Another Crafting Post

I really love all the Japanese Crafting Books they have out there. I think the Japanese crafters are amazing (& that's not to take away from the amazing US crafters we have here). They come up with the cutest stuff. I ordered my first Japanese crafting book the other day and have another one on the way. Needless to say, I'm super excited! The book I just received was to make stuffed animals. I wanted to make some for Sydney. Handmade toys from mom - what's there not to love about that! Here's the cover of it. Aren't all the animal precious!

Here's just a little snippet of the inside. Uh-oh! What did I get myself into! : ) No, the pictures are very clear and it's pretty obvious what to do. There is some pretty funny "Engrish" in it too.

Anyway, here's my first attempt. The bunny made out of Matt's old khaki pants. And yes, he did know about it...before I cut them up! : )

It was actually very easy. There are a couple areas where I need to practice so it's as cute as the picture. The hardest part is that everything is so small. The bunny (from ear to foot) is 7" tall.
All the animals and finger puppets in the book are just amazing. I'm pretty much going to attempt to make all of them. The next project is the seal!

On a side note, I did get my free fabric. And I didn't choose Amy Butler. GASP! I chose this one. I do, regardless of what I might post, have other favorite fabric designers! Joel Dewberry, Heather Bailey, and Moda's Urban Chiks just to name a few.
Have a great day everyone!

My Little Helper

Nothing really happening over here. I just thought I would post a picture of Sydney helping with the laundry.

I won! I won!

Oh my gosh! I actually was randomly chosen to win a yard of fabric from one of my favorite sewing blogs that goes along with the store, Sew, Mama, Sew! I can't believe it. They have Free Fabric Friday, well, every Friday. I always enter if I happen to remember that it's Friday (staying at home really messes with the days of the week). I just wanted to share my excitement with some since I couldn't get Matt on the phone to tell him! Off to go pick out my fabric...hmmm, so many wonderful choices!

Also, if you clicked on my blog from Sew, Mama, Sew's link - don't be shy to just say "Hi!" in the comments part of this post! Thanks.

The new do

So my hair was already kinda long when I got pregnant and I thought it was wise not to do anything too drastic (at least that's what they tell you in all the books). Then, after I had Sydney it was so nice just to put it up in a ponytail and not have to worry about doing my hair with a new baby. So it just kept getting longer and longer until one day I wanted to chop it. But then I said to myself "I don't want all this hair to go to waste." It still baffles me where that thought came from because do people really say that to themselves or am just really weird.

I think I'm just weird.

Anyway, then I thought of Locks of Love. They use real hair to make wigs for children. So I went to their website and see how much hair they needed. It's 10" to be able to use the hair in a wig. I had to grow another inch or so. I could totally do that. Heck, my hair's already long. So yesterday was the day to chop it all off. I was definitely ready!

Here's the back of me with long hair. It's the longest I've ever remembered it.

Here's my two 10" ponytails.

Here's my new do with Sydney. It's really not that short. And most of you have known me with this length hair so it's not very dramatic but fun nonetheless. I like it. I'm glad it's cut off. And I'm glad it's going to some kids who need it.

Talk about giddy!

I was doing a random search on Amazon today and look what I found!! Amy Butler's new book, Sew-it Kit, out in September! Oh my goodness, I can hardly wait! She might be coming out with a baby sewing book too! Not totally sure on that one though. (Lauren - wouldn't that be great!) Also, my favorite band is coming out with a new album in just a couple weeks! I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself! I guess I'll just have to sew right along to my new music. : )

I've been wanting a good beach bag - I think this might be the one to make.

Crafts, crafts, & more crafts!!

Okay, brace yourselves - there's been a lot of crafting around here these days so that means there's a lot of pictures.

A pincushion I made off a tutorial somewhere on the web.

These are the wide leg pants out of Amy Butler's InStitches book. They are definitely wide legs. I really like them. They are very comfortable. Fabric is Heather Bailey (she has one of my favorite websites!) and came straight from the sister-in-law in S.Korea!

These are Amy Butler's Stash & Dash bags. I absolutely love these! I did give these away. When I told Matt that I was going to make one for myself he gave me a eye roll! : ) He thinks I have too many bags. I just giggle, smile and say "Umm, sure thing!"

Okay, these birds are my own pattern and I think I'm going to put them in my Etsy shop in a few days.

Do you see this cat?!? This is during my photo shoot of the birds.

Here's my little owl hiding in my thread. I don't know what got me to make this little guy. He is my own pattern too. I don't know why I keep making bird things either. It's just a phase.

Back to patterns & Amy Butler. Here's her Frenchy bag pattern. I did change it up and added the ruffle to the top. This is going to be given away too. See, I don't keep all my bags! : )

Whew! All done! Hope you enjoyed my goodies. I sure did enjoy making all of them. Don't worry, Syd is well fed, bathed & dressed. I usually do all my crafting while she sleeps. And yes, she does sleep a lot. She's an excellent sleeper. No complaints here.

