The Progressive Pioneer and Run with Scissors!

I am a fairly new reader to the Progressive Pioneer blog, but man, so far I love what I see. This has been added to my favorites list and she is hosting a giveaway here. Check it out!

Another new favorite of mine is Run With Scissors, she is having an amazing giveaway as well! Read here for more details!

Happy Monday. :o)

The Market Skirt

I found this tutorial a while back and have been itching to try and make one but I never found a reason too. Little Big isn't exactly "big" enough to wear a skirt yet. It would just hinder with the whole crawling process and we wouldn't want to hinder with her ability to get into anything and everything, now would we!? Of course not.

Well...I finally found a reason to try the pattern! My niece is turning 3 in a few weeks and what a better present than an adorable market skirt for an adorable little girl? I had some cute pink gingham type, t-shirt material that I made myself a tank top out of (that's another post coming soon), the leftovers were perfect for this skirt.






I think it turned out pretty well. The tute was awesome (thanks Dana!), very easy to follow and lots of good pictures! I double layered the pink as well as the white too because they were a little sheer. I think the end result turned out great! Cute, cute, CUTE!

For this gift I created my first "clothing label". Of course I forgot to take a picture of it and now the skirt is wrapped up and ready to be mailed. I have some cool ideas for a logo but for now I will just be embroidering my initials (CB for crissybell) on some ribbon and sewing that into the back of the garment. But now I am off on another tangent. I think its time for bed...

Cards!

I finally found the time to complete a few...so here they are!

Day 176 - Super Sketchy Sunday

I had to change the sketch a little because I accidentaly had the fold of my card going the wrong way. I hope it will still qualify, if not oh well, I think its a cute card. (supplies: all cardstock is dcwv and paper co, ribbon and button are from my stash)

Day 179 - Checkerboard Background



(supplies: dcwv/paper co)

Day 181 - White Space

(supplies: dcwv/paper co)

still addicted

its a sickness!

here's another giveaway from Your Fabric Place. I seriously love her shop and can't wait to find another reason to buy some more fabric.

I was lucky enough to be one of three winners for her last giveaway and I will be completing the purse very soon!

Project #2: My 2nd refashion

I have so many plain white onsies that are too short for Little Big. I usually just donate them to the goodwill but then I got to thinking about what could be made out of one...

Here's what I started with:

(1/4 yd leftover fabric, torn jeans (I only used one leg) and the too small onesie)

Here's what I came up with:


Here's the finished product:



Here's a cute little girl in her "new" dress:

Sewing projects #1 & #2

Here they are, the first of my August projects which were finished over a week ago but I've been so horridly behind on getting pictures off my camera. I really need to work on that. If only I could just take the pictures and they would instantly upload to my hard drive, my life would be SO much easier. Then if I could just get someone to blog all my ideas, life would be perfect!

August Project #1

Happy Stacker Toy

I bought this pattern a while back along with some cute quilting quarters. I finally got around to finishing it and I am quite happy with the results. The yellow fabric on the bottom ring is from a sundress that never fit correctly, the rest are quarters that were about $1.50 each. So all in all this was a VERY detailed, but cheap project to finish, not counting what I spent on the pattern of course. Its really fun to make even though it does include quite a bit of hand sewing. But if you don't mind that (I don't) then I highly recommend it! Plus it is just TOO cute!

Little Miss Big really likes it.

more giveaways? yes...

I love giveaways. Maybe because my first time entering one...I actually won! It was beginners luck I tell ya, since then I have won zilch, but hey, its fun to enter them because you are exposed to so many cool sponsors and new blogs to follow. Yeah, I am addicted.

Check this one out from the The Dress Up Drawer.

And another from The Benner Daily!

I've been away...

I've been neglecting my little corner of the internet. Life has been hectic and summer weather has returned so I haven't been spending too much time indoors. Little Big has mastered the art of crawling and over the past month has changed into a monster. Gone are the days where she stays in one place and plays with her toys. This kid is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING. She is even driving her big brother nuts, and that is hard to do I tell ya!

I do have quite a few projects that I've finished and I will be sharing them soon. I've got lots of projects in the works too so I'd like to get those on here as well. Its just the whole getting the pictures off camera and into blog land.

Tomorrow...I'll do it tomorrow. I hope.

