Lil Blue Boo Recycled T-Shirt Sienna Dress Pattern Review

Before I tried my hand at the pattern in the last post, I thought I'd try the Recycled T-Shirt Sienna Dress by Lil Blue Boo, especially since I could chop up some of my old t-shirts and not worry I was wasting good fabric.  Let me say that as a beginner, I found the pattern to be very straight forward. The pattern includes lots of photographs which helped me immensely. I LOVE when patterns include photos.  The only thing I did not attempt was the neck line - I opted for a peasant neckline instead - which looks great and was super easy.  This was the first time I had sewn any type of top or dress so I was a little nervous about the sleeves.  But, once I saw the pattern and put everything together, it all made perfect sense.   Little K doesn't like long sleeves, so I tried to do a 3/4 length sleeve.  They ended up at kind of a weird length, i.e. elbow length (I'm to blame here, not the pattern) - they should either be a little longer or a little shorter - but it will do.  The best part, the fabric is super super soft because those shirts had been washed so many times. 

I used 3 old t-shirts of mine - they were super thin knit and if I hadn't been in such a rush, I would have run out and gotten a ball-point needle.  I honestly have no idea what needle I used, but it worked fine.   All and all I would consider this to be a successful project and I will certainly make more.  The only downer was that my little one doesn't like it (which I had a feeling going into it because of the colors).  When I showed it to her, her reply was a simple "Nah".  Oh well.  She wasn't being too cooperative for her photo shoot - so this was the best I could do.

If you have a little girl and haven't tried this pattern, definitely give it a go!

 

For my fickle five year old....

I absolutely love this little top...love it.  I only wish I could make it.  I do like me a challenge, so I ordered the pattern and hope to make this for my 5 year old.  Our clothing battles are well...draining.  I was so spoiled with my oldest and can pretty much still pick out her clothes.  K has been fickle since she was 2 - and very particular about what she does and more importantly does NOT like on her clothes.  No hoods, no buttons, no pockets, no brown, no long sleeves...the list goes on.  I can't even buy her anything without her with me and even then, there is no guarantee she'll wear it.  Target is going to ban me from returns pretty soon. She does love her fancy clothes though, so my hope is the I can try my hand at some casual "fancy" clothes for her.  Has anyone made this pattern?  I have made ruffled pants before but never a top - so, I'm a little nervous about how that's going to work out.  Feel free to leave me lots of encouragement so this darling pattern doesn't find it's way to the bottom of the pattern drawer.

On another clothing note, I have been so intrigued by the recycled t-shirt dresses.  I did try one of those the other day without a pattern and let me just say that there are patterns for a reason.  The dress was a little too snug in the bum, but I'm thinking that this is something I can accomplish.  K has all these t-shirts that she doesn't like to wear because she prefers dresses - so I'm hoping I can convert some of these to add to her wardrobe (which is scarce I tell you, and will get even more scarce as I make yet another return to Target today). 

Hope you all are having a great week.  What are you working on?

Needles - Do you have a Preference?

Being fairly new to sewing, I really didn't think there was a difference in the BRAND of needles I used for my machine.  I don't have a fancy machine (Baby Lock BL40) and I typically buy the Schmetz needles.  I've been having some trouble lately with top-stitching the wallets - the seams are rather bulky and I was finding myself ripping out stitches constantly and still not being completely satisfied with the results.  I tried all different needles from denim to quilting to univeral 90/14 (really, anything that was rated to go through bulk!).  I still had the same results and  nearly convinced myself I needed a better machine.  Then, while looking for a new needle the other day in my stash, I came across a pack of Univeral BERNINA needles.  So, I pulled out the 90/14 for my top-stitching.  WOW!  No problems. No skipped stitches.  Did you hear that - NO SKIPPED STITCHES!!  You have no idea what a breakthrough this was!  I was even able to do the double top-stitch that I've been wanting to do in no time at all.  (don't look at the messed up stitches on the flap...that was me stitching around the snap...not the needle's fault!)

What about you?  Do you use a specific brand of needle that you swear by?  Do you have any needle tips you want to share?  While I will more than likely still use any old univeral needles for regular stitching, I have definitely found my new top-stitch needle.

Hope you are all having a great week!  It's a nice rainy productive day here!

Susan

Coming Soon...