Have a good day.

Here's some new pictures of Sydney.

Here she is talking on the phone. She doesn't hold it to her ear just her mouth. I guess she likes to do all the talking. She will go around the house holding the phone saying "Hi Nonny."

I've been up to some major crafting. That'll probably be the next post. So brace yourselves! : )

Texas - Part I

We went to Texas this past week. We stayed mostly at Nonny & Pa's house. They are Matt's grandparents. We were so nervous about flying with her but she did great on both flights there & back. Whew! We did lots while we were there. We went to Gattitown and ate pizza. We went to the Gymboree there. We got together with the rest of the family too. A big congratulations to Kyle who graduated college and Hillary & Heather who graduated from high school.

She took to Nonny and Pa very quick. Who doesn't love great-grandparents? Here's Pa swinging Sydney. Look at their faces. Priceless!

Here's Nonny reading to Syd.

Here's a few pics of Sydney swinging at Matt's parent's house. All she wanted to do while we were in Texas was swing. She loves it. I guess you must know that already because how many pictures of her do I have on the blog with her in a swing?! The face in the third picture - I'm sure I'll get a lot more of those looks as she gets older!

Overall, we had a great time. I have to say though, it's good to be home. I sleep so much better in my own bed and geez, was I exhausted! Sydney was so excited to see all of her toys again. It was pretty funny. She'd just go around the house yelling at her toy that she was looking at, just so excited about playing with it again.

Texas - Part II

I always enjoy seeing my best friends. We reminisce about old times and funny things we did back in college. It still feels like I just graduated college yesterday and not 6 years ago. Rachel and I realized how back our memories are getting. It took 2 of us to remember 1 story! We did finally get that story right too! Ah, good times. : )

Rachel & I went out to eat at Moonshine. It was very delicious. It's in the part of downtown Austin for more "mature" adults not that college crowd on 6th street. You know, since we're so "mature" and everything! Haha.

Here's Kimbra and I.

Matt, Sydney and I went to meet Joey & Susan (Lauren's parents) for lunch on Tuesday for some good Tex-Mex food. It was so good to see them and talking to them about becoming grandparents! No picture - I don't know what I was thinking!
Joey & Susan - thanks again for lunch!

Texas - Part III

There is a pond near Nonny & Pa's house that we would walk to in the morning and feed the ducks and turtles. The animals were pretty aggressive. Especially the goose, he wasn't afraid to come up and take the bread from your hand. The turtles even came out of the water and chased me down to get some bread. I never experienced that before. They would take the bread (from your hand) and run back to the water to eat it. I wish I would have videotaped it. It was pretty crazy. Sydney just sat there watching everything. We gave her some bread to throw at the ducks but she decided to eat it instead! That girl never turns down food.

Syd's new shirt

Here's a new top I made for Sydney. The pattern is from McCall or Simplicity. If someone really wants to know, let me know and I'll make sure I give you the right info. Anyway, the pattern was for a dress but I shortened it so it would be a longer shirt. Here's pictures of the front and back. The last one is a really bad picture of the shirt but I thought the rest was cute so I added it.

Signs of Summer

This has been a perfect summer weekend. We went to the pool on Saturday and ate watermelon. We went on the boat on Sunday and ate watermelon. Sydney and I just love watermelon. I ate tons of watermelon when I was pregnant so I guess it carried over to her. Anyway, here she is with the empty watermelon container. I said it was a hat and this is her putting it on her head.

Also, I went to go see Hairspray (the movie) with Crystal. It was really good. We both enjoyed it. Matt and I haven't been to any movies in a year (since Sydney was born) and now in the past month we have seen Die Hard and Transformers (very good - highly recommend it). I've seen Waitress and now Hairspray. Matt did some movies on his last business trip too. I guess it's just another sign of summer with all the good releases.

Hope everyones having a good day.

Warning: super cuteness ahead!

Yep, that's right, it is a pigtail!

Isn't she cute with those pigtails. I have to get better rubberbands though. They don't stay in too well since her hair is so fine. My next effort is pigtails with a headband or a barrette to keep the bangs back. I really do love having a girl!

This crazy kid!

This is her new stunt. I don't know where on earth she learned this. She does it all the time now. She also rests her head on the ground and lifts her arms up. Crazy, I tell ya, crazy.

I'm in trouble!

The pink barrette

Sydney loves to carry this barrette around. I try to put it in her hair but it not thick enough to keep the barrette in so it falls out. So instead she plays with it. Fine by me. It's big enough where she can't eat it!

Here's Syd trying to put the barrette in her own hair. An "A" for effort.

Dad's such a good sport. She's already trying to do his hair. Notice the barrette is on his head!