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?