little gi

some stuffies...

 

don't know why it has taken me so long, but back in december i finally decided to create stuffies.  i've been pining away at them for so long, wanting to make one myself, but lacking the...let's just be honest & call a spade a spade...confidence to do it.  would i actually be able to sew it?  would it turn out completely disastrous?  do i know enough about sewing to even accomplish it? 

don't know how i all of a sudden acquired "crafting bravado", but maybe it started with the fabulous free molly monkey pattern available on one of my favorite craft blogs:  mmmcrafts

& i made a "peaches" monkey for kate (peaches doesn't yet have a skirt or shoes so she wasn't "decent" for photographing...lol) and a "molly" monkey for kelly.  this was so rewarding on so many levels. 

first:  i used fabric & supplies i had on hand.  didn't have to go out & buy a thing.  it felt so GOOD to create something out of the "stuff" that i've got around.  there wasn't any running to the store to spend MORE money on stuff that i just had to have at the moment to complete a project & then have life get in the way & have it sit unused & undone, there reminding me of another thing i just didn't get to.  

second:  i found out i could figure it out.  i haven't really sewed anything (paper not included) since when i was a teen & my mom tried to teach me...& let me tell you, i barely paid attention (much to the chagrin of my mother :)  i was pleasantly surprised that it all came back (maybe i paid more attention then i thought?)...just like riding a bike.  & it was easier than i thought.  it was SO thrilling to see something basically come together right in front of my eyes, it was just SOOOO fun.  

third:  my kids got involved too & this is what really made these toys so much more special than anything we could have bought from the store.  i know it kinda sounds kooky, but it was really empowering for all of us.  the girls picked out the fabrics they wanted, they stuffed the arms & legs & little bodies.  they watched me sew along & asked questions.  they anxiously awaited the completion of each step & cheered when i added little surprises (like the little bow on her head) as "molly" & "peaches" became more & more monkey-ish & adorable & JUST FOR THEM. they learned what was involved and in doing so, saw that they could do it too (which started those little minds a'turning into wonderful designing dreams & awesome ideas). how cool is that!!

bolstered by our monkey success, we also made these adorable scottie doggies next.  (pattern available on allsorts)  we made some for Christmas gifts too & they were so cute & people loved them.

seriously so fun!

so if you've always wanted to, but haven't...go ahead!  give it a go...you never know.  hmm...add this to the "life lessons learned from crafting pile"  :)

happy thursday!

gigi

a little bit more craftiness...

tarisota's new collection gallery for heart & home revealed on saturday.  ab.so.lute.ly STUNNING.  once again i'm all gaga over it.  check it out for sure...

here is what i came up with for this month.  SO much fun sewing & patchworking these fabrics.

i made a little chic mama cuff.  the tutorial came from j.casa handmade.  such an easy peasy project & i love how it turned out.  think it will look so chic w/ my "uniform" (white v-neck tee & jeans :)

& because i was all aflutter w/ the patchworking this came next.  i need to make another out of linen w/ a patchwork roof, door & window.  think that will look adorable.

favorite part is the little flower box :)

& my scariest project of the month.  this heart.  see....maybe you've noticed, but i'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to all the little bits & bobs.  especially when it comes to vintage cream & white buttons.  i LOVE them.  so to have glued them all down on this was seeeeeriously hard for me.  the fact that it looks SO good is what got me through the constant "but what if one day i want that exact button for something!  what am i going to do???" thing. 

i'll share some more tari projects tomorrow.  hope you have a happy tuesday!!

xoxo

gi

hello monday :)

we are still on a huge high from last night's big game.  GO JETS!!!!!!!

whew!!!  what a nail biter!  i think i watched most of the game holding my breath & then jumping around & screaming like a maniac.  ahhh......so fun :)  

now in non-football news kenner road revealed new kits at the end of last week.  these kits are so gorgeous, i especially loved the vintage price tag cards in the add on red velvet.   

i love the gingham patterned paper too.  gingham is my weakness...i love ginghams

and some simple ones b/c i just had to use that music paper and seam binding.  just had to...

and then a bookmark because for some reason i don't have one...wha???  w/ all the paper i've got lying around i don't have a bookmark???   and i had to use another one of those mini keys.  they are just so cool...

and my favorite project this month is this little "daily" book.  since seeing emily falconbridge's thankful journal a few years ago, i've always wanted to do something similar.  a little place (pretty, of course:) where i could just pop in something i was thankful for each day.  this little guy now sits on my bedside table & i am really enjoying reflecting each night about something that i'm grateful for.  with the destruction & loss & incredible hardships happening in haiti, this exercise has become even more meaningful.

