polkadotbug

Time to Get Serious

I have been up to some sewing lately.  Turns out I have myself signed up for the Buffalo Indie Market on September 14^th.  I figure I better start cranking some stuff out now so I don’t have to pull any all-nighters when it gets closer.  Not only that, but another local crafter contacted me about sharing a booth with her at the Quaker Arts Festival.  The only bad (and scary) part about it is that it’s the weekend after the Indie Market!  AHH!!!  Not real sure I can make enough in time. 

My new crafty friend Shannon makes the most adorable baby items and we have very similar tastes.  I think we’ll have an awesome booth and I am so excited to make a new friend!  We’re gonna have a ton of fun.  She just started up a blog as well, so check out Babypeas.

Besides the Buffalo Bonnets, I have started making a few bags.  Most are my usual quilt lined bags in some of my favorite fabrics.  To spice it up a bit I tried a new style – the drawstring bag.

Of course I didn’t come up with it on my own.  I never do - I always seem to need a visual.  I saw something similar when spending one of my many many hours paging through all the amazing things on Flickr.   I think it’s adorable! 

Do you like the light up flowers in the background?!  I saw them at our nursery when I was spending loads of money on new plants for our garden.  They were too cute, so I had to spend some money on fake flowers as well.

 

On another note, there’s another fabulous giveaway!  This one is from Kaytiebugs and it’s for a Double Ruffle Femme Skirt.  I love it!  Check it out. 

Celebrating One Whole Year

My youngest munchkin has turned 1.  Instead of a cake I decided to do a cupcake pyramid.  At first I felt a little bad about not making an elaborate birthday cake, but the cupcakes were just as time consuming and special (I thought).  There were two different kinds and they were stuffed- chocolate stuffed with more frosting and yellow stuffed with lemon.  Mmm… 

What a big girl she is getting to be already.  Her attitude and stubborness are getting much bigger too.  Hard to believe that happens so quickly!  Happy Birthday baby girl. 

On a crafty note, I had my first experience with knit!

I saw this great zebra fabric (in chocolate brown) on the clearance rack at Joann’s.   I initially bought it to cover a chair cushion, but it was so cheap that I bought the rest of the bolt so I could make more things out of it.  It’s stretchy and super comfy.  My serger had no problems putting these pants together for me.  I didn’t even hem the bottoms because they rolled up so perfectly.  They seriously took about 10 minutes to make and Molly loves them.  I used some scraps to make a matching headband.  I love simple things… 

The Beginnings of the Buffalo Bonnet

It’s a little sad to admit this but fall is on it’s way.  I’m starting to get prepared for the September Indie Market and have made the first of the Buffalo Bonnets.  I have one made from 4 of my favorite designers’ fabrics, so I thought it would be a good time to post about it.  (clockwise from top left: Sandi Henderson, Heather Bailey, Anna Maria Horner, and Amy Butler)

The Buffalo Bonnet is my usual reversible baby bonnet lined with snuggly soft fleece.  The bonnet no longer has to be a spring thing.  If you don’t know anything about me, one thing I can tell you is that I love baby bonnets.  They are just too cute.  I made one lined with fleece for my little one last winter and she wore it every day.  Andrew had the clever idea of calling it the Buffalo Bonnet, seeing as we live in Buffalo and most people associate it with cold weather (hmm… I wonder why?).  I never got a chance to sell any because my first market was in the spring.  Hopefully someone else will be as fired up about them as I am!

I love this one from Pop Garden.  I think the bright happy colors are an excellent way to cheer up the cold weather.

I have a ton of sewing to do now to get ready for the September show.  I hope the time finds me.

Is it genetic? I’m not so sure.

This is the first Heather Bailey Pop Garden purse.  Same style as usual and same addiction to Heather Bailey fabric.  The difference is that I did not make this bag myself.  My 17 year old niece wanted to make a bag as a gift for a friend.  This is how she wanted me to say that it went-

on friday my niece and I had a fabulous day together. we had breakfast, played with babies, made a sweet bag, walked up to lunch, played with babies... ate pizza.... played with babies... etc. (eat, play, eat, play)

my niece kt is the COOLEST person in the whole world. she is smart, talented, beautiful and likes to eat. all those fantabulous qualities make her very very special. * you can continue with other great adjectives that make kt awesome*

I am glad I got to spend quality time with my favorite niece. we bonded and had a blast.

I hope some near time in the future we can have more laughs and fun!