It's only mid-October but I am soon going to have to start putting new inventory in the shop.  Which brings me to a question for my readers...do you prefer looking at a shop that has some cohesion in the products via fabrics and colors or does it matter to you?  Having a design background, I always lean towards the cohesion - so if you look at my store now, you'll see it full of gorgeous fall colors.  It just didn't feel right to me to throw in pinks or teal or neon (just kidding) in that mix.  That said, am I turning away buyers?  What if they don't like those colors? 

In the next couple of weeks I'll be phasing out the fall line and bringing in more colors for winter.  I have some ideas for what I want to do, but would love some feedback.  Do you shop for the specific season?  What colors do you associate with winter?  Or if you see a wallet in your favorite color (say pink) would it matter to you that it was November?  I really would love your feedback, so don't be shy!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  Happy Monday!

Susan

Rik Rak Studio Giveaway!

Head on over to Rik Rak Studio for a chance to win

a fabulous giveaway!

http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-love-my-sponsors-gorgeous-autumn.html

Good luck!

Boo Berry Swirl Bread

It really doesn't get much better than this.  Blueberries, white chocolate...swirled into homemade bread.  Seriously, it is out of this world.  I know, I know... this isn't a  food blog, but it is comfort food season and I just can't resist. My body must be getting ready to hibernate.   If you haven't tried this from Great Harvest Bread Company, please do.  yum.

Susan

Wordless Wednesday

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes

Warning: not for the calorie-conscious 

Giving credit where credit is due - this recipe is from Paula Dean (as is the photo since mine are certainly not that pretty).  I'm sure you can make a lower calorie version, but promise me you'll at least try the real deal first.  I made a batch of these on Saturday and once they were cooled, I immediately divvied them up for neighbors because they are not safe with me.  I did of course keep a few which were devoured quickly.  Something in my warped brain thinks that the quicker I eat them, the better.  Maybe my thinking is that I'm going to eat them anyway, so I might as well get it over with! There are different versions of the butter cakes including the plain ole butter cakes which are delicious too!

Cake:

• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well.

Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.  Serve with fresh whipped cream (optional of course!)

Enjoy!
Susan

They Say It's My Birthday...

 
Yes - indeed it is.  I do love it when my birthday falls on a weekend, don't you?  Lunch with my girlfriends on Friday got the weekend off to a great start!  Saturday brought absolutely gorgeous weather, college football, friends, beer, chili and my very favorite pumpkin gooey butter cakes (I'll post recipe later).  I wish I could say my birthday morning was great, but honestly, it started with me cleaning the kitchen from last night's college football gathering, doing a load of laundry and making breakfast for my kiddos (while hubby was still snoring).  Then little K got so upset because she was trying to wrap something for me and couldn't get it taped up right and cried and cried (and cried and cried...) and E tried to help but K didn't want HER help.  Chaos I tell you.  The dust settled after I made K laugh by doing the chubby wubby face and coaxed the girls into a brisk morning walk with Zoey.

My mom is on a girls' beach weekend and they called me this morning and sang me "happy birthday".  These ladies are the moms of my childhood and are all remarkable women, so I have to say that was fun to hear.  My girls were busy with their markers and crayons today too and surprised me with goodies like these.  Gotta love E for reminding me over and over again about how old I am!


Happy Birthday to me!


Hope ya'll had a great weekend too!

Meet Zoey

So, it went something like this:

"Mom, can we go to Petsmart to just look at the dogs"

"Sure, because I'm soooooooooo NOT ready to get another dog.  We are just looking so I don't want any tears!"

"I know, I know.  Just looking"

And I was serious.  Totally serious.  We had to find another home for our almost 2 year old dog in May and as a first-time dog owner, it was terrible experience.  So, I was definitely not ready to take on the challenge again. 

Then while looking at these yippy dogs in the kennel that were up for adoption, I went to pet one and Zoey decided she was going to roll over on her back and look up at me with those sweet eyes.  The girls saw my sliver of interest and pounced.  And then dad was cornered ("you said when mom was ready we could get a dog").  And so after a couple of hours of no's and tears, and maybe's and are you sure's, Zoey came home with us.

And she is so so sweet.  How anyone could have dropped her off at a kill shelter I'll never know. Welcome to the family sweet girl!

Susan

Happy Fall!

Today is the first day of fall - even though it doesn't feel like it.  I keep willing it to get here by wearing jeans every now and then, until they start sticking to the backs of my legs - then I decide I'd rather be comfortable in 90 degree heat, so I change back into shorts.  Please get here soon.  I want to feel that burst of crisp fall air when I open the door in the morning.  I want to be able to sit outside in the afternoons watching the kids play without having a heat stroke.  That's not too much to ask from mother nature is it?

