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.