Sewing Kit Swap Is Done!

now that i know our swap partners, N from Balkan Style Bloggers and her daughter B received out package, i can show you some pics of what we sent to them.
as you can see, there were some fabric scraps, ric-rac and trim, a needle book, a tissue cozy, a felt bird softie kit, three sewing cards, yo-yo's, a hand carved stamp and stamp pad, a pincushion and heart shaped pins, an embroidery hoop, some buttons, some ribbon and a smaller pincushion. and we packed it in a cute green small luggage case.

here are some close-ups of both pincushions. the smaller one is below.

and i'm glad to hear that N and B are happy with the sewing kit we sent to them! i can't wait to see any projects they may work on with what we sent to them.
and here is the swap package they sent to us! as you can see, C was very excited to see what was inside.
luckily she was patient enough to let me take pictures before she took off with anything! N and B sent so many nice things! among our favorites are the buttons and fabric. they also included a pattern for making a ruby doll and i think we'll definitely use some of the fabric for that. C also liked all the embroidery floss in her favorite colors of pink and aqua. and i can't wait to teach C how to use the hand made knitting nancy! i think that is a wonderful way to get C started with knitting!

and here is my happy girl! thank you so much N and B! and thank you to Melissa of Day to Day for hosting this awesome swap!

Summer Fun, Weeks 5-7

just popping in to say 'hi!'. sorry for the unexpected blog break, but i've been preoccupied with so much stuff going on this summer.

for one thing, (and this is something that i forgot to mention here in my blog) i signed up for another swap! this one is hosted by Melissa Goodsell, from Day to Day. it is a sewing kit swap in which we make a sewing kit for our partner's child. my partner is N from Balkan Style Bloggers. i have already finished her daughter's sewing kit, but i won't show any pictures until i know she's received it. i will try to mail it out today or tomorrow.

that was the fun part, now for the not-so-fun part. my husband, my two girls, my MIL and i have all gotten sick this summer! it was some strange form of cold and it affected us all in very different ways. we are still trying to get over it, and i know it won't last forever, but it has been very uncomfortable and has dampened our fun this summer. there is still a month before C starts school, so i'm sure we'll have lots more fun before her vacation is over.

also, because my husband is taking a vacation, we decided to use it to try to DIY and fix things up around the house. i think the stress of the hard work and worry from not knowing how to go about doing some of the fixing is what made my husband take his illness harder. he only took a day or two off and is still working. our house will be under repair through most of the summer, so it will make things like entertaining at home nearly impossible. there go my birthday plans! oh well! i'm sure we can just go out for dinner. hopefully we can finish the home repairs in time to take a mini vacation and take the kids to sea world before the end of summer. (crossing fingers!)

other than that, i have some crafty projects i need to start working on. one is for my nephew's birthday present and the other one is for my cousin's quinceañera party favors. i'm really excited about working on these two projects and i can't wait to show some WIP photos! gotta get started!

Fairy Party Preparations, Pt. 2

Here are a few more things that I've done for M's Fairy Birthday Party.

This one is part of her present from me. It's a 2D doll with the drawing I made of her doll in fairy costume. I really like how it came out! And I saw that Hillary Lang of WeeWonderfuls also made similar dolls! She is a great inspiration and I love her work! I think next time I'm gonna try to make my drawings look more polished like hers!

I made the doll by first making a drawing of M's doll, then coloring it with color pencils and outlining some details with marker. I then asked my husband to scan the drawing and print it out on Colorfast Sew-In Inkjet Fabric Sheets. They were kind of expensive seeing as how they only have 3 sheets in the package. Next time I try printing on fabric, I'm gonna try ironing a piece of fabric onto freezer paper and then cutting it to paper size and running it through my printer. Much cheaper!

I also made her a clothespin fairy doll, also as part of her present from me. I was influenced by all the clothespin dolls other craft bloggers are making. One of them being, Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy. She is also one of my biggest inspirations! Obviously, I didn't buy one of her kits, even though I've been wanting to. So I pretty much winged it! I like the way the face came out and the tulle skirt and wings. I'm not too crazy about the bodice, but I'm not going to worry about that anymore. I just wanted to get it done to check it off my list of things to do. I can always change it later. It took me a while to do because I had to do it while taking care of M and so I had to wait for times when she wasn't around or was asleep. And I had to paint a little at a time, waiting for the paint to dry between coats and colors. But it wasn't too difficult to do because it's so small and so it only took a few minutes to paint each time I worked on it.

These are the fairy tutus and crowns I made for the kids to dress up in. I can already imagine all the little girls running around the park in such bright, yet soft colors! So cute! I got the idea to make the tutus and the crowns and the whole Fairy Birthday Party after my girls each got a tulle crown as part of their swap package from our Mini Swap partner Tiffany, of Likely Stories. Thanks Tiffany! My girls have really enjoyed wearing your crowns! Like Tiffany, I also added silk flowers onto the crowns and a few on the tulle skirts. The first crown is actually one that Tiffany made. I plan to use her crowns at the party!