PS A few patterns I ordered from Oliver + S arrived yesterday. Can't wait to try those out!

another giveaway...

Ashley over at make it and love it is hosting another giveaway from one of her terrific sponsors! check it out!

note to self...

dear self,

please find time to try this idea out very soon...

roses and ruffles toddler t-shirt dress from happy together.

also, could you please make a few cards for this week at 365 cards?

thanks a bunch,

crissy

a stitch in time

I have something to share that I think is very special. It is also very old. And unfortunately it is not mine, but I hope someday it will be...

This is a Victorian crazy quilt. It is a style of quilting from the Victorian era that was widely popular, a little history can be found here and here. This quilt belonged to my Great Grandma, it was originally made by her Aunt sometime in the 1880's. So that would make the creator my Great Great Great Aunt. Wow. The pictures really don't do it justice. The colors are still vibrant and the different textures of the fabric are wonderful. It really is beautiful to look at. The embroidery is completely amazing, I can't imagine all the painstaking hours spent on this quilt. Once unfolded you can see names of family members in different spots on the quilt, my Great Great Great Great Grandfather's name is embroidered in a space, along with his brothers and my Great Great Great Uncles. For some reason there were a few sibling's names that were left off the quilt, my Grandma attributes this to the fact that a family feud was going on during the time the quilt was being created. Not only is this a beautiful piece of artwork but there is some family history stitched all over it too! The ever so popular "spider in its web" can also be found throughout the quilt (this was thought to bring the quilter good luck).

More often then not these quilts were made smaller, to use as a throw or small blanket. The one pictured above fits on a queen size bed. My Grandma said there is one other quilt as well, this one was give to my Aunt. There are two of these beauties out there! Wow!

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, the quilt isn't mine. My Grandma gave it to my mom, which makes complete sense! Ha ha, I am still just a little jealous. That's ok, I can admire it from afar and wait patiently, hoping that one day it is passed down to me. :o)

Some paper and some fabric...

Paper first! "Day 161 - Cool Collage Today's challenge is all about overloading that card with patterned paper and embellishments. The goal: Don't leave a blank space on your card."


supplies: card - k&co, all other card stock - paper co/dcwv, ribbon/buttons - stash
The whole card is covered! Usually I am pretty good about leaving "blank" space but not tonight. I used some thick foam tape to add a 3rd dimension to the flowers. However, the flash shmashed that dimension. Oh well.

Now for the fabric...I scored two boxes of old fabric from my Great Aunt.

There are some really cute vintage flower prints which I am really excited about. I love sorting through fabric and imagining what could be made out of all of it. There are a few yards I might donate. But the rest I am keeping! Greedy, I know.
Tomorrow and Sunday are my sewing days. Here's my next project...something for baby, (surprise) maybe someday I'll make something for myself but little cute things are so much fun right now. I am going to try Heather Bailey's pattern for the Happy Stacker Ring Toy. Here is what I have so far.

I found some cute fat quarters in my stash and I cut up an old sundress that didn't fit anymore. Now I just need to find some ribbon and I can start my therapy...err...I mean sewing...

365 Cards - Day 160

"Day 160 - Lovely Lace
Ever used lace on your cards? Well, now's the time to give it a try because today's challenge is to add lace to your card - any amount will do!"

Wow. I am really on a roll here. I've finished yet another card! I still need a few more and then I can send out all of our thank yous for the reception. As much as I love paper craft/scrapbooking I need to just give myself a day to sew, very soon. I've been itching for a day to sort through fabric and get inspired to create something with whimsy. I think Saturday sounds like a good day for that, especially if it is going to be in the high 60s like its been for the past few days. COLD. I really can't believe that there is almost a 40 degree temperature difference between this week and last week! Insane! Ok enough blabber. Here is my card...

supplies: purple paper - k&co, black w/glitter - dcwv alldressed up matstack, white - paper co, lace - offray.

Sexy card. Ha ha, I really like this one. Purple is one of my favorite colors, pair that with glitter and lace and you've got a winner!

365 Cards - Day 159

"Day 159 - Setting the Scene - Indoors
Today I challenge you to create a scene on your card. In March, I posted a similar challenge, which was to create a nature scene. This time I'm looking for something indoors. Use stamps, stickers, fussy cutting, whatever you wish as long as it creates a scene."

