Christmas Cookies?

We made some Christmas cookies this weekend.  But being my family you know they aren't going to be just regular ole Christmas cookies right?  So here's a game for you, see if you can find the following cookies in the photo above.  And yes those are Rhino's.  Why?  Because I actually own a rhino cookie cutter that's why.

The Magical Blue Christmas Rhino
clown
fig leaf wearing gingerbread man
The Hulk
Mrs. Bill
riendeer Marge Simpson
Dr. Who's sonic screwdriver
Lego head

Yeah we're strange.  Hope you all are enjoying your December.  I'm running out of time and should really be shopping or sewing right now instead of blogging.

It's Bigger on the Inside

I am a full fledged Whovian now.  My Tardis bag is finally done.  For those that don't know, I have recently become totally, completely obsessed with Dr. Who.  Although at the moment I am slowly savoring the last few David Tennant episodes, I'm afraid to move on.  What if I don't like Matt Smith as the Doctor?  Anyway, I have been wanting a new purse and with a trip coming up that involves an airplane I wanted something a bit bigger that I can wear across my body to keep my hands free.  So I was inspired by this bag of Hailey's.  Perfect size, nice long strap, but it was just screaming for the perfect touch.

I've also been trying to find a project to try out freezer paper stencils on.  So I thought this would be the perfect way to have a totally unique Dr. Who item and take care of two needs at the same time.  I didn't realize what a huge project I was taking on.  I traced out the above bag and made up a pattern, but I wanted to add some custom pockets for my phone, a pen and sunglasses.  I really wanted it to stand out though so I found this beautiful fabric, isn't it fabulous!?  The wait for it almost killed me, but then it was here.  The funny thing is the most difficult part of the whole process was getting just the right shade of blue paint for my stencil.  Six bottles later I found it.  I ended up doing a base coat of a lighter blue first, then the second coat of a darker blue mixed with just a couple drops of white.  It sort of gave it a weathered look too, totally by accident.  So here is the finished product!

Here is the front panel, just under the flap.  With my custom pockets to keep my phone, pen, wallet easy to find.

And of course I need matching accessories too.  So here is my Cyberman notebook.

Dalek card holder.
.

My do-dad bag.  So things like Carmex. ibuprofen, and visene don't get lost in the bottom of the bag.

And gotta have a tissue cover.

So there you go.  Now you all know the extent of my obsessed nerdiness.  Now I just need somewhere to go so I can try it out.  Guess it's time to move onto my Christmas sewing now.

Thanksgiving 2011

Yes I'm still around.  It has been a while since I blogged, although I think about it almost daily.  We have had a busy couple of weeks.  Athena had her first performance for Elite Choir a couple of weekends ago.  They did a great job.  She looked really nervous though which is odd since there were only a few parents in the crowd and she has danced in front of a lot more people than that before.  When I asked her after she said she wasn't nervous the sun was in her eyes.

We have also found a new dance studio, so we have been there a few times checking things out and trying new classes.  It's a little more of a drive but we already know the owner and Miss Jan is teaching the tap class so I think it will be worth the drive.  She has also mentioned an interest in taking piano lessons.  We are going to look into that after the holidays, if she is still interested ;)

We had a very nice Thanksgiving.  Just the four of us and Hailey's boyfriend Drew.  The food all turned out great, even the gravy.  Woohoo 2 years in a row now!  We ate then introduced Drew to Settlers of Catan, which he won.  Beginners luck I say!  The only downside of the day was Athena was feeling a bit under the weather.  Luckily she was back to her old self by Friday night.  We tried to get some shopping done over the weekend in actual stores, without much luck.  Thank goodness for Amazon.  Then went to see The Muppets yesterday.  I LOVED it!  I love the Muppets though so that might have helped.  I still remember seeing the first Muppet Movie in the theater with my uncle Dave.

Now I am in slight freak out mode because I counted the days until we leave for Utah.  18!!  I still have a lot of sewing and shopping to do before then.  So I'm off to sew now.  I may get some video up of Athena singing soon but for now enjoy this picture of her cute little face.

