artsy-crafty babe

Happy Halloween!

Whew, am I glad that today is over! Trick-or-treating is over, and boy am I tired. I'm coming down from my sugar high and I'm ready to crash. This has been quite a fulfilling Halloween this year. The festivities started Saturday night with a family Halloween party. Thank goodness I was able to finish the Fiona costume before then. By the end of the evening the costume was filthy. Lily wore it again to her Sunday school class, dirt and all. I had to wash it last night, though I was afraid that it would fall apart. That costume satin is the pits. That crap shreds! Fortunately, it survived the hand wash cycle of the washing machine AND all the filth washed out. Tonight was a fun filled night with lots of candy, chili, and hot dogs. Alex was totally covered in a layer of sugar drool. I wish that I had gotten a picture of my little gifraffe, but the batteries in the digital camera were dead. We did get some old fashioned 35mm pictures, but you'll have to wait on those.

I was able to snap this picture Saturday morning when I finished the costume. The gown and the wig are all Mama-made. The wig looks pretty goofy in this picture because I don't quite have it secured right, but it worked! The wig managed to stay put all night tonight with the help of LOTS of bobby pins. Lily loves this gown. I have a feeling that she is going to wear this until it literally falls apart, which is fine by me. It is such a satisfying feeling to know that your hard work and effort is appreciated.

I have no clue

Okay, so now that I'm done with making my Back Tack stuff and it's on its' way, my mind had started wondering who is sending ME something. Does that make me selfish? My secret pal gave me a few clues about herself, so with that info I've visited almost all of the bloggers participating in hopes of figuring it out, but I'm still clueless.

Hmmm, I haven't heard from my secret pal in a few weeks, I wonder if she's still in the game? That would really suck if for some reason she doesn't get around to participating. I think I'm most curious about what someone's interpretation is of what I like. I'm really curious what kind of kit they're sending me. This is so exciting. Everyday the first thing I do when I get home before I even get out of the car is to check for packages left at the door. Gosh, I love mail!

One good thing to come out of my search is that I found some really cool crafty blogs to visit, like I need any more! This whole blog thing is so addictive!

Birthday Gift

Tomorrow is my dear friend's birthday. I made this little bag for her. I hope she likes it (and I hope she isn't reading my blog right now, though I think I'll wait until Friday morning to publish this just in case).

I made this from a placemat. After making this bag I went placemat crazy and picked up a bunch on clearance back in August. It was nice being able to make a gift totally from things that I had on hand. I guess that's what having a stash is all about.

The thing I like most about this bag is how the straps match that stripe, which was purely coincidental. I chose that ribbon because it matched that color, but I had no idea that the straps would line up where they did until I assembled the bag. Each strap is made from two lengths of grosgrain ribbon fused together with stitch witchery, which makes for a pretty sturdy strap. Unlike the last placemat purse I made, this one is lined and has pockets. I think the beads along the top edge are a nice touch.

Happy Birthday Renee!!!

My fall door

After finally getting Matt to put a piece of molding back that had fallen off with Katrina, I was able to decorate my front door for fall. I thought it looked really cute, but now that I see this picture I'm not so sure. It doesn't really look like much, does it? We really need to paint and get rid of all those dirt dobber nests in the corners.

Okay, I need suggestions. I'd like to paint the door surround and the front door, any suggestions? Should I paint all the molding a different color than the door itself? And the stucco, that is definitely getting painted, but we're still unsure of what color. It will most probably be a darker color. For my home interior I don't hesitate one bit about paint colors, but the exterior is giving me a tough time. HELP!!!

12 weeks

I should have done this on Sunday when I hit 12 weeks, but oh well, I was busy. Again, I took this picture right after supper. I need to remember to take one first thing in the morning when I'm not all bloated out. Here's the 12 week belly. I'm rounding out quite a bit. I can't believe how rounded my upper abdomen is. I feel like my stomach is right under my boobs. Everything has shifted upwards already. Yes, I'm definitely in maternity clothes at this point. My boobs have also filled out quite a bit. Oh, the joys of pregnancy the third time around!

Back Tack is D-O-N-E!!!

Hooray!!! I am finished with Back-Tack. What's that? I think I hear angels singing. I really enjoyed this project, well the planning part of it anyway. That's always how it is for me. The actual construction part I'm not too fond of, but I love to plan it out and hold the final product. I think I most enjoyed learning about my partner, trying to figure out what she'd like. Ooo, I hope she likes it!

Some lessons learned:

• Fabric from Japan takes loooong time to get to south Louisiana.
• The best laid plans do not always work out.
• Yarn cost way more than I expected!
• Attempting a project on a time limit through two hurricanes and the first trimester of pregnancy is not a good idea.
• The sense of satisfaction from making a complete stranger a special gift makes it all worth it.

Now, for what you've all been waiting for, my Back-Tack project:

The asian inspired tote. Those handles were trickier than I thought. My only complaint is that it isn't as strong as I would like.

The knitting roll. I was able to use a bit of Japanese fabric for the bottom pocket. I'm pleased with how this came out.

This what I came up with for that cute owl Japanese fabric. Since I did order it for her, I had to make something out of it. It's just a little lagniappe (a little something extra), it has no real purpose. I'm thinking it would make a nice gift for her little girl. I love the lining on this little bag.