 

 

the inside is just ledger papers i had in my stash cut to size & then glued back to back.  they are blank except for those sass stickers (i used that entire sassafrass sticker sheet on the inside pages.  just cut & stuck them randomly throughout the interior.  i was kinda proud of myself because that is something i never do!  use up something...i tend to be stingy w/ cute things like that & they hang around forever.)  each week i just pop on the date up top & then jot down something for each day.  easy peasy & so rewarding.

so happy monday!!!  & GO JETS!!!!

xoxoxo

gi

a really cute project...

back in December, the tutorials & project ideas were super plentiful.  j casa handmade has a great free tutorial for a wall pocket & i made a couple.  SO easy & such a great project. 

i've got plans to make more for various organizing around the house.  i made this one for a gift & it was my first patchworking with fabric experience.   i over-fretted about the combination of patterns & colors, i wish that part came more easily to me.  it is one of the things i always notice first about other's projects, the cool way the fabrics pattern & colors go together.  it always seems so whimsical & effortless and then i look at my fabric stash & get all "eeek!".    looking forward to practicing more, would love to get that "country living" vibe down pat :)

hope you have a wonderful thursday!!

xoxo

gi

felt on a snowy day...

we got about 6-8 inches of gorgeous snow last night.  the kids had a snow day from school & before they headed out to play in the snow, we spent the morning crafting some little Christmas gifts (& a little pressie for them too :).

we made these adorable little scottie dogs for kelly's teacher.  she has 2 white scotties that she speaks of often & the kids in the class all know of their silly tricks.  kelly says her teacher calls them "little ninjas".  lol!  so we got the scottie dog pattern from allsorts & made these 2 little doggies.  we put little green velvet "hangers" on them so the teacher can pop them on her tree if she wishes.   (& yes, we made choco chip cookies too :)

 

 

next up, we made little felt gingerbread cookies a la happy together.  i embroidered all the faces, kelly sewed the pink buttoned one all on her own (i think she did REALLY well!!!) & ryan did a bunch of the stitches on the blue buttoned one w/ a bit of my help (he did a fabulous job too :).  i love how they turned out & will have to make a few more to make up a dozen for their little kitchen. :)  they are all upstairs right now having a little cookie party.

 

alrighty, LOTS more Christmas crafting to do!!! 

hope you have a happy wednesday!!

xoxo

gi

this Christmas...

we are doing things handmade & homemade...

we are not getting caught up in the "spend, spend, spend" chaos...

we are doing more with less....

we are going to remember what this Blessed Season is all about :)

& to that end, i've been collecting crafting & gift ideas for a while now.   sew mama sew had some really wonderful links to great free tutorials & free downloads during the month of september during their "handmade for the holidays" feature.  whip up also is a sure bet for great free tutorials.  also, if you purchased the november tarisota collection you get all of the new tarisota classes for download (if you didn't get the collection, there are still 2 free classes available & if you wish you can purchase the classes that suit your fancy).

this week the kids & i have been recycling our broken up crayons into these adorable marbleized star shaped chunky crayons & we will wrap them up pretty for gifting to their classmates & friends (& shhhh...they each are getting a full set too :)  

we are having a blast, and because this gift is basically free, it is really a gift from the heart :)

click here for a free download of these adorable hello kitty gift tags (tamar also added some really cute ones for the little guys).  also available for free download are some more sophisticated gift tags that are really gorgeous.

here is what you do:

*  go around the house, the car & dig in your purses to gather up all of used up & your broken up crayons. if your family is anything like us you've got a ton. 

*  pop the kids at the kitchen table w/ a trash bowl & have them remove the paper wrappings. 

*  chop the crayons up into bits w/ a sharp knife.  we chose to keep our bits separated into color groups so that the crayon would be a mix of purple, a mix of yellow, etc.  you may choose to throw all the bits together & create full on mixed rainbow stars (super fab too!!)

 

*  pop those colorful waxy bits into one of those shaped silicone baking trays (i got a star shaped one at michaels, use that coupon!!!)  or you can use a regular muffin tin (just make sure if you are going to use it to bake food in again, you line the muffin tin w/ foil cupcake liners.)

 

*  bake your bits at 250 degrees for @ 15-20 minutes (time will depend on how small you cut up the crayons.  just wait until the bits are nice & melted & liquidy).  remove from the oven & cool completely.  be patient & wait for them to completely cool before you try removing them from the tray.  we had one batch that we tried to remove too early & it got all wonky, so we had to re-bake it.