Busy Sewing

Happy November!  It's my favorite month to be an Arizonian, the temperatures are perfect.  We sat out on the patio Saturday night and cooked s'mores on the fire pit.  It was actually a little too warm with the fire going.  I can even practically smell that turkey roasting too.  I love Thanksgiving, it's my favorite holiday.

I think about blogging everyday but I just don't seem to get to it.  I have been spending most of my spare time in the sewing room.  I bought an extra Ravenclaw patch when I made Athena's Halloween costume just so I could make this jacket for her.  I love the way it turned out.  I used a pattern I had on hand for most of it but I added ribbed knit cuffs and waistband.  Now she will be toasty warm on those cooler mornings coming up next month.

I am really excited about my next project.  I have been making the pattern and started on a few parts of it but am awaiting some very special fabric I ordered online.  It's actually for me this time too!  So keep an eye out for more details soon.

We have also been doing some shopping to get ready for our trip to Utah!  Athena is ready with warm clothes, boots and a fancy dress for the wedding.  I even found something to wear to the wedding with high heels *gasp* there better be lots of pictures taken of that ;)  I also stocked up on sweaters to help me stay warm.

BOO!

Happy Halloween!  We had a fun weekend filled with parties, pumpkin carving and sewing.  Athena went to a Halloween party Friday night and got to wear her costume.  It's always nice when they get a little more wear than just the one night.  We are thinking of letting her have a party next year since they don't get to celebrate at school anymore.  I finished up Hailey's costume just in time for her to head to a party on Saturday night.  Then we ran around doing errands and carved some pumpkins Sunday.  I also managed to sneak in a bit of sewing, had to make a gift bag for my niece to get it in the mail today.  Hope you all have a wonderfully spooky day!  Check in tomorrow for the costume pictures.

Another Fun Weekend

We had another fun weekend. We had a nice lunch with the Newton's, we sure are going to miss them.  And since Athena had Monday off from school we decided to use our other Groupon and get out of the valley for a night.  We took the long way to Flagstaff.  It was a nice drive through Wikenburg, up to Prescott where we got out to stretch our legs for a bit.  Then onto the always over crowded Jerome, we had hoped to stop for lunch but it was just too annoyingly crowded so we headed down to Cottonwood and found a great little dive, Verde Lea Market and Deli.  The food was fantastic!  Then we made our way through Sedona and stopped for a hike in Oak Creek Canyon.  We were hoping that the fall foliage would be in full swing but we were a bit too early.  There were only a few trees starting to make the change but it was still a beautiful hike and drive.  We got to our little cabin at the Flagstaff Nordic Center at about 7:00 Sunday night.  It was cold but very cozy in the little cabin.  In fact, Shawn built a fire that had us so warm we had to get up and open the door for a bit in the middle of the night.  It was a nice little get away. 

A downside of the weekend was that we woke up to leave for our little adventure and Athena's pet parakeet, Sally had died during the night.  So we started out a little sad, but it was nice to have the trip to take her mind off it.  She was pretty old for a parakeet but will be missed.

There are more pictures of our hike on our flickr site if you would like to check them out.  Happy Fall!

Art Filled Weekend

We had a fun weekend.  We went down to First Saturday in downtown Glendale to mostly enjoy the cooler weather and get outside for the first time in months.  We saw some cool things and Athena had her very first sno-cone. (not really, but she seemed to think it was the first one she has ever had)  Then on Sunday we went to the free day at the Phoenix Art Museum.  There were some very cool new exhibits going on.  We also had a nice lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory, we haven't been there since we moved to Arizona about 8 years ago.

I also got a lot of sewing done on Athena's costume.  I am so excited at how it is coming together now.  Hailey has requested Gryffindor robes, (not sure who she wants to be just as long as it's Gryffindor) then I have a very cool idea for Bubbles this year too, hopefully it works out and she will wear it :)

I also made another gift bag for one of our nieces.  I forgot to take a picture though before I had it boxed up and ready to ship so here is just a shot of the adorable fabric I found.