Sometime in the next couple of weeks I will be relaunching my Etsy shop and hopefully it will be filled with fall goodies like the key fobs above.  I haven't been quite as productive the past few weeks as I had planned and I am hoping that that little pressure called "time" will motivate me this week.  Keep checking back because I will be hosting a giveaway to celebrate my store relaunch.  And be sure to check the previous post for a chance to win one of the key fobs above. 

Hope your first day of fall is fabulous (and cooler than here)!

Susan

Need a Good Read?

I just finished this book which was recommended to me by someone at the used bookstore I frequent.  If you want to read something sweet, lovely, light (but not too light) and quick (although I was interrupted so many times while reading that I want to read it again sans interruptions), pick this one up.  So, now that I'm finished with this one, anyone have any suggestions?

Just for checking in and leaving a comment, one of you will receive one of my fall key fobs before they even hit my store.   Just be sure I have a way to contact you!  (winner will be selected randomly on Sept. 25th)).  Have a fabulous weekend!

Susan

Labor Day Weekend

Ahhhhhh...camping, hiking, cooler temps - what a fabulous weekend with the family.  

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Susan

It's a good day

when there are no tears at the school sneak peek! I'm telling you, my stomach was a nervous wreck this morning getting ready to leave for our girls' sneak peek at school! You know, there is always that one teacher you don't want your kid to get. The grade we were concerned about has one that yells a lot and apparently slams doors (she cracked her classroom door window last year). So, the kids are terrified of her (and so are the parents!) Of course, I had to text my girlfriends (who got there before I did) to relieve me of my stress...just tell me my E. didn't get the door slammer! Fortunately, I was able to tell E. before we got in the car that she could relax because I got the text that confirmed she did not get "that one" and that is all we needed to hear. And sweet little K. got E.'s kindergarten teacher which is so awesome! K was very nervous and shy, but she will love it after a few days. So, all in all it's a good day!

Party Banners

There are quite a few tutorials out there for these cute little party banners - so this is definitely not something new. But, I thought I would at least share with you how easy and fun this project is! I've had some kid-friendly fat quarters in my stash for quite awhile. So long in fact that I can't remember why I originally purchased them. In any case, they made this project super duper easy! The finished banner has 12 double-sided triangles and I used 2 packages of bias tape.

To start, fold each fat quarter in half with right sides together (I folded it at the short ends). Trace a triangle (whatever size you want...mine is about 12" ) onto freezer paper. This is my favorite way to use patterns because, well, I'm quite lazy and this is so much quicker than pinning! Iron the triangle pattern onto fabric and cut. This will give you 2 triangles - but don't separate them - they are ready for sewing. Iron the freezer paper triangle onto the FQ again and cut another set. I could get two cuts from one FQ - not the best use of material but I'm no good at math and didn't want to figure out what size triangle would yield 3 cuts.


Once you have cut all of your triangles, you are ready to sew. Leave the top end open for turning. (If you cut on the triangles on the fold, just cut along the fold before you sew to create the opening for turning). This unfinished top end will be hidden in the bias tape. Once sewn (I used a 1/4" seam) turn the triangles and use a chopstick or something like that to poke out the point. I had a couple of helpers to help me turn and poke and I had the iron and starch going. A nice little assembly line if you ask me. Top stitch each triangle after pressing.

Join the two pieces of bias tape together ( you'll have a long 6 yard piece). Starting in the middle, pin the triangles inside the fold of the tape with the top corners touching each other. Pin so that you can easily remove the pins as you sew. Starting at one end of the bias tape, sew all the way to the other end catching the triangles in the fold as you go. Voila! So easy! What a cute party banner and it's reusable too!


Susan

Lounge Pants

Me? Making something that someone can actually wear? I truly didn't think it was possible. I'm usually not a pattern person because I don't really have confidence in myself to be accurate with measurements and seam allowances. So, I've never tried any type of apparel that has to fit (aprons and flirty girly skirts don't count...elastic waistbands I can do!).

