polkadotbug

Hoot Hoot

I love Pottery Barn Kids.  I often flip through the catalog of fantasy bedrooms and love everything I see.  There are two things I know for sure though - 1. I could never keep a room in my house that clean and tidy and 2.  I can’t afford to buy anything there.  So, that is where the craftiness comes in.  I fell in love with the owl pillows in one of the more recent catalogs.  Even if I could afford them it’s so much more rewarding making them, especially when there are so many incredible fabrics to choose from!

For some reason I also had this insane desire to make a small flock of birds.

They are so quick and fun.  There’s a free pattern for them here and one of my bloggy friends made some too.  You can see her cuties here.  Thanks for posting that Sarah! I wanted to keep going but I had to refrain. Andrew came home and seemed surprised by my excitement over them.  He asks “what are they for?”  Who the heck knows?!  They’re just so cute!  Geez, I can’t even begin to explain why I get excited about these kinds of things.

Ok, I was gonna save this for another post but I am too excited.  I made my first “quilt.”  I feel like I can’t say it for real, cause it’s not a real quilt, but it’s the closest I’ve come to one.  I made a baby size rag quilt in Patty Young’s Andalucia and a little blankie sized quilt in boy prints by Michael Miller.  I can’t stop getting harassed about the boy stuff so I am trying harder.

They’re such a good project for me because they’re quick and I’m all about quick.  I’m also kinda embarrassed for you real quilters out there to see this.  You are all so nice though and I know you won’t make fun!  :)  I completely messed up the placing of the squares but didn’t feel like undoing the stitching once I realized it.  I definitely love that you don’t have to be perfect about the stitching – because perfect I am not.

The worst part is the snipping - by far.  I didn’t think it would be too bad but my snippers were so dull and weren’t working at all.  By the time I was half way through the first quilt my wrist was popping with every squeeze and I had calluses!  Although, once it washed and dried I decided that it was definitely worth it!   I just went out a got me a brand new pair of snips today because I intend on making more of these little guys.  They are so snuggly with fuzzy flannel on the backs. I’d wrap myself right up in there - if I were 2 ft tall.

Wood Chucker Day

Can you guess what we’re having done??

That’s right!  What a big girl she is now.  She is so proud of herself and we’re so proud too. What trooper. 

Little Miss Molly was making me laugh so much today when she got home.  She really learned a lot at school today.

She taught me all about groundhogs- which are also known as “wood chuckers” ya know.  I think she was combining wood chuck and wood peckers.

They can only be found in two countries- Pennsylvania and New York City.

Molly told me not to question her though, she learned this from her teacher “who has been in kindergarten for 20 years.”  How could she be wrong?!

My last funny tidbit actually happened a couple of weeks ago.  We had a really bad storm here and for some reason they didn’t close school.  They’d already had a snow day or two on days that weren’t quite so bad, but this day school was on.  It was a blizzard. I could barely see enough to get down to the school to pick her up.  She got in the car and informed me that all of the teachers were saying that school should’ve been cancelled.  But, “it was up to the president.”  Molly says “Barack Obama was not looking out for the safety of the children.”  I immediately burst out laughing and tried to explain that it was not Obama’s fault (it was actually 4 days before he was even being inaugurated).  If only the President of the United States knew (in that much detail) what was going on in Western New York!

  

How sweet is she?!  I still can’t believe I have a blonde child, but she is so darn cute.  An angel if I must say so.  I want to chew on her marshmallow cheeks.

She decided to break up the photo session and set everyone free. First the puppy.

 

Then the doll.

Go Buffalo

I had to do it. It seems that people around here are just eating up the Buffalo items.  There’s City Love, an entire store dedicated to Buffalo merchandise, and now the "Believe in Buffalo” apparel is rapidly becoming a hit. 

We all know that appliques are popular, so why not a buffalo in fabulous fabric on a cute little tee or onesie? 

It would be even cuter on Abby but I keep forgetting to put it on her and take a picture.

I also had a little project to work on for a friend of mine.  Her friend is having a baby boy and she wanted some gifts.  I found this adorable robot fabric by David Walker and ran with it.

I made 2 bibs, 3 burp cloths, a diaper and wipe case, and even a little ball and bunny.

Hope she likes it!