Of course there's more to it that just what I've picured - there has to be some element of surprise in case she happens to read this blog, but I don't think she does. All I have left to do is pack this baby up and get it in the mail. Tomorrow I must search for the perfect box. I couldn't find anything around here that wouldn't crumple it all up. I spent too much time on this project to cram it in a too small box.

Okay, now it's time to move on to the Fiona Halloween costume and my friend Renee's birthday gift. Yep, this is going to be a busy week!

This is it!

I am going to complete my back tack project this weekend. It is my goal to have that puppy in the mail on Monday. Originally I had planned to work on it a little bit each day this week, but a stomach virus put an end to that. I was out of commission for a while. But I'm feeling good today and filled with optimism. Perhaps the stomach virus was a good thing because I got some mid-week rest. I'm usually seriously dragging by now! So far, my bag is cut out and interfaced. I hope to get it sewn up tonight, then work on a few other goodies tomorrow.

Once I get Back Tack out of the way it'll be time to get Lily's Fiona costume sewn up. I feel awful for putting it off this long, but I have had no desire to sew. If for some reason I don't get around to making the Fiona costume, I guess Lily will end up being a black cat. That I can manage.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 8th wedding anniversary. Gosh, it's hard to believe that it's been that long already. In some ways it feels like a long time, but in others it seems like just yesterday we were newlyweds. I feel so incredibly blessed to have my husband in my life. I know that this is the cliche thing to say, but he really is my best friend. I rememer when I met him that he was the first person that I had ever been able to talk to, to really be myself around. He knows me better than anybody else in the world.

Matt has not only been a wonderful husband, but an outstanding father as well. I could not have picked anyone better to make a family with. I can't believe that we're about to be a family of 5!!!
I think that we are lucky to have found each other so early in our lives. I was 18 when I met him, he was 23. I knew early on that he was something special. Only a month after we started dating I wrote in my diary that I was going to marry him one day. Almost 4 years later, I did. We were married on a beautiful October day. I don't remember much about the wedding because it was such a whirlwind, but I do remember how beautiful it was.

Matt has a special evening planned for us at a nice restaurant. I'm glad that we still celebrate our anniversary because it really is a special day to be remembered. I look forward to enjoying a nice meal without the kids, for sure! I only hope that my all day queasiness doesn't interfere with my ability to enjoy my meal.

I can't even imagine my life without Matt. Our years together have been the most meaningful. I hope that we have many, many, many more years together.

Nursery re-do

Now that baby #3 is on the way I've been thinking about finally finishing the nursery I started with #1. With each kid the nursery has gone through a few changes, mainly a new house with a different wall color, but the basic bedding has been the same. I made it all, so I can't bear to part with it. Plus, it's gender neutral, so there really is no reason to. Since I don't have all the time in the world and I'm way too tired to make anything new I'm looking to purchase some items to spruce up the place. I CAN'T FIND CRAP! All I'm looking for is a red gingham bumper pad, some red gingham curtain panels, and a light blue coverlet/comforter. What happened to all the basics? I can find the bumper at Target.com, but I hate them because of their sucky return policy and I don't want to spend $40 on a stupid bumper. JC Penney and Wal-Mart have bedding sets with red gingham, but all I want is the bumper, I don't want all that other crap. This is a pain. I'll either have to break down and spend more money than I'd like, or make the darned things. Really, it's hard for me to justify buying these things when I have red gingham fabric (sheets actually), enough to make these things, sitting in my closet. Now the coverlet is another story. I think I'll make that just because I haven't found anything that I like. That't can't be too hard, can it?

Here is the main inspiration fabric. I could kick myself for not buying more of it. The window topper and the baby quilt are made from this.

This is the corner of the room with the twin bed. I'd like this bed to have a light blue coverlet with a dust ruffle made out of the green fabric. We are making an upholstered headboard out of red gingham.

Here's the crib, toys, and the book shelf. The crib needs a bumper. The one I made has fallen apart. I also need to hang something on the wall behind the crib and re-make those animal pictures. I'm tired of them.

Here is the only tiny window in the room. The green fabric of the curtain panels doesn't exactly match the topper, but it's colse enough. After I wrote the post above I pulled out those green panels and decided that they're good enough. I can cross the gingham panels off my to-do list. I know you can't tell from the picture, but there is a band of red gingham along the inside edge of each panel.

There you have it, a nursery for two. I hope by the time the baby is ready to sleep in this room Alex will have transitioned from the crib to the twin bed. There's no hurry, my babies usually sleep with me until they're 5-6 months old.

I let my kid eat dirt

Hey, a little dirt never hurt anybody, right? It's good for the immune system, or so I like to think. These are pictures of Lily when she was about a year old. Looking back, I think that was a bit much. At the time I'm sure I let her do that because I was busy trying to work in the flower beds and eating dirt kept her busy. Whatever works.

For some reason I have yet to let Alex do this. I feel a little sorry for him. He deserves to have an all out mud-fest. I really don't know why he's never eaten dirt in this form, though I'm sure he's picked up enough off the floor of my house. Perhaps our yard at this house isn't as muddy as the one at our last house, I dunno. I need to find that boy some mud!

Oh, I just wanted to mention that Lily didn't suffer any harm from eating dirt and sucking on those little plant markers. She's always been and still is an extremely healthy kid.