Dollies for Haiti-Dolly #8

A Dolly A Day - Day 8

IT'S A BOY! Sorry I couldn't resist. Here is another doll I donated to Dolly Donations, if you haven't gone over to Sarah's blog yet, then click the link on my side bar...her blog is committed to donating these dollies to the orphaned and children in need of Haiti.

This is the last doll, next year I will commit to more than eight dollies.

ENJOY!

                                                              

Dollies for Haiti-Dolly #7

                                                              A Dolly A Day - Day 7

Here is another boy dolly, yes boys need a dolly too. She has a cute supper hero outfit that someone created, it is super cute, but I wanted to keep it pretty simple for my first go. I actually started off making shoes and accessories at first but then decided not to use them once it became crunch time. I did start cutting these dollies out for last years drive and ran out of time, so this year I was determined to just finish them, ALL of them, early, with plenty of time for shipping.

For example, he started off with shoes, a belt and tie, think business man. 

The cool thing about the pattern over at Dolly Donations is she gives you the basics to start, then you can get as creative as you like. I didn't have any idea how long it would take me to make eight dolls and my goal was just to finish them this year...next time I would like to try the more advanced doll pattern with maybe a set of clothes.  

come back tomorrow to see dolly #8

ENJOY!

Dollies For Haiti-Dolly #6

A Dolly A Day - Dolly #6

Dollies For Haiti was created by Sarah over at Dolly Donations, (see my side bar for the link), She creates free dolly patterns so you can help make Haiti orphans and children in need have hope through making and donating these cute dolls.

  

When you go to her blog click on active drives and a menu will drop down, there you can select which drive you would like to get involved in...go check it out!

Every girl needs a cute pair of shoes!

You may be thinking, "Wait you already posted this doll!", well, she has a twin...this one I used a fabric flower and her twin I used a felt flower.

Well I have a couple more dolls to finish...come back tomorrow to see more!

ENJOY! 

Dolly's For Haiti-dolly #5

Dolly #5 of Dolly A Day! 

 The dolls are coming together nicely now but had some trouble with coordinating fabrics in the scrap bin on this one...I don't have the supply of fabric on hand that some of you may have, at least not yet! ;)

I added a little pice of lace for the collar on this one.

These dolls were so much fun to make. I just loved that I could participate in this wonderful charity! If you want to participate click on the Dolly Donations button on my side bar.

I still have more dollies to sew and will have another post tomorrow so check back.

ENJOY! 

Dolly's For Haiti-dolly #4

Day 4 of A Dolly A Day!

Dolly's For Haiti - Dolly #4 ...The great thing about about Sarah's patterns over at Dolly Donations (see my side bar for her link), is that she creates them so that you can use up your scraps supply...love that! All my dolls were create by fabric I already had in my bin labeled scraps. 

 I decided to try embroidering their faces since I knew I'm not much of a painter, felt well, just wouldn't work since I used felt for their hair and Do-Rags, so I thought back to third grade when me and my friends would make sock monkeys...yes I said sock monkeys. :)   

I had some fabric flowers laying around and decided to use them on this dolly, I think it worked well with the color pallet. Check back tomorrow for dolly #5 for A Dolly A Day!

ENJOY!

Dollies For Haiti -Dolly #3

Here is my little boy dolly, well the first of three. These little shoes and shorts are patterns given along with the doll patterns themselves.  Cute huh? Sarah over at Dolly Donations, (you can find her on my side bar), is very talented, she creates all the dolly patterns herself, there is even different levels for how well you sew. I chose the beginner, but switched it up a little with shoes and shorts and threw in a few of my own ideas like the little heart on the hand.

I think the heart is really cute because it's the first thing you notice when you see the dolly waiting for a great big hug...I sure hope the kids love it too!