My oldest d. has been looking for some cute pj bottoms for awhile and we just haven't found anything she likes. So, I downloaded the Easy Fit Pants pattern by the Scientific Seamstress on You can Make This.com - it's fantastic! If I can do this, anyone can. Carla details out everything you need to know and has some great tips along the way. Once I cut the pattern out, they took maybe an hour to make. Probably less but I had some little giggling interuptions along the way. I actually used a pair of my daughters pj bottoms to measure the length instead of using the size chart in the pattern. I'm now looking for an adult version of this pattern - I've already purchased some fabric to make myself a pair.

I also whipped up a pair of pj shorts from the same pattern. I think they are adorable, but dear d. says the fabric really isn't her. I reminded her they are to sleep in and she said that she would wear them to bed but not for a sleepover. Girls are funny aren't they? I really encourage you to try this pattern if you are new to sewing or if you haven't made pants before. Just make sure you have prewashed fabric ready to go since this is a downloadable pattern. If you're anything like me, you'll want to get started right away!

Susan

Sunday Sewing...

Forgive the awful photo - nice and blurry huh? I made this full apron for my aunt for her 70th birthday and forgot to snap more photos before I packaged it all up. I know, it looks like a 1/2 apron in the pic but I had to crop out all of the junk on my countertops! Anyway, I do love the way it turned out - I snatched up these fabrics on clearance recently with the intent of using them in a quilt. But when my mom called to ask if I had any ideas for a birthday gift for my aunt, well, I thought these colors would be perfect for an apron and I had just enough fabric. Not only is my aunt a great lady, but she's also a fabulous cook too, so I do hope she enjoys it. Hope ya'll are having a fantastic weekend!

Eco-Friendly Dollhouse GIVEAWAY!

Sarah’s hosting a fabulous Giveaway over at Dolls And Daydreams for her Eco Friendly Doll House PDF pattern!

Let your children’s imaginations grow whilst learning about recycling at the same time!

I’ve entered, how about you? Fingers crossed!! Good luck everyone!!

Finally Sewing Again!

My little babylock has been in the shop for a few weeks and I have to say, I'm so happy to have her back! I hadn't turned her on in quite awhile because I had messed up the bobbin case, but now, with a newly serviced machine and a new bobbin case, she's sewing like a dream. While she was away, I did a little (okay, a lot) of cutting. I made myself promise not to purchase any new fabric until I used up what I have. And, as you know, promises are often broken, as was the case with me. Who can pass up some of these fabulous sales?


I finished this quilt top yesterday (with fabric from my "old" stash). Thank you Nanci for suggesting a couple strippy quilts to get my creative juices going again. It will measure about 42" x 54 when complete. Feels so good to be creating again.

The Kissing Stool

Below is a photo of my 5 year old daughter's bedroom door... she added her "kissing stool" (her words) to reach the posters at the top...and she uses it! You have to love the "my little pony" poster mixed in with the boys : )



Susan

Friday Funnies

Howdy fellow bloggers - I've been on a loooooong hiatus! Hoping to get back into the swing of things very soon. Thought I'd make my welcome back debut with a funny little story.

I was at unnamed large-chain fabric store this morning to get some interfacing cut. The store was empty as was the fabric cutting desk. The woman behind the desk was busily working on something while acting like she didn't see me. And the conversation then went like this...

Me (politely, I swear) - "Can I have some fabric cut please?"
Woman: "Did you take a number?"
Me (while looking around at the empty store): "um...no"
Woman: "You need to take a number"
Me: "okay" (and proceeded to pull a number from one of those number dispensers you see at the deli)

The woman looks up at the big red computer display that shows the numbers (it's showing number 97...guessing that was her last customer...at 9 pm last night!). She then walks over to the phone and announces to the entire store "NUMBER 98...NUMBER 98"

REALLY??! I (again, very politely while looking around for the Candid Camera hidden camera) held up my little number showing that yes, indeed, I am customer 98.

This is why I do most of my shopping online.

Hope you are all having a fabulous Friday!

Susan

Form, Function and Flowers

I'm very much a "form-follows-function" person. Maybe it's because in my former life I was an accountant (honestly, I don't know how I ever did that). I'm conservative with a creative side. I remember when I was taking my interior design courses in the evenings after working all day with numbers, my instructors would sort of chuckle and tell me to tell my brain to switch sides. Even when I worked in design, accessorizing was the hardest part for me because well, most of the time the books and baubles that I'd find for the bookshelves had no purpose, other than to look pretty (okay, well, I guess that's a purpose). So, fast forward to sewing. The good thing about making things is the fabric designers have done all the hard work. I mean, I could make the simplest of bags (i.e. functional) and it would look great because the fabric is fabulous. So THANK YOU designers for making my hobby a little easier. That said, the clutch I made in Verna was lacking something - and until I added this little fabric flower, I didn't realize how naked the clutch looked. I envy those who can really let loose - adding a mix of fabrics, ruffles, buttons, rikrak, etc. to an otherwise merely functional item. I'm inspired every day by all you creative peeps out there. And just in case you wondered, the tutorial for this particular fabric flower can be found here at Pink Paper Peppermints along with some other crafty goodness.