I hope everyone has a wonderful October.  What are you going to be for Halloween this year? 

Costume in the Works

I don't have a picture of a finished project today but here is a shot of what I have been working on.  Athena's Halloween costume!  She is going to be Luna Lovegood (from Harry Potter) this year.  I couldn't find a pattern that was just right so I decided to take the crazy woman route and make up my own.  That's what everyone does right?  Well I did get a good start from a tutorial here.  But it still wasn't exactly right for me, so I made some adjustments.  Athena chose gabardine (the Simon & Garfunkel song has been in my head for weeks!) and while is has the perfect drape, look and feel, it sure is a pain to work with.  There are black strings everywhere!  We are also making her radish earrings and butterbeer cork necklace.  I'm on my 3rd attempt at the earrings.  I think it's just about right but I'm pretty sure I am going to need a bigger piece of wire so will probably have to take it apart and start over.

Not too much else going on around here right now.  Just looking forward to the weather cooling off so we can enjoy being outside again.

Hey it's Monday

Sorry no cute pictures for you today.  I am in the head scratching phase of my next sewing project.  I decided to go more authentic with the Halloween costume so that means I am making up a pattern for her robes from a tutorial I found online.  My brain is really fried! 

In other news, Athena was #100 out of 100 kids at her school that get to go to Cardinal's camp tomorrow.  You should have seen the look on her face when Dr. Crudder told her she was #100!  It was great, but a little stressful as we were getting closer and he was yelling out "okay only 10 more, only 6 more" and not knowing if the people in front of us only had 1 kid or if they were turning them in for more kids.

Weather was nice last week but it looks like the 100's are creeping back in on us this week.  One more month, then it's paradise time!

How Cute

How cute is this fabric?  I made myself a new apron and hot pads this week.  My old hot pads were gifts from when we got married 20 years ago.  They were seriously disgusting!  I'm not kidding.  And how fun is it going to be to pull stuff out of the oven with these cute babies?  I also got around to fixing the zipper on Athena's lunch box, hopefully it will last a bit longer this time.

We are also in the planning stages of Halloween costumes.  Athena has decided to be Luna Lovegood, from Harry Potter, this year.  I'm excited to make her costume, well some of it anyway.  But as I look through photos from the movie I'm wondering how authentic I should make it.  Is Athena really going to care (or even notice) that her robes have a seam around the neckline where the hood is attached?  Will she notice or care that her blue lining isn't the exact shade of those in the movie? 

I also have at least one Christmas sewing plan in my head already.  Yeah I went there.  When you make gifts you have to start early :)

Broken Zipper

I thought that when school started I would be able to sew even more.  Not the case.  I have hardly been in the sewing room the past few weeks, and my to-do list of crafts is growing.  Halloween is next month you know, I have to make my kids decided on a costume by September 1st so I can be on the lookout for pattern and fabric deals.  This year was pretty easy, Athena didn't even have to pause to think about it. 

I've also go that really cool big project I keep talking about, but can't actually work on until the weather cools off a bit.  I have a few new things for myself cut out and ready to go but just sitting in there waiting.  Oh and the sipper broke on Athena's lunchbox that I made.  So now I have to tear it apart to fix it.  Or just start over I haven't decided which would be easier yet. 

But life is good, school is going well for Athena, she is excited to be learning some new dances for Christmas, and Hailey is moving back in!

Need To Plan Better

I really need to work out a system of shopping for birthdays a little earlier than a week before.  Especially if they don't live in the same state as us!  If the Post Office really does start cutting back on delivery days I am going to be in serious trouble.  I finished this little bag for our niece and shipped it off Saturday afternoon, hopefully it makes it to her in time for the big day.  I was really looking forward to making her bag because she loves Tinkerbell, my daughters never seemed to get on the Tink fan club train.  There are so many fun Tink fabrics available, I just love this one.  So hopefully she will enjoy her bag, and the gift inside :)

Now I'm actually working on something for me!  I made one part already just to see if it would work and it did so maybe today I will find some time to head into the craft room.  You would think with school starting I would have more time to be in there but the days last week just sort of got away form me and I didn't get as much done as I would have liked to.

