Tini's Wedding Jewels

Last weekend I was delighted to see my friend Tini walk down the aisle toward wedded bliss wearing a custom EJewelryDesigns earrings and necklace set. Tini had first asked me to do the bridal jewelry this past summer and I was thrilled to be able to participate in her special day in any way I could.



I made her dangling white pearl and sterling silver earrings and a three tiered hand-knotted pearl choker that can actually be worn as one long chain or doubled or tripled depending on her mood and clothing. It all came out beautifully! And Tini made such a lovely blushing bride! I also made platinum colored pearl and sterling dangling earrings for the bridesmaids in a slightly smaller scale that the bride's, but I don't seem to have any pictures to post of those.

So Proud!

This past week I traveled to South East Alabama to visit a recent transplant and dear friend and taught her how to sew. It was a fabulous week! And she was a quick learner, well, not really learner since she already had a bit of knowledge but it was an easy job for me. We started with a few burp cloths, easy rectangles, stitched around, turned inside out and stitched again. Then D made a sweet bib and a kimono. Check out the kimono! So Cute!!!!! I'm so proud!

Giraffe Baby Wall Hanging

My dear friends D and J are having a baby! And I wanted to make them something extra special to show how excited we all are about their upcoming arrival. So I instantly thought of making a wall hanging for the baby's room, something bright and colorful to match the style that D is looking at for decoration.



I think the final product came out pretty darned cute! I only wish I had taken some close ups before I gave it to D! I used a few scraps of Laura Gunn Lantern Bloom fabrics. The center panel is leftover from the wall hanging that I made for myself a few months back, Laura Gunn's Lantern Bloom line Climbing Lantern Pod in Turquoise. I also used the Hanging Cages in Lime from the same line but in two different directions. The star of the wall hanging is the little white flannel giraffe silhouette; he came out so much better than I had hoped! He was free-hand stitched on the machine and then cut out. I hand embroidered the eye on him and mad a little brown tail that hangs off the wall hanging for a little 3D addition!

Bridal Accessories for S & C

My cousin S has found a wonderful woman to share his life and luckily they share some of the same passions for hunting and fishing :) I was honored when they asked me to create signature bridal garter belts and a ring bearers pillow for the wedding! The wedding colors are green and brown, colors to match the mossy oak camouflage pattern that will also be found on the men in the wedding party. Yup, camouflage. Not my style certainly, but I was happy to create something for them! Here are the results!

Easter Pineapple Cake

Happy Easter! I haven't been posting lately, mostly because I have nothing to post about. I haven't had much time for making and creating. But I had to do a little something to make this drab weekend feel like Easter, so I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. One of my favorites. Now if only I had people to share it with!

Wall Hanging

This project has been sitting in the back of my mind for several weeks now. I was inspired by one of my sewing blogs to search for this gorgeous Michael Miller fabric with the orange flower pods on it; it was my first online fabric purchase! Ah the power of peer pressure! Once I got the fabric in the mail I was pleased to notice that it looked really nice in my living room, so it sat on my couch for a few days before I eventually moved it into the craft room (spare room).

And it's been waiting for me ever since, until last week, when I finally took the time to pop into the fabric store with this project in mind. I found a handful of fun orange and blue and purple prints, all but two of which I used in the finished project. I played with the design a little on scrap paper over the course of this week, working out the proportions that I wanted and finally tonight, after turning in my big work project to my bosses empty desk (it was 4:57 and he had left the office at 4:55!!!!), I sat down and started cutting! and cutting! and ironing! and stitching! and ironing! and stitching! and before I knew it I was dragging A into the living room to look at my creation! It's only the top panel of what will be a quilted wall hanging, but I'm pleased as punch with how it is turning out!


It was much faster to whip up than I thought it would be. I'd say it took me about an hour and a half all in all. This was my first quilt-ish project that I've made that I feel has the proper angles and lines and I'm quite pleased. Tomorrow I will run back the fabric store to pick up some batting and a fabric for the back... or maybe I'll put together another front and stitch them together with top loops so I can reverse it to mix up the decor? eeeee, that sounds like a good idea! Wish me luck!

Blogs I Follow

I realized this morning as I was blogging and posting some new things on my etsy, that all I ever seem to blog about anymore are new items in my shop and I wanted to take a minute to blog about something else! And what better to blog about than my favorite blogs! Because if you like to see what I make, maybe you'd also like to see what I read? Maybe?

Last year I blogged about Sew Mama Sew, a fantastic blog that has inspiring sewing ideas and pattern for free. Last year Sew Mama Sew did an amazing Handmade Holiday collection of gifts that you could make for the holidays. This month, they are doing a scrap busting month with ideas and patterns to convert all of your scrap fabric into beautiful things! Go check it out! I'm especially inspired by this and this and this...

Here are a few other crafty blogs that I read almost every day (when they post something new!)

http://stardustshoes.blogspot.com/
Who posted a cute fabric box that she made the other day.

http://artsycraftybabe.typepad.com/
Who sells gorgeous purses on Etsy and has recently been experimenting with handstitching from Alabama Chanin's book.

http://craftapple.wordpress.com/
Who is a quilter but posts all kinds of great sewing tips for non-quilters as well! Her recent blog features the newest edition of Stitch Magazine which I keep meaning to get my hands on... my friend D bought it for my friend N's birthday and I almost stole it from the birthday girl!

These are a few of my favorite sewing blogs, check them out and share some of your favorites!