I still consider myself a beginner sewer, but these dollies are coming together fairly quickly. I never was one who liked to read the instructions, I just figure it out as I go along. Gradually the dolly making is getting easier, by the time I get to dolly #8 I should for sure have it down. Come back tomorrow to see dolly #4! 

ENJOY!

Dollies For Haiti-Dolly #2

Dolly #2 of Dollies For Haiti

This is my favorite dolly so far.

             I love the little heart in the hand it welcomes a great big hug with a heart...how cool is that?
                 I decided on pockets and a Do-Rag this time...my husband thought it was cute too!
                    Don't forget to check out Dolly Donations there's a link button on my side bar!
                                                                            ENJOY!

Dollies For Haiti Dolly #1

 Last year I discovered Dollies for Haiti found here:   http://dollydonations.blogspot.com/2011/01/active-doll-drive-renew-hope-haiti.html (if this doesn't work, click on the button on my side bar, sorry was having problems with this link.)  A charity that sews with love to give orphaned little boys and girls hope, I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of it!

Last year I started cutting out the dolls but ran out of time before finishing them. This year I checked back and found I have till April 1st 2011. I have four dolls done and working hard to get the other four dolls done and sent before the 1st! :) 

 I am pledging eight dolls total and will be posting one dolly a day for eight days. So here is the first doll. If you would like to get involved click on the link under the first photo to find out more information. 

ENJOY! 

Camera Strap slip cover with a pocket

I whipped up these cute camera strap slip covers the other day. I thought I would send one each to my mom and dad. This one I made for my dad it reminded me of a man's hawaiian shirt.

This one I made awhile back, it was before I came across the idea of a lens pocket, so no pocket on this one....I guess I will just have to make me another one! :)

Here is another patchwork version, this one I made the pocket padded  as well as the strap. I just added a little piece of velcro to the inside of the pocket for the closure. I like the idea of a slipcover strap so that I can change it out when I get tired of it.

Here's another shot of the the first strap. These are so easy to make it took me a little over an hour to make two straps. I came across the pocket idea on Etsy, but her's turned much cuter from what I remember...I guess I will just work with it a little more and see what I come up with.

ENJOY! 

DIY Greeting Card Set

I don't know about you, but I go through creative phases where I make the heck out of somethings until I can't look at it anymore! I usually can't make the same thing twice, because I get bored. I will assembly line a project if I know I need more than one, because I will never get around to making more. The same thing goes if I walk away in the middle of a project for too long, it will sit around for awhile on a corner shelf then eventually get tossed into the bin labeled "Still Working On".

A couple of years ago I would make all my cards for all occasions, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, baby showers,Valentine's, Easter, well you get the idea, and even a few blank cards that I could use just in case I forgot somebody. I would start with January and work my way through the year to Christmas, "Yes, I even made all my Christmas cards", and I tried to not forget anyone. I kept it up for about a year and a half when I finally started getting bored and found myself dreading to make a another card, pretty soon I was making a card here buying a card there until I decided their were too many birthdays and holidays to keep up and that's when I took a break and discovered sewing again.

This was a birthday gift, I think I gave it to my sister, I can't remember it was a couple years ago, I just came across these photo's in my files and thought I would post them. In the top left corner of the picture below is a box I made for the cards to fit into, all but the wish card, that was the actual birthday card. 

ENJOY!

Photography

In the last year I have been experimenting with a new creative outlet, Photography. Here it's all about black and white. 

Doesn't this baby make you want to cook? I love this range. We did a complete kitchen remodel a few years ago, and my husband insisted we buy it, I thought, "Are you crazy?  I can be very frugal at times :). However, my opinion has changed and  I am very happy that he won this time...don't tell him I said that!

Look a new pedicure!

  

This is Louie, our 8 year old English Bulldog/adorable model.

