For Me

I just finished my first top.  Well, it is the first top that I've ever made for myself.  I've sewn a few easy dresses for my daughter and have primarily used my machine for crafts or to make home decor.  For some reason I have always been nervous to make anything for myself.  I always have a hard time measuring myself and checking to see if the fit looks right.  I've been eyeing all the beautiful tops with the ruffles that I've seen everywhere and wanted to try and make one.  I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.  I just might need to make some more tops for myself.

Baptism Thank You Notes

As you know I make most of my cards.  I'm not sure if I'm crazy for making them because I know you can just buy a package of them at the store.  This card in particular gave me the most trouble that I almost gave up and was tempted to just buy a package of cards.  My problem was the cross that I had designed to be cut out by my cricut.  For some reason everything about it was giving me problems, but I finally figured it out.  Here is the cross that I finally got the cricut to cut. 

Finished Projects

Things have been crazy here.  I'm not sure if it is because it is summer and we've been going to the pool almost every night or if I just have too much going on.  All I have time for is to work a little bit on a bunch of different projects.  I did finish a few and I wanted to show some final pictures.
Here is the final picture of the stepping stone for my mother-in-law.  I think she will love it.  Please don't pay any attention to all the weeds I have in my flower beds.  I'm terrible at keeping up with the weeds.
Click here for the pictures of the stepping stone tutorial.

The other is some pictures of another coin purse that I made as a going away gift.  This time I used my ruffler foot on my sewing machine and did the pleat option.  I think I like the way the pleated one looks more than just the ruffle I did on the last coin purse.

Burst Chair

The burst chair is wild, contemporary chair designed by Oliver Tilbury of London. It reminds me a little of a koosh ball.  Take a look for yourself here.

Baptismal Outfit

My son was baptized recently and my Mom made him a beautiful outfit for him to wear.  She is very talented and sews the most gorgeous garments.  She has sewn many outfits for me over the years including my wedding dress.  I will have to upload some pictures of the beautiful smocked dresses she makes in another post.

Doesn't he look cute? Too bad he wasn't this happy during the baptism. 

Texas Dishcloth

I just finished a quick knitting project.  I found the pattern for the Texas dishcloth here. I made it as a going away gift for a friend who will be moving away from Texas.

Stepping Stone Tutorial

I made a stepping stone a little while back for Mother's Day, but I haven't been able to get around to developing a tutorial for it.
I started out by purchasing a plastic mold that can be found at any craft store.  I also bought the mix for the stepping stone there as well.  I came up with a hummingbird design that I wanted to use for the stone.  To make the hummingbird and flower I used stained glass.  I scored the glass with my glass cutter.

Then you snap them with a pair of running pliers.  Running pliers put an even amount of pressure on the glass and snaps it where it was scored.

I kept scoring and snapping until I had the basic shapes for the hummingbird and flower.  I refined and smoothed the edges with a glass grinder.  To prepare the mold I coated it with vaseline before I poured in the concrete mixture.

 After I poured it in I placed the glass on top and pushed it in slightly.  

 Now we wait for it to dry.  I'll upload a final picture after it is dries later this week.

Hanging Chairs

Here are some hanging chairs (Hive, Double, Circa) that I thought you'd like for Fabulous Furniture Friday.  They are produced in the UK from Raw Studio.  The designer is Nick Rawcliffe.  The chairs are made of birch plywood and can be folded flat for storage.  I thought they looked pretty fun.

Coin Purse

We have some friends that will be moving away from Texas and I wanted to make my daughter's friend a little reminder of Texas. I found this coin purse at Joann's fabric store.  I bought a bandana and cut it into strips to make a ruffle.

Then I attached the ruffle and personalized it by painting her name and the shape of Texas on it.

Fruit Arrangement

This past weekend my mom made a fruit arrangement and I decided to take pictures to show you how easy it is to make.  Who knew that the companies that make these popular fruit arrangements use a chunk of a pool noodle to stabilize the skewers of fruit. 

