Where did Christmas go?

Did you all have a wonderful Christmas? Although we missed having several of our out of town family members with us for our festivities again this year, my parents and I enjoyed a nice, though quiet, day at home. I enjoyed giving my family some home-made gifts this year, and really liked hearing how much they loved them. I’m also excited about the sewing-related gifts that I got: quilt magazines, Gingher scissors, pinking shears, hem clips, a gift card to Joann’s, and best of all some large clear plastic tubs to store all my fabric in. My make-shift sewing area looks so much better already!

Ok, now to catch up on some pictures. There will be quite a few of them for this post, you were warned!

First, I just thought this was funny, I had to take Dad to pick up his car at the shop, and Joann’s just happens to be on the way, haha. So I made dad stop there with me and guess what happens? He falls in love with this and ends up spending more there than I did.

I kept myself very busy for a while, helping my friend Shealynn with her shop *Shey*[B]. She had several Christmas orders for her camera strap covers, and I was glad I was able to help her out. Needless to say I still have some Christmas decorations that I have yet to make. Maybe I will get them all done in time to pack the decorations up for the year.

I also had some of my own Christmas orders to fulfill, both for dog collars, and also for a baby gift. It was nice to sew something different after sewing so many dog collars for a while. I think I need to make and sell more baby items now. Especially since I just organized all my fabric in my new bins and I have seen how much baby fabric I really have. Anyway, here is the baby gift I made for a friend of mine to give to her friend. I really like the color combination and how it turned out. I’m glad to hear that she loves it too! It’s so affirming to hear such positive feedback from paying customers!


I believe it was Christmas Eve by the time I finally got around to finishing this wreath that I had planned for the longest time. I fell in love with Just A Girl’s version, and became a major copy cat by buying the exact same ornaments that she did. I just love the color combination! It was a major pain in the butt trying to make what was supposed to be a very simple wreath (I will spare you the play by play details) but in the end I LOVE it. I think it is gorgeous! I want to keep it up all year!



Now on to some of the Christmas presents I made for my family. It all started with wanting to make these oven mitts for my grandmothers and my mom. I got the idea from Amy at The Idea Room.


My dad got an ipod over the summer, and had been talking about how much he wanted a case to take it to work in, but he didn’t like how much the ones he saw cost. I remembered a tutorial I had seen by Make It and Love It and told him that I could make one for him. He requested Wisconsin colors, so this is what I came up with.

Since the grandmas were getting hand-made gifts, I decided I didn’t want the grandpas to feel left out, but had the hardest time thinking of something that I could make for men. I ended up making them felt ornaments that had to do with an interest of theirs. One grandpa got a saxophone and the other got a billiard ball. There is a back story to why I chose an 8 ball, but suffice it to say it is a family memory that makes us laugh whenever someone mentions it.

Of course I had to make something for my dog then, and yes I am one of those people who puts clothes on my dog. If any of you knew her though you would know how she is a wimp when she thinks she is cold and how needy and annoying she can get when she is. (I still love her though!) Therefore, I decided it would be a good idea to make her a hoodie. I followed a pattern that was absolutely horrible and I ended up having to make lots of modifications, but in the end I think she looks really cute in it.



Finally, today I went to Michaels and hit up their 70% off section. I ended up getting some things I never imagined getting before I walked into the store, but ended up making this wreath tonight. Who cares if it’s after Christmas? Haha. I had no idea what I was doing. I have never made a wreath before, or even really paid attention to other wreaths that are already made. What do you think? I didn't like it so much at first, but now I think it's pretty. Oh and this picture just doesn't do the glittery parts justice.


I think that catches you all up on just about everything I can think of at the moment. I still have at least 3 more Christmas decorations that I wanted to finish this year, and 2 or so more (plus a Christmas quilt) that I may just pack up and make next year.

How was your Christmas?

Ornament Exchange 2009

I had so much fun participating in my first ornament exchange hosted by my friend Shealynn over at The Benner Daily. Here is the ornament I made:





And here is what I received in return:



I love how we both went with a brid theme! Thanks Heather!

And on an unrelated note, here is the apron I made myself a long time ago and keep promising pictures of. I made use of it on Thaksgiving and finally got a picture of it.



Many of the other things I have been working on will have to wait until after Christmas to make their internet debut so as not to spoil any surprises, but I'm really hoping to have some of my Christmas decoration crafts done before then. One of them is an advent calendar. Oops, guess I won't really be getting any use out of that one this year...

My first giveaway!

Want to win one of my collars?



My friend Shealynn was kind enough to feature me on her blog, and there is a free collar up for grabs.



Head on over for your chance to win! Thanks Shealynn!

The beautiful picture of Bailey is courtesy of DreamMaker Images. Thanks Shelly!