A Very Big Post

So much to talk about today, where do I start?  How about with the first day of school!  My baby girl started 5th grade today.  I am anxiously awaiting 3:00 so I can hear all about it!  She was a little bit nervous about new behavior policy, like she has ever been in trouble before.  But by the time we got there she was just her usual self.  How do you like her lunchbox?  That is my most recent sewing project.  I don't know why but I just got it in my head that I wanted to make a lunchbox this year.  I love how it turned out, other than the zipper, I would do it differently next time because there was just too much bulk. Hopefully she enjoys having a one of kind lunchbox this year.
  We decided to get away to the cooler temperatures of Flagstaff one more time before school started, so we spent last Thursday and Friday in a Yurt at the Flagstaff Nordic Center.  We had the whole place to ourselves, it was a lot of fun.  We had to hike a mile into the Yurt so we decided to take our bikes.  Shawn found a kid trailer on Craigslist and modified it to carry all our stuff.  The ride in was a little more work than we thought it was going to be but the ride back down sure was fun.  Here are some pictures!

Dinner!

Cool little hidey hole

Ready to head out.

We forgot the pot to boil water in :)

Our Yurt

I also have a few more sewing project to share.  I made a few more gift bags for some dance girls.  One for a birthday and two are leaving for college.

And that little baby project I mentioned a while ago but didn't want to post until I gave it to the baby, well we met him last week and now I can share the pictures.  The little guys mommy was Athena's 3rd grade teacher and this was made from a school t-shirt.  I got the idea here, but had to make lots of changes to fit the entire logo on the front :)

A Fun Day

July 30th was National Dance Day so Athena and I spent a few hours at the studio dancing!  It was a lot of fun, I even got my groove on doing the Salsa.  We also had a raffle with some great prizes, some of which were made by yours truly.  I had so much fun making all the bags, notebook cases, and my new pencil case pattern that I just made up about a week ago that it had me thinking about doing the Etsy shop again.  Or something like it.  I'm considering talking to one of the little boutiques in downtown Glendale about selling them there.  Or making some sort of custom website where I wouldn't make the item until after it was ordered.

Anyway back to National Dance Day!  Here are some pictures and video of the fun, fun day we had!

National Dance Day

I'm busy making prizes for a raffle for National Dance Day at Athena's dance studio, so anyone in Arizona reading this should come check it out!  Here is more info:

STAGEDOOR DANCE CENTER

 is now enrolling for fall classes that begin August 1st. 

All levels and ages.

Tap

Jazz

Ballet

Hip-Hop

Combo classes

Zumba

Ballroom

Come to our National Dance Day celebration July 30 11a.m-2:00p.m and receive free registration if you sign up and pay for a class that day!  Plus enter to win prizes and learn a dance for free!

Stagedoor Dance Center

17437 N. 71^st Dr. Ste. 110

623-334-0260

A Gift Bag

Not a lot of sewing this week again.  I did make a cute little gift bag for my nephew though.  Instead of the tote or purse styles I have done in the past I made this one a drawstring loot bag.  Hopefully he will find many things to carry around in it after he has enjoyed opening his gift.  I really like the idea of fabric gift bags.  It thrills both the crafter and environmentalist in me.  Plus with the right deal a yard of fabric is cheaper than a paper bag.

Athena and I also made some pillowcases for one of her teachers at dance that is going away to college in August.  It was fun to do a project with her.

I also did some prep work on a big project I'm working on.  It was mostly gluing and spraying enamel though.  And although those are fun things too, it's just going to be a while before I finish and am ready to share.  Especially since I have no idea what I'm doing!

I've also been playing an awful lot of Epic Mickey.  This game is so much fun I just can't stop playing it!