Baptism Cake

My son was baptized this past weekend and I decided to make a cake to celebrate the event.  I have absolutely no experience in cake decorating, so it looks a little amateurish.  It still tasted great!

Kanutos Lounge Chair

It's Friday and I found a fantastic new chair, the Kanutos Lounge Chair.  Victor Monserrate whose background is in Industrial Designer made this wonderful chair.  There are 3 versions of the Kanutos.  My absolute favorite is the Kanutos III.  It looks as if it is on fire.  The chairs are constructed from wicker, stainless steel and wood.  I don't know about you, but I love it!  If you'd like to see more of Victor's work you can find his portfolio here.  You can read an article about Victor and his Kanutos lounge chair here.  I can't wait to see more furniture from him in the future.

 Kanutos I

Kanutos II

Kanutos III

* Permission was given by Victor Monserrate to repost the pictures of the Kanutos I, II, III chair.

Fairy Wand

Here is the tutorial on the fairy wand I made last weekend for a birthday gift.

                                                                     Materials:

                                                                     dowel rod

                                                                     paint

                                                                     ribbon

                                                                     tulle

                                                                     glue

First, cut the dowel rod to the size you would like it.  I sanded down the ends so they would have a smooth edge. Then I painted the dowel rod with a design.  My daughter insisted on pink with purple hearts for her wand. 

Then I hot glued the ribbon to the end of the wand.

Next, I basted two pieces of tulle to make it ruffle. I attached the tulle to the wand with hot glue.  I glued one piece of tulle going in an upward direction and the other piece going in a downward direction.  I added a piece of ribbon between the two pieces of tulle to finish it off.

Glass Boxes

Here is a project I did a little while back.  I wish I had kept at least one for myself, but I either made them as gifts for my family and friends or they were sold.  Maybe at some point I'll make one for myself.  The boxes are made from stained glass and then I used a special paint to paint designs on them.  Painting the design on the box was the step I loved the most.  Out of all the boxes I have made, my favorite one is the Jelly Bean box. 

Tutu

This weekend we went to a birthday party and I decided I would make the birthday girl a tutu.  I've made the no-sew tutu's before, but this time I decide to sew one.  It turned out pretty good for my first attempt at sewing a tutu.  I attached some matching silk flowers and accented it with green ribbon.

An accessory was in order for this tutu so I crafted a coordinating fairy wand.  Of course now I have to make more fairy wands because my daughter thinks she needs not just one, but one in every color.  I'm sure a tutorial on the fairy wands will be up later this week.

 

Shibafu Table

It's Friday which means I have found another great piece of furniture.  I'm posting links to them instead because I'm not sure if I'm allowed to repost their pictures.  The designer is Emmanuelle Moureaux.  She practices architecture in Tokyo and designs furniture and accessories. The Shibafu Table is so colorful and cool. It is made of acrylic and is supported by 56 acrylic sticks.  You can find more of her designs here.

Shirt Dress

This project came about because my daughter literally has Hello Kitty radar.  The child can see it from a mile away in a store.  We were shopping for a new Hello Kitty shirt in the toddler section, but she already had that shirt and they didn't have any others.  Her radar kicked in and she looked over at the girls section and saw two other Hello Kitty shirts.  Her Mimi and I explained that they were too big for her and they would end up being a dress on her.  She didn't seem to mind that at all.  We thought about it and decided all it needed was a little ruffle and it would be a cute dress. It took no time at all to add a little ruffle to the bottom.  What was once a shirt that was way too big became a darling dress.

Wine Journal

I made a wine journal for my brother and future sister in-law for an upcoming wedding shower.  They lived in Italy for a year and became more interested in wine and I thought this would be the perfect gift.  The journal is made with an 8" x 8" fabric scrapbook.  The stencils for the lettering were made with my cricut using various fonts.

I used white acrylic paint to stencil the lettering on the book. 

On the inside of the book I put together pages that they could fill in the information about the wine.  The bottom of the page is left open for the label.  I hope they enjoy their new wine journal.