Surf Boy

I am finally getting around to posting images of my baby boy's finished room! I couldn't wait for paint to show the bedding I made, but we did paint and add a window treatment and a few things to walls. I LOVE it...and he does, too!

Ouchie!

So...a while back I designed a fabric label for a fellow Etsy seller to use on her sewn products. The product she was label was a very cute idea and I was contemplating purchasing one, when this wonderful customer offered to send me one to try! It's called the Ouch Pouch and it is awesome! It is designed with moms with kids in mind...it is a small pouch that you can easily throw in your purse, diaper bag, stroller, etc. filled with first aid goodies! My Ouch Pouch (which she made to coordinate with my own handmade bag) came ready to go, filled with a couple bandaids (one was Hello Kitty for my daughter), wet wipes, tweezers, tylenol, chapstick, and a couple lolipops to make the boo boo's better. You can purchase a preloaded Ouch Pouch (basic or super) or buy and empty one and fill it with your favorite goodies. You can check out Karen's entire line at www.pillowsewcute.etsy.com

At Long Last...

FINALLY!!!! I finally made myself set aside time to make my little guy's new bedding. It features Alexander Henry's Surfin' Pareo in sand and brown Minky and the skirt is a brown bamboo/linen blend. Without further ado....

Karing for Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn is a girl that I have had the absolute pleasure to meet this past year. She and her family are fighting an uphill battle against neurologic complexes that I can't even begin to understand. Below is her story as told by her mother, Kelly. (just click the image for a larger, legible image).
Kaitlyn has faced countless brain surgeries over the past couple years and the family has maxed out their lifetime insurance allowance and are now turning to the public to help Kare for Kaitlyn. You can help by purchasing a "Karing for Kaitlyn" wristband. All money raised from the sale of these wristbands will help with Kaitlyn's medical expenses. The cost for each bracelet is $3.00 (Incudes S/H). To order please send payment to:
Karing for Kaitlyn
PO Box 243
Minooka, IL 60447
Please include the quanity desired and a shipping address.
Thanks for your support!!

Busy, Busy...again

This month has been CRAZY busy!!! I did another craft show...this one was a French Market...and had such a great time and such a great response, that I am going back again in the fall!!! You can check out pictures of the event here: http://3frenchhensmarket.blogspot.com/2009/06/3-french-hens-market-june-27-2009.html
In all the excitement (and stress) of getting ready I forgot to bring my own camera, though.

I completed another crib set and it turned out soooo cute! I can't wait to do another one.




I also made this little t-shirt for a customer from the market...and I am really pleased with how it turned out.

Next up on the agenda is another partical crib set, a diaper bag with changing mat, and an ottoman cover. Plus, somewhere I need to squeeze in a summer top I wanted to make for myself (although that will probably not get done until next summer:-) and my Baby Boy's toddler bedding.

I'm a Yankee Doodle Baby

This is a little dress I did as a pre-birthday gift for a friend's daughter. She's turning one in July but needed a patriotic dress for the summer. I used a blue fabric with white stars, added a red, white and blue star stripe trim and white star appliques. Red ribbons keep it secured at the shoulder.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

My baby girl is turning 5!!!! We celebrated her birthday over the weekend with a Tea Party theme. Check out this spread:

And here's the birthday girl:

It doesn't get any better than balloons!

Mother's Day Gift...a little late

My mom's birthday is the first week of May and so many a year I have combined her gifts...this year was no exception. Well, the exception is that there are just a few days left in May and I JUST now giving her gift to her! I made her a custom cushion set for her deck swing (that's partly why it's late...I didn't tell her I was doing this until her birthday and then I let her pick the fabric so I had to wait for fabric to arrive). Speaking of fabric, she picked this really cute outdoor fabric by Diversitex at www.fabric.com I made two seat cushions, two back cushions, side arm rests, a center arm rest and two matching pillows. I am really pleased with how it turned out and I hope she is, too. (The kids and I snuck down while she was at work and left them for her to find). Check out the pictures below.

On a separate note...one of my diaper totes was featured on a rockin' blog today! Check it out here:
www.PunkRockerByeBaby.blogspot.com
and you can check out her Etsy shop at www.RockerByeBaby.etsy.com for funky finds for your little one.

Surf Girl

So my little girl graduated preschool! The theme was Hawaiian so I ordered some of Alexander Henry's Surfin' Pare fabric in pink (I am doing baby boy's room in the sand colored surf boards). I wanted to give the effect of a pareo in a sundress so I designed this sundress as a pseudo wrap dress. The surf boards create the wrap and the floral peeks out with a large ruffle. I think it turned out great and it was a hit with my little diva.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. I did! We spent the day with my family at my grandma's house and played outside all afternoon. My daughter discovered the life in the creek that runs through my grandma's yard (that I played for hours in as a kid) and my son threw rocks and sticks to his hearts content. All in all, a nice day.
And yesterday...I MADE THE STORQUE on Etsy (that is Etsy's in house newspaper and the new articles are featured on the websites main/home page). WoooooHooooo! Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-vintage-a-handmade-tale-3915/#comment-103267
So as promised, here is my daughter in her skirt and matching shirt. I had a great idea come to me for her preschool graduation dress (they are doing a tropical theme) and I can't wait to get started on it.