It's just about time to start thinking about back to school for us.  We took care of Athena's supply list this weekend and will probably do some clothes and shoe shopping sometime soon as well.  I want to attempt to make a lunch bag for her myself this year, so watch for that.  She is a little nervous about 5th grade, for some reason she thinks she is expected to be all grown up in 5th grade.  I know she will be fine and do a great job as she always does.

Another Seamstress in the House

Yes I'm still around.  After all those blog posts right after one another even just a week off seems like a long time.  I blame Harry.  I spent most of my free time last week re-watching all the Harry Potter movies with Athena to get ready for the finale.  Which we loved!  But I did manage to get a few things done, and look who learned how to sew!  Athena took a beginning sewing class at Joann's and made this pillow case all by herself.  She said she loves sewing and has big plans to make all kinds of things now.  Hope I don't have to arm wrestle her for time on the sewing machine.

I did manage to get a few projects done between all the Potter viewing last week.  I made this dress, headband and flip-flops for Athena.  The dress is straightforward McCall's pattern 6316.  It was cute just as it was so I didn't make any changes to it.  The headband is just my own pattern I made up form trial and error.  And the flip-flops were taken from this tutorial here.  I didn't have quite the amount of fabric it called for though so I'm not sure how long they will last.

I also managed to use up some fabric that has been in my closet for a very long time.  I made this skirt for Hailey.  It is basically a simplified version of McCall's 5811.  Elastic waist instead of a zipper and you could see through he fabric so I lined it in a pink cotton hemmed just a bit longer so it will hang down below the white skirt.  I think my favorite thing though is the bottom trimmed with brown bias tape, I just LOVE that part!  I also managed to make one more baby thing, but just in case I'm not posting a picture until I have given it to the new mommy.  I should hopefully have some awesome things to show off next week, if they all go as planned ;-)  Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

Another Wonderful Memory

I guess turning 40 isn't so bad after all.  My wonderful, brilliant husband once again knew exactly what I wanted for my birthday, even though I had no idea.  He threw a surprise party at Old Chicago for Hailey and I!  I have never had a surprise party before, it was fantastic!  All the fun and socializing of a regular party without all the work and planning ;)  I'm still trying to figure out what kind of Jedi mind trick he used to get Hailey to suggest going to Old Chicago for dinner in the first place though.  Thank you everyone that was able to make it, you made my day very special and one I will never forget.

Tomorrow I'm 40

I used to think 40 was the age old people were.  I don't feel old, maybe that will change tomorrow.  Sure sometimes when I've been sitting too long my body creaks when I stand up.  And yes sometimes my eyes take a little longer to focus these days.  But I am still mostly the same person I was at 20.  I would still rather see an action movie based on a super hero than a cheesy chick flick.  I still prefer my ice cream come in a cone.  Yet there are things that have changed, I no longer feel the need to stay up all night or even past 10:00 just to prove I can.  And who ever would have guessed that I would not only know how to sew but actually enjoy it?  So many birthdays to look back on now.

Look even at 4, I loved the Mouse!

7 was the year a little kitten crashed our 4th of July party.  I was in love and after we found out who she belonged to my parents let me keep her as a birthday gift.  I named her Tigger!

This might have been my 7th as well, but isn't it a great picture?  I remember this party and the popping balloon game.

I don't have a photo of my 13th birthday but it was one of my favorites.  Breakfast on top of the Space Needle is quite a memory.  I'll have to look for a photo the next time I visit my mom.

There was my 16th and cruising around in my little green Bug.

And no other birthday can compare to my 20th, when my Hailey came along and changed my world forever.

Another favorite was my 36th spent at my favorite place on Earth , complete with a Monte Cristo at the Blue Bayou.

And I know I will always cherish my 38th for the bonding experience I had with Hailey.

So many wonderful memories, and I hope there are many more to come.  And no matter what everyone is saying tomorrow or how I feel some days, I am NOT old yet :)  Maybe I'll spend my 50th in my beach house.....