Here are some scrappy tin cans I made to put on the tables. I used a lot of the scraps from the projects I'm making for M's birthday party. So everything will coordinate. Of course, I did end up using so many different fabrics! But that's what I wanted. I'm going for the scrappy calico and flowery handmade look for this fairy party. I hope it all ends up looking nice! I think it looks very homey and young and happy! This is the first time I've ever decoupaged anything and I like the results! I used equal parts white glue and water and used a sponge brush to make sure the scraps were well saturated with the glue mixture. I also pinked some of the edges on the scrap pieces for a cleaner look. I collected cans of various sizes so that they could look more interesting when I group them. I plan to fill them with glass marbles to weigh them down and put some colorful tissue flowers in them. They will be placed in small groups on top of the table covers to give the covers some contrast as they are solid and to help keep the wind from blowing them off the table. I'm using plastic covers cause I didn't have enough time to make some out of fabric. I would have loved to use fabric table covers! Maybe for the next birthday party!?

And here are some of the tissue flowers I made. Again I winged it and made different types of flowers all using different techniques I've seen from many different places in magazines and online. I didn't follow any one tutorial; just made them up as I went along. There are different sizes to fit the different can sizes. I've since made more, but haven't taken any recent pictures.

I hope that I'll have some decent pictures of all of the decorations, table set up, favors, and the kids in their costumes. There is still more things I need to finish and I only have a week left. If I do manage to get them done with time, I'll try to write another post about it before the birthday party.

We got our Mini Swap package!

Woohoo! We got home from school and found our Mini Swap III package from Tiffany, of Likely Stories, and her boys, Max and Oliver, waiting for us on our porch. We couldn't wait to open it! So as soon as C was done doing her homework, we opened the box.

It was difficult to keep the girls from grabbing, but I managed to keep them at bay by handing each one the first things I saw, which were the YanYans. One chocolate flavored and one strawberry flavored. The girls were so happy and it gave me a chance to take some pictures before I let them dive into all the goodies!

First, the girls got several hair bands made from various ribbons and trims in cute colors!

Here are the girls modeling the hair bands!

Next, I got a book handmade by Tiffany for me to put pictures, recipes, or anything I want. It is so lovely! I think I will definitely use it for recipes, since Tiffany was so kind to include some blank recipe cards to get me started.

I also got some vintage yarn from Tiffany's collection. I'm thinking of using it to make some amigurumis! I'll make sure to post some pics when I get around to it. The yarn is texturized and nubly, so I think that will make for some interesting looking amigurumis.

We also got some dark chocolates! I love dark chocolate!

My little one, M, was lucky to get a CD mix with dance music! She loves to dance and is actually quite good at it! I don't know where she gets it from, cause my husband, big M, and I don't dance much. Hopefully this dance mix will get us moving, too!

Chloe also a nice mix of stickers. She loves stickers! We started a sticker book for her when we started potty training her. She's added to it every time we have had to take her to the doctor or the dentist, and since she's already 5 years old, she has quite a collection! She brings it out every once in a while to look at and admire all her cool stickers!

We also got some Korean jacks called Kon-ji. They look interesting but we don't know how to play with them, yet. Tiffany said she will send us instructions, once we got them. I'm curious to learn how to play it!

As you can tell, M is ready to dig into the other chocolate treats!

Here are the girls playing with their favorite part of the swap, the flower crowns. They don't want to take them off! They love to dress up!

Hooray for the swap! Thank you Tiffany, Max and Oliver! And thank you to Molly for hosting the Mini Swap because it gives mom's and their children a chance to create together and practice the act of giving. We get to meet new people and we get surprised with wonderful goodies! And the kids just love getting mail! We had so much fun participating in this swap and we can't wait for the next one!

More on the Mini Swap III package we sent...

So, now I'm gonna continue my post about what we made for the Mini Swap III. Tiffany told me that Oliver has been spitting up on her a lot (as most babies do) and so she was in need of some burp cloths to save her clothes. I made her four burp cloths in a cute flannel so it's soft next to Oliver's skin, with cute tiny transportation vehicles. I also had C make a drawing of a teddy bear onto fabric and I sewed it into a 2D stuffie. This is the same thing we did for X mas gifts for C's and M's cousins! We also made baby Oliver a freezer paper stenciled t-shirt like his big brother's, only his had an image of an antique airplane. In the picture, you'll also notice the bunting. Well, like I said in the previous post, that is meant to be for both Max and Oliver to decorate their room.

For Tiffany, I made a tissue pouch cozy, in colors and prints that she likes. I also made her a freezer paper stenciled image of a tree on a piece of fabric with small leaf print. I thought that she could use it to make anything she wanted with it. And since we were in the month of February, I couldn't help adding something with a Valentine's theme, so I made her some coasters with hearts and other Valentine prints.