Have a great weekend!

Susan

Giddy over Verna!

I am just loving Kate Spain's Verna collection! My little clutch doesn't exactly do it justice - you have to check out the entire line. It is fabulous!!!

Chefs in the Kitchen

This week is flying by...can I add another day please? Company's coming, laundry is still piled up and I have some birthday shopping still to do. My little princess is turning 5 this weekend and we're having her party on Saturday. We decided to do a cooking party - so we'll have 10 little girls making up pizzas and decorating jumbo cupcakes. Fun! Fortunately, we decided on this theme a month or so ago, so I've had plenty of time to make aprons and chef hats for the girls. Thank goodness I have that checked off my list! I used the tutorials from Stardust Shoes - and if you haven't checked this blog out, please do! Joanna has some super fun tutorials on here!

While I adore those quilt fabrics out there, I had to be a little more frugal with this project. I found a twin sheet set at Target for $15 and was able to cut out all of the apron fronts and hat tops from that. I lined just the top part of the apron with some pink poly/cotton (the sheets were poly/cotton too...minimal shrinking!) and had some extra Mary Englebreit fabric that was feeling a little lonely. Pockets and ties with that. So, I'm thinking I spent maybe $30 for 10 aprons and hats...not too bad and they get to take them home. Sure beats spending the money on the little trinkets that end up in the trash, don't you think?

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Susan

What To-Do List?

So, why is it when I have a million and one things on my to-do list (that don't involve any creativity), that's when my creative juices start flowing. I have spent the past two afternoons working on a couple different clutch purses for the spring when I really should, you know, be feeding my kids? (Don't worry - I did feed my kids...I just won't be winning any mom-of-the-year awards for my inventive cooking. That's why spaghetti-o's were invented, right?). I told myself this morning that I would clean up after I finished "experiemental clutch A" last night around midnight and not touch another piece of fabric today. Then the mailman came and delivered exactly what I was looking for...some beautiful spring florals. I just couldn't help myself. Today's project came out much better than yesterday's - I'll post pics later. I promised the girls we'd watch American Idol tonight since it's Ellen's first night on...so off we go. Have a good night!

Susan

Four Years Ago Today...

We met our youngest daughter for the first time. She hates this photo of her (the top one) but I couldn't love it more. It was the first time we saw her sweet little face in person and the first time we heard her voice. I wish I could have bottled up the excitement in the hotel conference room that day when the nannies started bringing the babies in. No one knew whose baby was whose because they were all so bundled up. One little angel was crying so hard and I asked our guide who that was and sure enough, she was our little K.

We were so blessed to meet 10 other families on that trip and will be seeing them all again in a few weeks at a reunion in Texas.

One of my favorite photos of my girls...I only wish they got along like that now!

Happy Gotcha Day Bear Bear!

Susan

Girls and Twirls

I think she likes it...don't you?

Pattern: Pink Fig - The Girly Skirt

Fabrics: Paula Prass Summer Soiree

Love is in the Air...

Amy Butler's Love that is! I wish I could say I just "whipped" this up, but in all honestly, it took me way longer than I would have liked. Aside from experimenting with interfacing combinations, those curves just kill me. I must have turned and re-turned this bag 5 times because there were these teeny tiny areas of fabric that I just couldn't catch under that darn machine! I'll blame it on the machine, yes, that sounds good. Not my complete incompetency when it comes to maneuvering around those curves. Larger seam allowance next time!

But, now that's it's done, it did turn out well. I love the size and sturdiness of this bag. I used both canvas and heavy duty sew-in interfacing and did a better job this time with the seams. However, I did just read a nifty little trick after I completed this bag and it would have come in handy (if you've been making bags for awhile, don't laugh!). I need to cut the sew-in interfacing smaller (as I would for the fusible) and sew it to the canvas before sewing the main fabric to the canvas/interfacing. duh! Seems so obvious now. That means I can continue using the sew-in if the fusible bothers me. This after I did just purchase a few yards of the heavy duty fusible. oh well. It won't go to waste. This bag is available in my lonely little etsy shop.