Just a little note....

Well....I haven't done much since my last post. I did finish the cute applique t-shirt to match my daughter's skirt the other day, but she wore it before I could photo it and I now have to get the chocolate icing off of the WHITE shirt before I can show you all how cute it turned out.

I did a blanket and matching onesie for a friend to give as a baby gift. I FINALLY got to order some of Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo to do it and I sooo love it. I want to do my son's room in it, but my husband wasn't sold. So I think I am going to do Alexander Henry's Surfin' fabric with the surf boards, that will allow me to keep the yellow walls and the trees my husband painted when we prepared the nursery for my daughter. I went gender neutral with her because of the insane pregnancy hormone-induce phobia that she infact was NOT a girl and if I did her room for a girl she would definitely be a boy. So we ended up with a gender neutral farm animal theme that I am just shaking my head at....oh those wonderful hormones! (they also made us buy a light colored wood crib because the one we wanted, which was a Mission style red oak was backordered six weeks and although I wasn't due for about 3 or 4 months at the time, there was complete paranoia that the baby would get here and we would have no crib, so let's order this one that we really don't love so that the beautiful bundle of joy will have a crib to sleep in....5 months after we brought her home). Loooong tangent!

Anyway, I haven't been up to much but I have quite a bit in the works. I have a custom request for outdoor cushion covers that I'm hoping won't ruin my machine as the fabric is very heavy-duty. I am also making new deck swing cushions for my mom as her Birthday/Mother's Day present. She picked some really pretty fabric that I can't wait to show you all. I want to make my daughter a cute sundress for her preschool graduation in a couple weeks and I am making an early birthday present for my friend's daughter for the fourth of July. The baby's room is in the future...have to finish some other things first. And, I need to start increasing my inventory for the French Market next month. I am REALLY excited! Here's the link with all the info: 3FrenchHensMarket.blogspot.com

It's May!!!!

Yay! Spring is here and summer is on it's way! The occasional cool day will not deter the uplifted spirits in our house as the kids can FINALLY play outside!!! I recently started offering printed fabric labels in my shop (after needing some myself and finding them pretty reasonable to make) and they are selling like hotcakes!!! I am amazed! I'm actually considering opening a second shop because now if you want to look through my sold items for examples of sewing things I have done, you have to wade through pages of label orders!

Anyway, I haven't been doing a ton of sewing...I patterned a new apron that I am still working on. I made one and have made some adjustments and I have the next on cut and sitting down in the sewing cave waiting to come to life!







I recently did a set of pillows for a customer using the Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room fabric that was used on the porch swing cushions I did around Easter and they are sooo cute that the customer has already asked me to make her valances to match.








Don't miss out on the It's In The Bag Giveaway...you can click the button on the right for all the details.
I signed up to sell at an open air French Market in town this summer! There are six venues...I signed up for the first and am going to see how it goes on possibly doing one more. If you live in Illinois (in the Northern part of the state or the Chicagoland area), here is the link with all the details. Three French Hens

Beyond that, I just received an order of a couple t-shirts. I want to embellish one to go with the blue/lime Amy Butler skirt I made my daughter (I really wasn't happy with the shirt I made so...)
Enjoy your day!

Done...Diaper Bag

As promised...here are the pictures of the custom diaper bag set. It is my Modern Diaper Bag style which I sooo wish I had been making when I still needed a diaper bag! It has 6 pockets on the outside and six more on the inside. I made a diaper clutch to match which was a new design I tried and it turned out super cute! I also made two matching burp cloths. This set is a baby shower gift the customer is going to give to a friend. I hope she enjoys it!

Bad Blogger!!!

I am a very bad blogger...in that I just don't do it enough. So...I have been busy, though. I participated in my first ever craft show; it was a local PTO sponsored show. It was so-so...I sold two bags and covered my entry cost. But, I got my name out there locally and found out about a French Market being held this summer that I think I am going to participate in.

I just completed a set of box cushions for client's porch swing. She provided the fabric and I know have another fabric favorite to add to my list. They were done using Anna Maria Horner's Drawing room fabric, which is absolutely fabulous!

I am also participating in a blog giveaway hosted by Celeste of Etsyitup.blogspot.com and Katie of TheShoppingMama.com. Click the button on the right for more details! That's about it for now. I am heading down to the sewing cave to start on a custom diaper bag...I will post pictures of that when I am finished.

It's Spring!!!

I have completely blown off one of my New Year resolutions to blog at least once a week.  Sorry.  So, here I am updating.  I completed a dress for my friend for her daughter's first birthday.  I think it turned out super cute and can't wait to see pictures of her!  

I listed a new product in my shop this week...coupon organizers/mini wallets.  I had my coupons, store gift checks, gift cards, etc. paper clipped and floating between bags, and I NEVER had the one I wanted when I needed it, so I made a super cute coupon organizer to match my "after the diaper bag bag".  It's so handy...I'm not a super coupon cutter, so it only has five pockets, but it's perfect for sorting between the grocery coupons I do have, the xx% off department store coupons, the gift cards and the reward coupons I have.  

I am also posting pictures of my too cute baby boy.  These are just too cute not to share.  Happy Spring everyone!  And don't miss the widget on the upper right column of my blog...help support March of Dimes.