Ack! This week is very challenging!! Creat and indoor scene?? I don't have any stamps for that, I tried to find a digi stamp but I just couldn't bring myself to pay for something I could create. So out come the scissors, colored pencils and I go to work. Here's what I came up with.

supplies: red paper -dcwv, pale gold patterned/brown paper - k&co, hand written sentiment - zig memory.

The table, teapot/teacups and hanging picture are all cutouts that I drew myself. Its simple but does the job of an "indoor scene."

365 Cards - Day 158

"Day 158 - What's Your Sign?
Today's challenge is not referring to an astrological sign, but rather about creating a sign on your card. You can use a stamp, patterned paper, or create a sign out of the card."

Soooo, as mentioned in yesterdays post this is a rough week for me, full of memories and it has left me in a bit of a funk. I had trouble with this one. I really didn't know how in the heck I was going to get a sign on my card or much less make my card into a sign. It was a tough one.

Once again the colors in my pictures are really not too bright, its much prettier in person. Anyway, the black and white paper is old wrapping paper that I crumpled up, glued then trimmed. The "you rock" is a cutout and is hanging from the flower cutout above it, so there is my sign. There are also two black buttons adorning the front which are a little hard to make out. Yeah and the flowers are colored in with purple and pink which yet again are hard to make out in this picture. Below is the inside of the card.

supplies: green paper - k&co, cutouts - k&co, hand written sentiment - zig memory pen, purple/pink gelly roll pens, ribbon/wrapping paper/buttons - stash

Sunflowers...

The challenge for Tuesday over at 365 cards is "Day 157 - Imagine This: Sunflowers." Make a card inspired by sunflowers! Funny, because I just made a sunflower card for Sunday's challenge. Ha ha, so I guess I'll make another! Sunflowers, along with Orchids are my favorite flower so I don't mind spending this much time creating them with paper...

supplies: white paper - k&co, yellow/green paper - the paper co, sentiment - hand printed black zig memory pen, button/ribbon - stash.

So I was totally inspired by guest designers folding technique, her name was Ann Cox. You can see her card here. I tore long strips of yellow paper and accordion folded them until I had enough for the flower. I used a big brown button for the center and cut the stalk and leaves from dark green paper. I think it turned out super cute. The picture really doesn't do it justice. I need to stop taking pictures at night...

365 Cards - Day 156

Day 156 - Ad Inspired

The challenge is to use the following ad to inspire your card...

What immediately stood out to me were the tulips (obviously!) the dark green, yellow and the browns. I really struggled with materials to use with this card. One of the design team members, Gloria, used a sort of twine on her card which I really liked the look of. I searched high and low but couldn't find any twine!! I also had a nice yellow cardstock to use but I had to take it off because it just didn't fit. Ugh. This one was frustrating...

supplies: dk green cardstock - k&co, brown/white/red - paper co, ribbon and button - stash, sentiment - hand printed gelly roll

365 Cards - Day 155

Well, I missed a whole weeks worth of cards last week because of the reception madness going on. I am going to try and complete a whole weeks worth of cards this week...

It's Super Sketchy Sunday and you have to use the sketch below when creating your card.

I don't know why but I immediately thought of a flower in the center of the card. What better flower than a beautiful sunflower? I still have yet to bust out my stamps so this was another cutout. Everything was cut by hand...I like the raised center, it give it a more 3-D effect, which is nice.

supplies: all cardstock - paper co, raised tape - 3m, hole punch - fiskars, gelly roll pen
Sorry, crappy picture. I was using my cell phone to take pics. I'll replace the pic with something less embarrassing tomorrow. It's late and I need my beauty rest. :o)

Edit: I just saw the challenge for Tuesday...ha ha how ironic.

BACK!

Yep, I'm back. Our reception is over. Whew. I get tired just thinking about all the planning/cooking and even sewing I did to prepare for it all. I just haven't had time between all the visiting family/friends and preparation to even touch my laptop. But all of that is behind me now. Hopefully I'll get a chance here soon to post some pics of all my hard work!

My next task is to take on the daunting task of creating thank you cards for all of our guests. That's where 365 cards will come in handy. I've been neglecting that site lately. :o(

In other news I just found out I won a pattern giveaway from Glenna over at your fabric place. Here is the pattern. I can't wait to try it out. I've never used grommets before so it should be a fun experience. Thanks again Glenna!