Hope you are having a great week!

Susan

Experimenting

I've been making purses and tote bags now for about a year and a half. One day, I might just show you a couple of my first attempts! But I truly enjoy figuring out the process and experimenting with different fabrics and interfacings. I've had the Ava Rose Tote pattern from Artsy Crafty Babe in my stash for awhile and really want to make up a bunch of these.

I decided to use this one to test some interfacings that I haven't tried before. My bags in the past haven't been as sturdy as I would like them to be, but I really don't like the fusible interfacings. The only fusible I've had good luck with is the thermal fleece - which gives a great quilty feeling to the bag and doesn't alter the feel of the fabric (nor does it leave any lumps). I have not had good luck with the regular fusible fleece - the problem is, with bags, you have to press the bag so much in different stages and you just can't keep pressing the fusible fleece or it will leave awful looking lumps and creases in the fabric and they don't come out.

I had never used sew-in interfacing before - so I decided to give it a whirl. I used pellon heavy duty sew-in interfacing and learned a bit along the way.

1. Baste or pin the interfacing to the fabric before the pattern is cut out. It would have saved me oodles of time and my interfacing would have matched up perfectly to the fabric. I know this seems like a very common sense thing to do - obviously I didn't realize this at the time.



2. I really wished I had added a layer of canvas or a light layer of fleece before I added the heavy duty stuff. While it is nice and sturdy (I've never had a bag stand up so well on its own!) - it is a little too stiff.



3. I seriously broke out a sweat trying to turn the damn thing. And when I finally got it turned, some of the fabric didn't catch in the seam (near the strap) - so I had to repeat the process. I'm not kidding - I had to turn the heat down! I guess I should make the hole a little larger - but honestly, it wasn't too small. Just 2 layers of the stiff stuff made it tough to turn. nuff said.



4. Seams...the nice thing about fusible is that you can cut it so it doesn't end up in the seams. Not so with the sew in. I'm not thrilled with the bulkiness of the seams - but you can't tell by looking at the tote.

I'm not quite done w/ the tote - I need to sew on the button. All in all, I love the pattern and the size of the bag. Top-stitching was a $*#&%*#! This was more due to the trying to manipulate the curves and stitch through the layers (and the fact the bag would "pop up" every time I'd push it down to sew) than anything else. Well, that and I probably should have switched out my needle. Lessons learned every day!

Have a great weekend!

Susan

Sewing for Craft Hope

Craft Hope has gotten such a huge response for their Haiti Etsy shop that they had to shut down for a couple of weeks to regroup. The shop is still open for business - but crafters need to wait 2 more weeks to submit more donations for the shop. The good news is, we have a little more time to create! I've been sewing up some aprons from Paula Prass's Summer Soiree collection - who doesn't love these fabrics!?! The collection is superb and the fabrics are a blast to work with. Can't wait to sew up more of these.

On a side note, I know why I don't blog more often. Besides the fact I don't have anything really interesting to say, it's the photo thing that really bogs me down. It just seems to take me forever to get photos uploaded and edited. If I could actually take a decent photo, I might not have to upload everything to picnik - but some of us need more help than others. So for those of you out there who take amazing photos and manage to them uploaded onto your blog often - any advice?

Have a wonderful crafty week!

Susan

Craft Hope for Haiti

Wow - it really has been months since I've touched my poor little blog. I have been keeping up with some of my favorite blogs - although, not nearly as often as I'd like. I'm in awe of those of you who not only keep up with your blogs, but have interesting things to write and beautiful photos to post. How DO you do it?

My motivation for coming back is that little button on the right. Craft Hope for Haiti. I love Craft Hope - they have headed up some truly inspirational projects in the past and present. Their latest project is their Craft Hope for Haiti etsy shop. Crafters from all over the world donate their products and 100% of the proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. What an awesome and amazing opportunity to use our talents for this charity. Disasters like the earthquake in Haiti call all of us to help and if you are anything like me, I feel completely overwhelmed with the choices of organizations to donate to. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to donate through Craft Hope even though I'm just one among millions who will be donating time, money, supplies or services for the people of Haiti. Hearts for Haiti is another Etsy shop that includes handmade goods from etsy sellers; 100% of the proceeds from this shop go to Doctors Without Borders too.