There Katie, I said it (or copied and pasted it).  I will not elaborate on which parts are true or not.   Katie sewed the outer fabric and lining and one handle.  I put the rest of the bag together.  I guess it was a good start, but I am afraid to say that I don’t think I lit any crafty flame inside of her.  I can only hope!  :)  Honestly I think she has more fun mocking me and my attempts at craftiness.   Notice how the blurb above doesn’t say much about the sewing!!

The bag turned out very cute.  Excellent choice of fabric anyway! 

I definitely got the crafty gene from my mom but my sister did not.  I am not sure how that works.  Molly is super crafty right now after spending so much time with me.  I am curious to see if the desire will stick as she grows.  Either that or she’ll try her damnedest to be different than me.  Sad.

Experimenting Again

I’ve tried yet another reversible dress style and actually really enjoy it.  This newest style reminds me more of a jumper. I made button holes in the front and then just pulled the strap through and knotted it.  I saw a similar jumper like this (pants thought) in a catalog and decided to give it a whirl on a dress.  It was my first time actually implementing button holes to an article of clothing so it was a very new experience for me. 

I love that I keep coming up with new ways of making a dress that don’t involve a zipper.  Zippers frighten me.  Maybe I will get to that point some day. 

This size dress was a tad big on Abby, maybe more 24 monthish, but still super cute.  The best part is that is also fits Molly as a tank top.  How cute over a shirt with a pair of jeans?! This article of clothing can serve multiple purposes and last several years. So long as my stitching doesn’t fall out!

Here’s the reverse side.  This is how Abby wants to be ALL of the time now. On her feet.  Any day now she will be taking off on her own.  She still won’t crawl though.   Our little munchkin will turn 1 next Thursday. 

Last thing for the night… I covered a few lampshades with some glorious fabric in response to the excellent reception my first lampshade got.  Let me tell you I get a headache trying to pick which fabrics to use.  I love them all so much.  This stuff is seriously stressful for me.  That and the fact that I have to make so many dumb mistakes before I get it right.  I am thinking of putting a few on Etsy and seeing how it goes.

What do ya think?

I’m It

Ok, this is the first time I have been tagged, thanks to the lovely Amber of Amber’s Ambry.  If you don’t know Amber you have to go check her out.  She may be the only person you can find that makes poo shaped soap! 

Apparently I am supposed to list seven things that you don’t know about me.  Assuming that no one wants to know too much information about Tina, I will keep it more general.

Here we go:

1)  I am very afraid of spiders.  I try to not be, but I definitely am.  I had a hallucination when I was young with a high fever and it involved spiders all over me.  I jumped all over the couch tearing off my clothes as my dad and brother watched and laughed.  Meanies.

2)  As a 5 year old, I was an all star tee-ball player.

3)  I hate hate hate when people wear holiday theme socks when it’s not a holiday (ex. Christmas socks in June).

4)  My first job after college I spent working at Kraft Foods testing the jiggabilty of Jello (the bloom if we are being technical).

5)  I currently work in a protein crystallography laboratory.  Sounds pretty fancy doesn’t it?  It’s funny considering I have a degree in Elementary and Special Ed.

6)  I gave birth to my first child naturally and the second with an epidural.  All I can say is GO EPIDURAL!  Why suffer if you don’t have to? 

7)  When I was little, I wished I was a boy.  I thought my brother was mom’s favorite (well, still think that), so I thought if I was a boy she would like me better.  She would even cut my hair real short and “boylike” so I am pretty sure she wished I was boy too!  Turns out I am definitely a girl.  She told me I wouldn’t understand until I had a boy of my own.  So far, I have 2 girls.  I may never know. 

There ya have it.  Hope you enjoy the little tidbits of info about me.

To spread the love (pain), I’m tagging a few of you – I know it was supposed to be six blogs but I am new to this and don’t have enough people I feel comfortable with yet!  :)  Andrew wouldn’t let me tag him!  Damn food blogs.

PinkElefant

The Stuff I Live For

Mr. Monkey Suit

 

Carrot cupcake + cream cheese frosting = crazy delicious

Just thought I’d throw in a picture of one of our favorite desserts.  These are carrot cupcakes that I make from Ina Garten’s recipe.  They are super good and I have made them for a bunch of parties.  I just made them for a co-workers picnic last weekend and there was so much frosting left over (Ina often overdoes it) that I made another batch a couple of days later.  Yum.

Have a great weekend!