Sooo. . .

Finally!  I finally got a new card reader for the new camera.  Now I can share all of the crafty things!  Yay!

This post is picture heavy, so prepare yourself.  Seriously.  Go get a cup of coffee, tea, wine whatever and settle in.

Okay, ready?

H's Monster

C's Monster


R's Hat


Chickadee's Hat


Gnome Houses.


I's Duffers.


A's Bitty Bump Sweater.



S's Camo Hat.

All of these gifts were made between Thanksgiving and New Year's.  YIKES!  That was some crazy knitting time.  There are a few things that aren't here yet but only because I haven't had time to take more pictures.  

Thanks for spending some time with me today.  I hope that your holidays were simply wonderful, and wonderfully simple.

~A

Handmade Christmas

Every year I make a list of Christmas gifts to give, full of wonderful handmade things.  I make this list thinking that time will magically stop around December 1st and only restart when my projects are all done.  Right.  I think you know how the rest of this story goes.  You would think that I would learn my lesson.  Nope.  What can I say, I'm pretty stubborn.  One of these years my plan will work.  Maybe even this year. . .except for, you know, that whole part about time stopping.

I've been working diligently on my handmade gifts this year and I think that I just might have everything accomplished by December 24th.  I wanted to start posting my progress so that I can have a more visual of what I have done and what needs to be done.  

 First the lists:

Chickadee: 
Doll clothes
Animal families (owls, mice, hedgehogs)
Felted tree house
Tiny hammock
Sewing kit (pincushion, needle wallet, fancy pins)

Danger:
 Knit monster
Knit octopus
 Tiny felted village
Animal families (hedgehogs, gnomes)
 Matching game
 Pillow
Juice
Candy

Hubbo: 
Knit socks
 Pillow
 Hankies

Everyone Else: (in no particular order)
 Norway Hat (R.S.)
Wallet (4)
Slippers (2)
Kitchen Set (3)
Monster (3)
Hat (4)
Fish Wind Chime (3)
Scarf (3) (1)
Covers/Belly Band 
Dress (1)
Pajamas (1)


Wow, it looks like I have plenty to finish. . .  Luckily, I have some of the things not crossed of in various stages of completion.  Not all of them, but hopefully enough.  I'll start posting pictures of the finished products soon!

Wish me luck getting my list done, and good luck to you on yours!!

~A

Goals

At the beginning of 2013 I made a list of goals that I hoped to accomplish this year.  I know that it's not quite the end of the year yet but I already have a new set of goals for 2014.  First, I wanted to revisit the old list to see what worked out and what didn't.

 #1. Blog better.  I want to be more consistent, have better content and a snappier look. - Umm, since this is my first post in some number of months, I'll call this one a fail. . .

#2. Make more!!  This means that I want to sew every day.  Even if it's only for a few minutes. - This I actually did, even if I didn't blog about it.

 

#3. Design more!  I have tons of ideas floating around, it's time to not only put them down on paper but to make them as well. - A wash.  I did manage to put loads of ideas on paper, now I just have to make them.

 

#4. Submit at least one project to a magazine. - Nope.

 

#5. Open an Etsy shop.  I'm a little bit terrified of this one. . . -  Yay!  I did it!  My shop is The Peppered Goat on Etsy.  I think it looks really cute!  And I'm so excited that I accomplished this goal.

#6. Get in shape. - Another win.  Kind of.  I started running at our new gym.  They have an awesome daycare so I don't feel guilty about dropping the kiddos off.  I usually run when Chickadee is at her Homeschool Gym Class.  Yes, we are official homeschoolers this year.  YIKES!!

#7. Be Debt Free. This year I'll be on a strict fabric and yarn diet as I try to follow Dave Ramsey's plan and to be completely debt free.  - I can't call this a failure because we're still mostly on track.  We're just not all the way there yet.

 

#8. Sell the house. We're moving again, this time up to Virginia.  So, I'll be working like crazy to get the house ready to sell.  Wish me luck! - Nope.  We still own our house in NC.  We had a renter for a couple of months but now, not so much.  

The New List:

 

#1. Blog more and blog better. For realsies this time.

#2. Make more.  Sew all the time.

#3. Sell some things in my Etsy shop.  Now that it's open it's time to make some sales!

#4.  Open a second Etsy shop.  Since the first one was so fun.

#5. Submit at least one project to a magazine.  

#6. Make my own deadlines and stick to them. I'm hoping that by blogging more, I will be more accountable.

#7. Be debt free.  

#8. Be more organized.

 

Can you tell that I'm already looking forward to the new year?  And just because I feel like every post needs a picture, here is a picture of the first thing I listed in my Etsy shop.  A rainbow minky quilt.  I love it!

 

  ~A

Happy Birthday

To me! Not only is it my birthday today, but I was also chosen as a finalist in Rachel's latest mosaic contest, Sweet Contrary. Here is my entry: 

What do you think? I think you should go vote for me, it is my birthday after all ;-). Even though I totally voted for myself, there is a mosaic I like better.  I won't tell you which one until the voting is closed.  I mean, we're talking about free fabric here.  Free fabric is amazing any day!  

I'm off to make some scrumptious strawberry cupcakes for myself.  Maybe I'll remember to take a picture or two before they're gone. . .

~A

Oopsie

I totally forgot to link up with Rachel's Scrap Attack yesterday!  That's what finally motivated me to take this project from drawing to actual, real live quilt.  That and finally figuring out how to start it.  Even when I had it sorted out in my head, I was still skeptical.  But it's working out. So far.




Here's my official link up button.

Scrap Scraps

Today I finally finished cutting out 2 1/2 inch strips for a new quilt.  I drew up the plans for this fella a couple of months ago.  I knew that I wanted it to be made out of scraps of vintage sheets and be amazing.  So far, so good.  

First came the scraps.

This stack of beauties came from Jeni.  She was having a sale. . . so all six of her rainbow scrap stacks came to live at my house.  I'm a sucker for a sale.  Especially on fabric. Or yarn. 

Then came the cutting.

At first I was keeping things nice and orderly.  Cutting one finicky scrap at a time and meticulously folding each strip and placing it on the stack. . .

Then I got bored.  The scraps were like "What the heck man? Neat, schmeat, just toss us in!" So I did.  I threw caution to the wind and started cutting three at a time and then shamelessly tossing them on the pile.

 

Even Danger got in on the action.

This is where I'm at so far today.  

I can't wait to get these sewn together.  I have no idea how exactly this is going to come together but I have faith that it will. 

I even have plans for this pile of scrap scraps.  Crazy, right?

Scrap Mail

Lately I've found myself drawn to the scrappier side of town.  I love the endless combinations, the possibility of bold contrast or sweet subtlety, the play on colors versus patterns and the surprisingly pleasing busyness of it all.

In every day life I like things tidy, simple and clutter free.  Emphasis on the clutter free.  I am by no strange stretch of imagination the queen of organization but I like my disarray well hidden behind a facade of neatness.  So it surprises me a little that I'm happy being scrappy. (I know, I'm so punny). 

So finding myself inspired to create blissfully scrappy things and sadly lacking in the scrap department I did what any young, confident, good looking crafter would do in my position, I bought some.  Hawthorne Threads offers scrap bundles for a very reasonable price.  I ordered a pack of each of their three offerings: cool, warm and fresh. 

This is what I got:

A wonderful assortment of beautiful, current fabrics.  I'll admit, the packs weren't as scrappy as I was expecting but I like the feeling that I have enough of each piece to finish a project.

I have more scraptacular goodness planned, I can't wait to share!

Piece,

~A