Answering Questions and Painting Walls

Alright.  There have been questions about shirts and I thought I might make a post just to clarify a few things.  I have just finished up my last orders and do NOT plan on taking any more for the time being.  I really do appreciate the interest and sweet comments.  And as I have told a few of you, I really do enjoy making these shirts and coming up with different designs, thing is, it takes some time to make them.  Time away from my family, house cleaning, sleep, etc...  Also, it has started to feel more like a job than a hobby, really I dare say I've made well over 100 shirts since last May...I already have a job (chasing ThinG 1 and ThinG 2 around all day long) and haven't the energy for a 2nd.  Lastly, have I mentioned that I am fiCkLe?  The whole mass producing thing got old for me REAL quick, I like to change it up often and would rather not make the same thing over and over and over...  Therefore, I am done with shirts for now.  Notice I say for now, I do reserve the right to go back on my words :)  Perhaps, I will change my mind at some point.  I've also had questions about selling patterns.  I am considering doing that, but need to figure out how to go about that.  For now...I've got things I'd really like to get done around here.  Call me selfish.  I've got the hubs up stairs right now slapping a little paint on the walls...

Excited about that.  I've only had the paint for since last March (almost a WHOLE year in the making).  I will post more pics as we go.  I've got a lot of projects I'd like to get done.  Stay tuned.

HAVE to make one of these!

When I first saw this I knew I was absolutely making one!

Nevermind the fact that I've never made a quilt in my life, let alone even know where to begin with one.  And then there is the whole needing a baby to make it for...  Regardless, I'm SO making one of these.  Thanks to V & Co for the tutorial.  She's made it easier for me to fake my way through this sewing project...don't tell anyone, but when it comes to sewing I really don't know what I'm doing still!  Totally faking it :)

Valentines...Just in Time

I got them done.  And really, it was just in time.  Why do I put things off? 
I gave my four year old the choice between dinos or guitars to hand out for his preschool V-day party.  He thinks he's a rock star, so of course guitars was the obvious choice.  I found these cute {free} printable valentines here.  Love 'em.

And I HAD to add PoP RoCks!  Is there a funner candy?  I don't think so.  Brings back childhood memories.

I made up little treat bags to go with the cards.  Just printed them up in Word, added a piece of scrap paper and attatched to a cello bag.  Easy peasy.

And because Valentines fell on Sunday this year, I thought I'd make another version of Valentines for my activity day girls (I teach their primary class on Sunday, too).  This idea I copied from here.

And just to get rid of the rest of the candy floating around here...for my boys' primary friends...

Found this one here.  Another freebie.  People are so kind to share! 

And that's it.  I'm so over paper hearts I could puke right now. 

Good bye Valentines, bring on the shamrocks!

fuN with fLoWers

I started making these little flowers and I just can't stop!  I'm putting them on EveRYthInG.  Pillows, shirts, necklaces, gift bags...even babies!!  They're fun.  And quite trendy at the moment.  Seems everyone is flowered up these days.  This all kind of started when a neighbor asked me one day if I thought I could make these silly, shabby, twisty (I don't know, what would you call them?) flowers.  She had been to a baby boutique and purchased a few and I almost dropped dead when she told me how much she paid.  Seriously!  Lots of $.  Hers were a bit more fancy than mine.  But I'm hoping to get fancier, I'm still practicing.  The possibilities are endless here, and people...DO NOT pay the boutique prices for these!  They are so easy to make and you can find tutorials ALL over the place (try this one)...making your cost a LOT less.  Go try them, have fun with these silly, shabby, twisty flowers.

On Pillows

On necklaces.  I made the blue one, the white one came with the necklace.

I was selfish and made myself a shirt!

These are great in place of a bow on packages (this one is a pin).

And of course, headbands.

Ready to Receive

As mentioned in the previous post we're ready for Mr. Cupid to pickup and deliver our Valentines...and I'm sure you'll be happy to know (or not, whatever) that we are now ready to receive our letters and love notes also.

 

I found the mailboxes a Targets $ spot about a month ago and held on to them thinking I would do something fun with them in time for Valentines.  Well, then I forgot about them.  Luckily I found them in the bottom of the pantry last night...just in time to spiffy them up for the BiG day next week. 

I didn't have the color of paper I wanted to cover them, so I ended up Mod Podging fabric onto them...it worked great. Then I just inked the edges of the box and the paper heart with my boys names on them (sewed to felt).

My little guys are really excited about having their own designated mailbox and can't wait to see what Mr. Cupid will be delivering.  I plan on sneaking anything we get in the real mail into their boxes so they can check them every morning to see if they've recieved any love letters.  I'm thinking these would be fun to leave out year round, then we can leave little love notes whenever we feel like it.

Sew Very CraZy

Okay, so I've been working on Valentines.  And let me tell you...I had a DaNg hard time deciding what to do this year!  Only because there are seriously millions of WAY cute ideas out there.  Really.  Lots of fun, fun ideas.  I had to do very little thinking about these, cause I just stole everyone elses ideas.  So here is what I narrowed it down to for the FaMilY V-daY cards (cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.)...these are SeW cRazY.

I found my inspiration here.  I loved the idea of using CraZy pics of the kids cause let's face it, with my two little monkeys, it's SO much easier to get a cRazY picture than a decent one.  All I did was tell them to show me their silliest face and they went...craZy.

After I got my pictures, I made a little collage in Photoshop, sent them to Costco to be printed, then got to sewing.  Went a little crazy with that, too.

I actually sewed that little felt heart right on there.  Is it wrong to ruin a perfectly good picture by sewing the crap out of it?  I think not.  I'm lovin' how they turned out.

When I was finished putting them together I sat down with the kiddos and had them write their names on an itty bitty piece of paper...a challenge for a 3 and 4 year old...they like to write GiaNt.  But they did very well.  There's just something about a little kid's signature isn't there.  Sweet. 

And here they are, ready for Mr. Cupid to pick up and deliver...

Stay tuned, there may will be more Valentines to come (preschool friends, preschool teacher, activity days girls...) if I get them finished up when I get them finished up.  Hope that Cupid does express mail.