*  now you have adorable star marbleized crayons

* now wrap up your star crayons really pretty (i used some cellophane bags that i bought way back for some reason i forget why...lol  brown paper bags would also be great.), add some ribbon (c'mon i KNOW you've got gobs of ribbon around :) & add one of these adorable hello kitty gift tags

TA DA!!!!!!!  little perfect pressie all done :)

Merry Christmas & happy crafting!!!

xoxo

gi

Vintage pretties...

the latest tarisota gallery has been revealed & it is so gorgeous.  the team and our designer in residence, deb godley, really went over & above with this collection.  wait till you see.   seriously....just wait till you see.  SO gorgeous.

as for me, here are my contributions thus far. my favorite are these christmas trees.  they are photographing terribly, but i sewed up triangles of the pattern paper & stuffed them w/ stuffing so they are puffy.  then a little trunk (found in the yard :) & popped them into a little spool.  they look really cute on the shelf right now...just a little bit more till they get joined by the other christmas decorations :)

 

 

 

don't all those colors look gorgeous together?? 

there will be another gallery release with this collection in december as well, so be sure to look for that for more inspiration too :)  here is a peek at a couple layouts of mine that will be included. 

 

AND  if you fell in love with rachel's fairy house like i did, be sure to click on over to the tarisota blog to enter to win a pattern for the house created by rachel's friend, robyn.  good luck!!!  i know this is definitely on my "to create" list for the girls.  i think it will look adorable hanging in their room.  maybe for kate's 5th birthday :)

see????  GORGEOUS!!!  be sure to enter to win!!!

good luck & happy monday!!

xoxo

gi

some link loves...

we are knee deep in football around here these days.  ryan (& mike, since he's the head coach :) has a tournament & the turkey bowl this weekend & kelly's team made the playoffs, so she'll be cheering her little heart out.   so we'll all be getting ready this week for a big hometown blue & gold weekend.  (& looking at that pic, i think i need to get kelly a haircut too!  lol!!)

meanwhile, i thought i'd share 3 of my recent favorite "go-to" crafty spots sure to inspire & educate & give you that great creative spark. i've been getting so many wonderful ideas @ the www & have so many ideas jotted down to start doing some Christmas crafting.  

so here we go:

*  sew mama sew:  sew mama sew is such a wonderful resource.  & november is their Handmade Holidays feature during which they link great tutorials & ideas for the holidays each & every day.  it is awesome!  (& definitely go back through October to see all of their fabric scrap ideas.  i've tried a few already & really enjoyed bustin' through my fabric scraps :) 

* one crafty mumma:  mel goodsell is just the best.  i've "worked" with her as a part of the tarisota team for over a year and a half now & she always inspires me and she just so happens to be one of the nicest people in the world.  but just this past weekend, i found myself lost in her beautiful blog reading about all of her (& her adorable family) crafty adventures.  she has got a million and one fantastic ideas & she shares them.  LOVE it :)  after going through all of her gorgeous & whimsical creations, i'm rarin' to fire up the sewing machine & create.

* ruffles & stuff:  this is one clever & creative mama!!!  she shares so many great ideas from altering dollar store pj's to look like a fabulous crewcuts top to whipping up a no-sew tartan fleece cape.  seriously good ideas to be found.

hope you are having a happy monday!

xoxo

gi

hello november :)

I've been enjoying sewing like crazy around here these days!!  It has been so enjoyable rediscovering this craft after so many years of being away from it. 

So when I received my November Tarisota Box & saw the fabulous muslin inside, I knew I wanted to make another pincushion (yes, I am addicted to making pincushions now...lol!  expect to receive one for Christmas...lol!).  I found the tutorial here.

This month's featured product is stamps, & there is a gorgeous set of Pink Paislee stamps in the collection.  So I just randomly stamped the butterfly (using regular Stampin' Up dye ink) & then used that stamped fabric in my patchwork pincushion.  The stamped image came out really well, I was so pleased! 

And be sure to check out the great offer from Tarisota for November.  The entire Design Team will be once again offering classes to go along with the bonus Mistletoe & Mayhem Collection, so you are sure to get LOTS of great ideas & crafting done over the holidays!

 

Hope you have a wonderful start to your November!

xoxo

gi 

today we....

* are giving out Candy Corn Cookie Bark to friends :)

(NOT to the slow truck driver that was in front of me on the way to preschool drop off today.  it was so funny.  i'm sitting behind him at the light groaning @ him being so slow & kate pipes up from the back seat "THAT guy is definitely not going to get any of our Halloween treats!".  SO cute!!  lol!!)

 

we wrapped it all up super cute & i finally used that great Owl stamp.  so happy i've finally decided to actually USE all of this crafty stuff rather than just accumulate it, lol :)

* i'm going to try this little candy corn felt bag tutorial that nicole sent me.  looks adorable!

* hit the farmers' market & grab some more of the gorgeous harvest around here.  the butternut squash & celery root & beets & spinach & potatoes & onions & lettuces are just at their absolute peek right now.  we are expecting another rainy weekend, so perfect for some crock potting & some soup making :)

* the girls have a sleepover tonight.  hope the little birthday girl likes the crayon roll we made her :)

* maybe vacuum...lol

hope you have a great friday!!!

xoxo

gi