For all of you fabric and craft addicts, Fabric Family and Fun is having a great give-away.  She runs the wonderful Above All Fabric shop on Etsy that I frequently purchase from.  As always, feel free to enter and give the stuff to me if you win.  :)  I still haven’t won a give-away yet!  Too many darn eager crafters to compete with. 

Snow Time

The snow, and frigid temperatures have arrived.  Molly is in her glory.  I am not.  Well, I do really like the snow.  I just wish it could co-exist with 70 degree temperatures.

Molly has so much fun outside.  I remember when I was like that- a million years ago.  Abby had her first adventures out in the snow and loves it.  We had a hard time getting her back in the house.  Well, that was after she figured out that she could actually move in that suit.  For a very long time she just stood there with her arms sticking out to the sides (the classic baby in snow suit pose).  What a cutie.  I still find myself trying hard not to bite her chubby marshmallowy cheeks off.

Every year we have an auction at work for our holiday party.  This year the money we raise will go to the WNY food bank.   For this year’s party I contributed two things: 1. a bag/purse with a matching checkbook cover and key fob and 2.  a doll.  This isn’t just any doll though.  This is my boss and former CEO of our company. 

This would be so much more funny for you if you knew him.  I wanted to put a picture of the real man here too, but I figured I shouldn’t do that without his permission.  Anyways, he looks just like doll!

I also made a new little girly out of the fabulous Andalucia fabrics.

I made this weird ruffle bag too.  I had something different in mind, but this is what came out…. 

Ah yes, and some new cute hair clips.

Other than that we have decorated the house and are just trying to stay warm in these negative wind chill temps.  I haven’t gotten any presents for the kids yet, so I guess shopping better fit into the schedule sometime soon!

I did add a few things to my Etsy shop too.  It takes me forever to list these items though, so it’s gonna be a slow process filling the shop up!

Hope everyone else is warm and in the holiday spirit! 

Let the Gasps Begin

Ok, I have been tagged by the lovely Amber of Amber’s Ambry.  Oh boy.  This is a slightly embarrassing one.  First I am to show a picture of something as I normally would.  For me that would be a clean, crisp, neat picture of one of my creations up close.  You can see her above.

For the next picture, you are to take a step back and get the full surrounding.  I guess we are supposed to make each other feel better knowing that everyone has a mess.  Mine is by far the worst, so I am not feeling it.

Yes people, I have a big mess.  I swear I am going to make it better soon.  Go ahead, take a look for yourself.

Oh my.  Do you think differently of me now?!  This is the creative room.  It used to be the playroom until Mommy decided to learn to sew and then needed a spot to go.  We haven’t quite shared the space so well yet.  I just moved into this room a couple months ago so organizing is on the way, sometime.

So, here’s what we have…

a.  Notice the laptop sitting on top of a rickety ironing board.  Amber, it’s your blog on that screen!

b.  Our newest (and fabulous) purchase.  A nice tv right in front of my face so I don’t have to miss my shows when I am sewing.  It only takes me double the time to sew now because I have to keep stopping so I can hear!

c.  Poor little dolly is still sleeping on the chair amongst all the mess.

d.  Boxes and baskets of stuff that goes with me to shows.  I haven’t quite unpacked since the last show or found a good spot to put any of this stuff.

e. It’s hard to see, but that is a rotting Osage orange.  Andrew bought it for me because a farmer told him it would repel spiders.  I am very afraid of spiders.  I think I can throw it out now that it is shriveled and rotting.  Isn’t he so thoughtful?  He is, except for the story he posted on his blog about me in my half delirious state, waking from an anesthesia episode.

f.  Yikes. This is obviously the largest issue.  This was a bookshelf full of cute toys.  Then I moved in and started pushing toys out of the way and cramming fabric scraps on them.  Mess, mess, mess…

The funny part about all of this is that the other half of the room is even worse. 

I am supposed to tag 2 people so I guess I’ll try to embarrass Shannon.  If she doesn’t have a mess with 4 kids then I should really be ashamed.   Caren, I can always count on you for a mess.  :) And it may even involve Carter doing something that should’ve been done on toilet, but wasn’t.

I think I’ll end this with my dear Penelope peacefully resting on my fabric.  This is all fabric that hasn’t even been cut into yet.  Oh the fabulous Andalucia.  I love it so much that I can’t even decide what I want to do with it!

