tie it on the child wearing it.

This pattern also comes with pieces and directions for shorts or bloomers.  While they look cute I can’t say much about them because I didn’t make them for this project.

Overall I give this pattern 5 out of 5 stars because even with the lacking reference on the sleeve instructions it wasn’t difficult to put together and it is super versatile and has tons of styling options written right into the instructions and photos giving different trim and contrasting collar suggestions.  It really gets your creativity flowing and allows you see some of the options you have.  Finally don’t be afraid to add things like the decorative buttons I put on the front of the pinafore for extra cuteness.  This only lets you express your talents a little more and personalize your project a little better.