Reversible Jumper

One of my favorite dress patterns for little girls is the "lucy" pattern by Childrens Corner. It sews in less than an hour.. and the fun of it is embellishing the fronts and backs. I have seen all kinds of cute things put on the front- it is great for making "seasonal" outfits for kids becuase it only takes 1 yd of each fabric and is quick..
Here is a Christmas one I did for my daughter. On one side is a snowman and the other Santa- this way she will be able to wear it after Christmas and into January/February.
(oh yeah, pretend it's not wrinkled.... :-))

25 days of December... are you doing it?

For the last couple of years, Ali Edwards has done a December Daily journal/scrapbook. I really need to slow down and appreciate the Christmas season for all it has to offer... I am hoping that journaling it a day at a time will help me not get so caught up in the business and enjoy it more.

This year I decided to jump on the bandwagon and make one too. The trick she says is to have your book made and your "stash" together before December 1. So this weekend I worked on the book- The best part is that so far they only thing I had to buy was some digital scrapbook images. The rest I just went though my stash and found stuff that would work. I just pulled out anything red/green/black/cream and vintage looking. I bought the Basic Grey Christmas paper last year on clearance so I used that for most of the book.
The inside pages of the book are 9x12...(that's just what I picked everyone does different sizes etc). To make the covers I took 2 9.5x12.5 pieces of chipboard and decoupaged paper on them. The title on the front is a digital image, but the #25 are brads. I rounded the corners then inked the edges...
Here is a pic of my "stash" the idea is to take a picture every day until the 25th.. then sit down and quickly journal and add pictures to the album. So having everything all in one place should help with the construction/embellishment.

I bought on www.designerdigitals.com a set of brushes (they are for sale under Ali Edwards) that are #'s. I printed them out on cardstock in a size that fits in my circle punch. These will be used to number the "days" throughout the book.

The "filler pages". I wanted a very hodge podge look... So the pages are all different sizes and all by different manufacturers. Some are vellum and some are cardstock. I need to go to office max to get reinforcement rings so that the lighter pages won't tear in years to come.

You can not see it very well in this picture but one of the pages is a 12x12 pocket page protector that I cut down to 9x12... there are now spaces for 3 4x6 photos and 3 3x3 photos or embellishments.

I am planning on covering up the backs of the pages with photos/journaling blocks etc. so that the words/bar codes of the papers don't show though.

This was a 12x12 piece of "shaped' paper that I cut in half then glued the halfs together- so the back of it looks the same as the front. There is also a vellum page behind it..

Clock transparency...

Scalloped cardstock cut down..

Jenni Bowlin bingo cards- I'll probably put pictures on the back then my "circle" # on the front to show which day it is for..

The inside cover... Mini calendar is also Jenni Bowlin (I get her monthly kit- I'm glad I did, I had quite a stash of stuff to pick from)..

That's all for now- I am going to post pictures as I work on it. I REALLY want to have the patience to finish it with a photo a day... so I figure if I promise to post the pictures here that is a good motivation for me to stay consistent with it.

Diaper Bag

Lately I have taken to making Diaper bags.. I don't know why- I am way past needing one and don't anticipate needing one in the future. I have made quite a few in the past and wish I had taken pictures of them.. so I am going to try to be better in the future. I can never make the same bag twice and change the pattern a bit each time I make one. I guess I'm on the quest for the perfect diaper bag...
This bag started when I was at a Fabric store and saw a charm pack- (a charm pack is a stack of fabric pre-cut into 5" squares, usually used for quilting) I looked at it and thought "I could do something with all those squares. So I got the charm pack and 1 yard of matching fabric and went home. I started laying out the pieces and got this bag together. Then I decided it wasn't thick enough so I stipple quilted the front and back using warm and natural as the lining. I also used interfacing on the lining - the first time I did this and really liked the stability it gave the bag.
For the changing pad I just bought a cheap changing pad at target then added a layer of matching fabric and cut up a plastic shower curtain and sewed them all together..
FYI: the bag is 4 charm squares wide, 3 high with 1 charm square on the sides.

Memo Board Idea...

This project is not 100% completed but I thought I would share it... I posted it on my regular blog awhile ago but thought I'd give some instructions..

I was really excited about this project for my son's room. It was one of those "ah ha" moments. I was trying to think of how to get materials for a memo board for his room and thinking about sheet metal at the store but it was the wrong size and sharp, then I started thinking "What else is metal?" and "ah ha" license plates- PLUS his room is transportation themed so even better.

My Mom helped out a ton and got me some old license plates that were my grandpa's when she was in Missouri. The others I had or had saved.... Okay big NOTE here- NEW license plates are NOT the right metal for magnets to stick- just the old ones- so hunt yard sales, junk shops and antique stores.

1-After I picked out the plates I wanted, I laid them out on the floor (after I had given them a GOOD scrub!), then measured exactly how much space they would take up.

2- I then went to Lowe's and bought a piece of plywood and had them cut it- (easy part - they cut for FREE!!). I looked though the store until I found some screws that I liked how they looked (since they would show).

3- Spray painted the board white.

4- Attached the plates with screws

5- Use finish nails to attach the board to the wall.

6- (step that is not done yet) use 1x4 to make a frame around it (it will be painted red).