Last year my dad gave me one of his many cameras, a Konica Minolta 7D DSLR, I was so excited! Before, I had only used a Cannon PowerShot (CPS), I would recommend this little camera to anyone, it's light weight, small enough to fit into your pocket, and if you play around in manual you can really manipulate it to get some great shots. My husband and I each bought a CPS in 2006 for a trip we took to Italy, (we are down to one now because my husband dropped mine into the tide pools in Laguna Beach, the camera was ruined but luckily the card was saved), it is a great all around camera and perfect for traveling. Back in 2004 we traveled to China and found that a bigger camera means you carry more stuff and no one wanted to carry it. The CPS has no extra bags or bulk and takes really good pictures. Disposable cameras, "HA!", I am embarrassed to say we took several with us to China and bought even more while we were there, luckily a friend also a photographer, brought his camera took lots of great shots and gave us copies of all his photo's. Disposable camera's are trash people don't waste your money!  

LOL, like you didn't know that right? 

These were all taken on the CPS... 

Look at that face! :) He makes me smile every time I see him.

So, I have only taken one weekend crash course in photography with my new DSLR, and figured I better get to knowing this thing inside and out before doing a longer more detailed course. This thing has a lot of options and has even helped me to understand my point and shoot better. The CPS isn't intimidating anymore and makes me pull out the DSLR to see if I can create the same shot. They are actually fun to use together in that way.

Graduation

yard signs for the grad

I made these graduation decorations for my nieces high school graduation party last year. I used my Cricut to cut out the letters and grad hats using Make The Cut software. 

I used little jelly jars and added flowers, I printed some sayings off on the computer. 

Here's another one, they were very simple and placed on the all the tables.

Here is a card I made, the basic idea came from a scrap book magazine I was browsing through once while waiting for an appointment....I can't remember the name.

 We needed a gift drop box so I made up this graduation hat card box.

I also made, water bottle labels, and set out a framed photo of the grad at the gift table.

The lighting is very yellow in my kitchen, I know now a little better how to deal with the lighting.

ENJOY!

Elmo Birthday Party

Last year for Kinzy's First Birthday, her mom and dad threw her an Elmo Birthday Party and her mom asked me to come up with an outfit for the party.  I started off making this tutu, I had never made one before but it was super easy, all you need is tule in your choice of colors, (I used red and white from Joann's), and a spool of big red satin ribbon for the bow. At first I thought I would try tying the tule to a length of the red ribbon that would fit around her waist, but later decided to use an elastic headband that was soft and very stretchy, it work perfect! Add a big satin bow (sew it on) and there you have it, a tutu.

Then I decided she needed a shirt, I had seen a really cute embroidered Elmo shirt somewhere awhile back, and I have made quit a few iron shirts in the past, so naturally I thought I would make an Iron-on. Using Elmo's head or body, then add a little text with the birthday girls name and you have a really cute, inexpensive t-shirt. I made a really big flower head band to match using stuff I already had on hand, and there you have a cute little birthday outfit  for the birthday girl.

 There were no tutorials involved here, as I searched for Elmo ideas I came across similar styles to this outfit, most had party hats and embroidered Elmo's, you can even buy them online but they were much more than I wanted to spend and I knew I could get the look for less if I made it myself.

Here is a picture of the birthday girl...she just woke up from a nap, the party was at the park and it was really hot, so she just wore a diaper under her tutu, she didn't even want to wear her shoes or the headband!

This year it's Minnie Mouse!

Hair Bows & Ponies

Over the weekend I made a bunch of hair bows & ponies for Katie.

Katie is a girly girl & loves accessorizing!

Sorry this one is a little blurry :(    I made her whole soccer team matching ponies last year, they loved them...I'm pretty sure I will make them again this year since they were wanting to buy extras last year.

I was just experimenting here

and here, always looking for ways to use up those scraps.

more experimenting here

and here

and here

and here, again using only stuff I already had on hand...love that! Though I have been making stuff like this for years, I don't claim the ideas are original and I'm sure somewhere you can find tutorials if you need them, but these are pretty easy and I just experimented until I was happy with the final results. ENJOY!