The contest ends Tuesday, December 8. Good luck!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well Turkey Day is over, the tree is up, the lights are strung, and it's finally starting to feel like Christmas this year. Sadly I can't even remember Christmas last year due to being too worried about my grandfather to think about anything else (he is doing well now) so I fully intend to enjoy it thoroughly this year. I have tons of crafts to make, some of them simple and some much more challenging, so maybe they will be done by the time we are ready to pack up all the decorations (if I'm lucky) haha. I have to finish my ornament exchange ornament, Christmas gifts, and collar orders before I can start on my own "fun" projects. I am hoping to update with pictures of some new crafts soon, but I've been promising that a lot lately. My goal for the month? To make time in the midst of sewing and working and cleaning, etc. to sit by the Christmas tree and read for at least 30 minutes a day. Oh how I miss my reading habit. I need more hours in my day. In the mean time, I am looking forward to this starting tomorrow:

Are we there yet?

Meaning, is it the Christmas season yet? I'm totally over fall and ready for it to be chirstmas. I can't wait to decorate, and I will do just that on Friday. But can it please be Friday right now?!

Anyway, in that spirit, here is a sneak peak at my Christmas collars, which I should have posted in my shop a month ago. Oh well, hope you like them!!

20 and counting...

Here are the latest collars added to my shop. There are a few every day ones I need to finish and post, and I need to post the "small only" styles. After that I will be posting some really great Christmas collars I'm really excited about! So keep checking back!

Pick Me, Pick Me!

If I can win anyone's blog giveaway ever, can it please be this one?!?! One of my friends/fellow blog girls is holding a fabric givaway for the EXACT faric I have been drooling over for the last 4 months. The same fabric I already have a pattern and a plan for but decided it costs MUCH more than I usually spend on fabric so maybe I shouldn't spend it on myself. SHE IS GIVING IT AWAY! And I want to win. So blogging about it gets me an extra entry.

If you would like to see the fabric (it's from the Riley Blake Be Merry collection) or enter the contest yourself you can do so here. Good luck! Just not too much because I want to win! Haha, how horrible is that of me.

I'm still here!

I've just been busy sewing collars every chance I get when I'm not babysitting, or working, or nannying, or shopping for more supplies, or working, or...you get the picture. I've been busy. But I have a bunch more collars that I finished and I'm hoping to get all the pictures finished and get them all posted on here and on Etsy very soon!

In other news, I just joined an ornament excahnge and I'm very excited. You can click on the button below for more info, but if you craft at all you should join! I think it's going to be lots of fun! I already know what I'm going to make, now I just need to figure out when I'm going to be able to make it along with collar orders and millions of Christmas presents. *sigh* I always find a way. :)

First sneak peek

Here are the first 10 collars I will be selling in my shop :)

It's a dog's life: take 2

So, I had this entire post nearly finished when I realized I was out of time and had to run to work. I pressed "save now" but apparently that didn't work. I can't find the post anywhere! And of course I can't remember what I said anymore, so regrettably I will just start over.


I haven't had the time (or the daylight) lately to take pictures of the projects I have done in the last few weeks. I'm sick of not posting at all though, so here I am.

A few weeks ago I finished this dog bed:

(See, bad pictures.) It's plain and simple, and looking back I wish I would have done some things differently just to make it look nicer, but it serves it's purpose and my dog loves it so I'm ok with it.

I also made a pretty cute apron, but again, haven't taken the time to take pictures, especially when it involves me being the model in the picture.

The big update for this blog is that I finally decided to open my etsy shop. It's not up and running quite yet but I'm hoping it will be in the next couple days. I decided to start with selling dog collars. I belong to some dog clubs so I know plenty of dog people who could be potential customers. I thought it would be a good place to start. The first two collars I made are Halloween collars. I love them, but once I finished them I realized it's too late to sell them in time for Halloween. Where did the month go? No, where did the year go?! Anyway, these are the only two I have decent pictures of so far so I thought I would share them.

What do you think?

Bailey loves hers :)

Bag lady

Ok, so some people have a crazy obsession with shoes, or clothes, or hats. I am obsessed with purses. I love them, and I wish I had the money to carry all the cute Coach handbags I see everywhere. Now that my machine is happy again I was able to finish the super cute purse I mentioned earlier and I LOVE it!!




There is only one problem, It is perfect for spring, but it is now officially fall. I don't care, I'm going to use it for a while anyway, but I'm actually considering making another one for the fall/winter. My family has been telling me I am crazy for even attempting little things like sewing in zippers and when they saw this purse they couldn't believe I would even attempt it. Well guess what, I think it was actually much easier than the apron I made for my mom. It looks really complicated, but the pattern was surprisingly pretty straightforward. I think I put my mom in her place today, she was really shocked and said it looked "professional, like something you would buy at the store". And for once I'm not even going to criticize my work or knit-pick, I am actually pretty proud of it.

Here is the inside which has a zippered pocket.

I usually like to put my cell phone and things like that in my purse without having them floating all around so I can't find them when I need them. So I deviated from the pattern and added my own pockets on the other side. They worked!

And here it is with some stuff in it.



Love it!