Finally, I added some Japanese treat bags for Tiffany and her son, Max. One bag had chocolates with a more mature taste, such as dark chocolate, green tea truffles and a box of hazelnut flavored KitKats. The other bag has chocolate sandwich cookies in panda face shapes and some fizzy carbonated and a bit sour candies. Yum!

So, that's it! We had lots of fun putting this swap package together and we can't wait to get ours! More pictures can be found on the Mini Swap III flickr group.

Our swap was well received!

So, my family and I mailed off our swap package to it's recipients on Saturday and I got word from Tiffany, last night, that they already got their package! I had been waiting for this to happen so I could finally have something to say and show for what my girls and I have been up to this past month. I haven't done any more crafting since Valentine's day and since we completed our part of the swap. It seems like a long break to me and I think now I'm ready to get onto the next project!

Tiffany emailed me to tell me how happy she and Max were with the things we put together. It really made my day and makes me feel warm inside! It makes it all worth it! I've made many handmade gifts to family members, but I don't get the same response from them as I did with Tiffany. They kind of expect it and are polite and say thanks, but it's never with any real appreciation for the work that goes into it and for the details I put into each gift that makes it unique and gives it my own touch. I must admit, I still consider myself a beginner, so maybe they just see it as something "homemade" rather than something "handmade"; with love, I might add! Oh well! Just like last X mas and all the birthdays, I still intend on hand-making all (or as many as possible!) gifts I give out.

I took some pictures of the swap package we made, right before we packed them up. I didn't get any real close-ups of each item, so I hope this will do! Tiffany also had trouble taking pictures, as she told me that her little boy, Max got excited and took off with everything, so she found it difficult to get everything back together. Maybe she'll post some pictures of some of the things we made. So, here they go!



First, what we made and/or bought for Max. I had C draw me some pictures of transportation vehicles, onto fabric and I added them to the bunting. I used colors that Tiffany described, were part of Max and Oliver's room decor. Then, I found a cute small canvas with a drawing of a snail and I thought that maybe Max would like to paint it himself and put it up proudly in his room or give it as a gift! I also found a cute tote bag with an appliquéd truck on the outside and I thought it would be nice for Max to carry his favorite cars, toys and other small items little kids like to find and collect. I also learned that Max loves Matchbox cars and so I couldn't sent him a package without adding a few of those! My girl, C and I then made some Kool-Aid play dough and packed them in small plastic containers so they can be stored when not in use and make them last longer. And I tried out freezer paper stenciling for the first time and made a cute shirt with an image of an antique ride-on car for him.

I think I'll save the rest of the swap package we sent for another post, as this post is already too long! But here are links to the website I got the tutorial for the freezer paper stenciling and the images I used. You'll also be able to see the rest of the swap package on the Mini Swap flickr group, if you're interested.

Making the most of the weekend

I know it's been a few days since my first post. I really don't want to wait too long between posts but I've been busy trying to figure out how to get some good pictures and then get them onto my blog. I also want to try to get a nice picture to go with every post. It's one thing I've learned from reading blogs; that I enjoy them more when there's a picture to go with the story. I've also been really busy working on my swap package for the Mini Swap to Tiffany, of Likely Stories and her two little boys. My girls and I are almost done and I can't wait to get the package sent out to you, Tiffany!

Since I've yet to capture a good picture of some of the things I'm working on I'm going to leave you with a not-so-good one. I didn't want to give too much away, so I tried to get a really close picture of it.

Part of this is are the valentines I'm working on with C to go to her classmates. The other part is hopefully going to go to my swap partner; if I can get it done correctly and on time!

Well, even though I'm almost done with our swap package, I still have a few more things to do before the weekend is over, so that's it for now!

I finally did it!

I've been wanting to start a blog for years now, but I never felt like I would have the time to dedicate to posting regularly. I always had an excuse, but enough is enough. I want to be able to use this space to document my daily life, my thoughts, and use it as a way to let my family see my daughters grow and learn of our goals and accomplishments. I also hope to meet new friends and reacquaint myself with old friends.

I'm also participating in my second swap and so I decided now was a good time as any. It's the Mini Swap hosted by Molly from Mommy Coddle. I love to craft and create things, and so this swap gives me an opportunity to use my creativity in collaboration with my two little girls, which from now on I will refer to as C, for the older one (5 years) and M, for the younger one (21 mo.), for safety reasons. Committing myself to a swap puts just the right amount of pressure on me to get my craft on. It also gives me more reason to take some time for myself to get some work done. Sometimes I need to stress a little to get myself moving, cause I can go through a few months of just being in a slump with no crafting mojo. Well, I'm certainly not in a slump right now! I've been getting lots done and checking off lists left and right! I feel so proud of myself! I'm also impressing myself with the ideas I got (not all my own ideas, fyi) and the finished products! I'll show a few glimpses in future posts of what I have in store for my swap partners (don't want to give too much away!). And I'll also post about the things I've been making for myself, my family, my home and for the holidays.

So let me just end this post with a welcome to my blog!