Puppy Time

Did I mention how I can’t stop wanting to try new things?!   Well, if I didn’t then I am saying it again now.  I had so much fun with the dolls that I thought I’d try a weiner dog.  I saw the pattern on Pink Chalk Fabrics and just had to try it. 

I cheated a little, of course.  I had to do some things my way (wrong) instead of following instructions (right).  The only thing I really had issues with was the hand sewing. I am just not good at it. 

Other than that, she turned out pretty cute.  I intended on giving the poor girl a bunch of puppies like the pattern shows, but I ran out of time and energy that night.  This way she can devote all of her love and attention to this little runt.  I think the pillow may be my favorite part of the set!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!  Eat lots of yummy food and don’t worry about it.  It’s ok.

Stuff, Stuff, and More Stuff

Meet girly number 5.  I am afraid to name them or I won't be able to sell them!  If you haven't checked out my flickr photostream (why would you?), I’ve posted a bunch of the new stuff I made.  I worked my little (big) butt off to get a nice stock of stuff done because I have a few shows this week.  I'll throw a few of my favorites up in this post and you can see the rest on flickr if you want to see.

Shannon and I did the first of the 3 shows on Saturday.  I could write an entire essay on that day but I am not sure anyone would want to read it all and I am not sure I want to relive that day over again.  I will try to sum it up quickly.

1. Bad Christmas music on repeat.

2. Unfriendly people.

3. The woman behind us had no (literally no) filter on her thoughts, and everything that crossed her mind came out of her mouth.  And it wasn’t nice.

4.  No sales.  Well, to be accurate I sold one bib and one bonnet.  That was about half of the cost of the table, not to mention the long list of things I spent money on to get out there. Ouch.

There were a lot of people at this show too, so I can't blame it on that.  They just didn't like our stuff.  It was the completely wrong crowd for us.  I can't tell you how many people walked by our tables without even stopping.  It was kinda humorous.

So, to all of you who may have a show like this - don't worry about it.  Just blame it on the other people.  :)   I guess you just have to make a few sacrifices before you become famous. Heehee...

The good part about my lack of sales is that I don't have to worry about not having enough stock for the next two events!  

Ok everyone, cross your fingers for me.  I really need to sell some of these things I made to cover the cost of the boat loads of new fabric I may have purchased.  What I really need to do is get some stuff in my poor empty Etsy shop.  That's my goal as soon as these next shows are over.

She Makes Friends Fast!

I don’t wanna stop!  These little dolls are way too fun to make.  I wish I didn’t have to stock up on everything for the upcoming show because I would be making an army of them.

I made two more with the closed eyes. They look so content.  One has freckles and one has little red lips.  Next Molly was requesting one with open eyes.  I was afraid to tackle that because painted eyes have the potential to look scary. I searched Flickr until I found some I really liked and used them as a reference.  The possibilities are endless!  I love that every one of them can have their own personality.

Her eyes are enormous and I love it!  She looks so very different from the others but we still love her and so do they.  They can’t really see her though cause their eyes are painted shut.  Hey- maybe she is laughing at them!   More friends that look like her on their way so she doesn’t have to feel odd for long.  :)

Peaceful Penelope

Oh isn’t she cute?!  I have really been wanting to make little dolls after seeing Black Apple on Martha.  Her little dolls stole my heart.

I had forgotten about them a little in all my sewing excitement the past few months.  I have an incredible urge to try everything I see.  Some projects are more realistic than others seeing as I still consider myself a beginner.

I was reminded of my desire to make dolls when I ran across Bit of Whimsy.  I bought the pattern for the Jo doll and finally decided I was trying her.  The real Jo doll has embroidered facial features but I wasn’t ready for that.  I mixed my girl up a bit and painted her features like Black Apple does, so she is  a little bit of both dolls. 

I made a few mistakes (of course) and know what I will do differently when I make more, but I still LOVE her.  I think she is so sweet with her little Sandi Henderson parts and sleepy eyes. I named her Penelope because I like the name.  It was always my alias in crowded college bars when some strange guy would ask my name.  No need for the alias anymore, so I will pass the name onto my first sewn doll.  She will be my  mascot at shows.