So pleased!

I am so pleased to announce that within the next few weeks, some of my crayon rolls will be featured in the gift shop at the Children's Museum in Saratoga, NY! I am so pleased to have this opportunity! If you are in the area, stop in and check them out!

And the Oscar goes to...

Did anyone else find it hilarious that the guy who got an award for cinematography closed his Oscar acceptance speech with "Domo arrigato Mr. Roboto"?

Just wondering. :)

Sew-a-thon '09

Its been almost two weeks since I posted anything here, and a busy two weeks it has been! I am studying frantically for my big exam coming up in May (also known as hoop #2 I must jump through to get my PhD), so between studying, sewing, and the family, there hasn't been much time for blogging. I have created some fun stuff though!

The sock monkey stuff is pretty popular in my etsy shop these days. I'm having fun with them! I am also working on a sock monkey bib in an awesome laminated fabric, as well as a raggy sock monkey blanket/play mat thingie. Isn't that descriptive? :)

I also made a fab sling yesterday. Anyone who knows me knows I am HUGE proponent of baby wearing. I was a baby wearer with my older son, and now the little one wants to be in the sling all the time too. It is his favorite place! So I made this awesome sling with a bright pink Amy Butler print, black accents, rings, and pockets. I love it! As soon as I get a minute to focus on taking good pictures, I will post some photos. 

Today I threw together a messenger bag with some adorable Heather Bailey prints I had hanging around. I needed a bag that could hold a stack of my student's papers without being giant. The nappy bag I made for my laptop is nice, but it is HUGE if my laptop isn't in it - way bigger than I would like. Again, I'll post some pictures soon. 

Alright, it's off to bed for me. Tomorrow holds lots of teaching, reading, and wishing my brain could retain more information as I study for my test. I need some rest!

Awesome Etsyans

In general, I find myself to be pretty fortunate in the "people" department. I seem to run into great people nearly everywhere I go. My mom was always that way too - although with her, I think it was mostly a numbers game. She would talk to anyone who would listen, and was a total character, so people responded really positively to her. If you talk to enough people, you're bound to find some good ones!

Lately though, I feel as though I have been very fortunate to have contact with some awesome people via the internet. In particular, I want to give a shout out to two Etsy shops with awesome folks running them. Naomi of sewcutefabrics  and I had a great little email exchange about the CPSIA changes taking effect soon. And I got AMAZING service from LanasLittleDarlins while ordering some minky to make baby blankets. I don't always do a great job of saying thanks when people are helpful, or letting people know how great I thought they were, so I wanted to go out of my way to say thanks to these fabulous sellers!

Funky Monkeys!

I am so excited about the new stuff I am working on for my Etsy shop! Today, I added some totally adorable sock monkey goods. I made an adorable onesie, modeled by the cutest baby I could find.

Luckily, I didn't have to go very far to find him! :) I adore these little sock monkey onesies. I can't wait to make some matching flannel pants! That is on the agenda for tonight. 

I also made some adorable burp clothes and a blankie that I wish I could wrap myself up in! This flannel is so incredibly soft. I don't even mind if these things don't sell - I am perfectly happy to keep it for myself and give it to friends as gifts. LOVE IT. 

I like that it is all gender neutral too. Anyone who knows me knows that I am ALL ABOUT the gender neutral. Hence, my children are named Riley and Quinn. :)

8 Months

Today, Quinn turns 8 months old. This has been a big month for the little guy. He learned to crawl, and is all over the place now. He seems much happier in general now that he has some autonomy. However, he still prefers to be carried or put in the sling for most transportation. He also has a mount full of teeth! I think 4 came through this month. Needless to say, he hasn't been sleeping very well will all those teeth poking at hime! He is still a big cuddler, and really seems like he likes hanging out with Daddy, Big Brother, and Grandma. I swear he is trying to say "brother" - it sounds more like "bra-ba" - but I have no concrete evidence that he is really saying what I think he is saying. 

This month he began taking longer naps, which is GREAT. I really appreciate a little break, although he still does not nap well if he is with Daddy or Grandma. He picked up his first bad habit - teeth grinding! The sound of his little teeth grinding against each other is worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. I haven't been able to discourage him yet though. Our resident dental expert, Aunt Katie, didn't give us much hope for discouraging him either. Let's hope he grows out of it soon!

Cuteness

Riley is upstairs playing with Quinn in his room. At first, I heard lots of sillyness and giggling. Then, it got quiet. I stopped and listened closer, and Riley is up there reading Green Eggs and Ham to his baby brother.

Makes my heart melt! 

Nappy Bag

I finally finished up the Nappy Bag that I had been planning to make for weeks. This one is for myself, and was sort of a tester for one a plan to make for some friends. I used Anna Maria Horner's Sketchbook print on the outside, and Social Climber in teal on the inside.

I made quite a few modifications to the pattern. Actually, about the only thing I used was the pattern piece. See, I'm not really a pocket girl, and this bag has TONS of pockets. I'm more of a "throw it all in there and don't worry about it being organized" girl. So instead of cutting and sewing 3248034820 pockets, like the pattern calls for, I skipped the cell phone and interior pocket pattern sections and went for a single large pocket made from the scrap of the rounded part of the bag opening.  As you can see, the pocket is already full of papers submitted by my students, since I took the bag to class on Tuesday. I also included a bottle pocket. I plan on using this bag primarly to carry my giant 17 inch laptop, so the bottle pocket will help separate the water from the electronics.

Instead of sewing in the canvas as interfacing, as the pattern calls for, I used fusible fleece on the outer layer. I did this mostly because I wanted a little more cushioning for my computer. I acheived that, but I don't love the look of the fleece as much as I thought I would. It will certainly work for my purposes though! The bag also stands up quite nicely for a bag this size.

Overall, I like the size of the bag, although if I were using it for a diaper bag, I might add a closure of some sort, as well as some loops to attach toys. I plan on incorporating those in the bag the next time I make it, which will be soon! I am making it with Joel Dewberry fabrics from the Ginseng home dec line for some friends who like oranges and browns. I think it will look great!

Snow Day 2009

Over the last 24 hours, we were hit with a deluge of ice and snow. Ohio State cancelled classes last night, which is virtually unheard of! We spent most of the day curled up in the house. Quinn napped, Riley played with his trains, Bryan worked, and I studied for my general exams.

The boys did take a break from work and play to go outside and shovel the driveway in hopes that we can all get to where we need to go tomorrow. Afterwards, they came in and enjoyed some hot cocoa.

Hope you are warm, wherever you are!

This Just In!

I just got these adorable fabrics in the mail from Fabricworm. They are so cute! They just scream out for aprons, dishcloths, potholders, and the like to be sewn from them. I think I will tackle another Emmeline Apron with them. I love this pattern. It results in a gorgeous apron, is easy enough for an advanced beginner, and is one of the clearest, easiest to follow patterns I've seen. I can't wait to show you all how it turns out!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Last night we ate dinner at B.D.'s Mongolian Barbeque. While we were waiting for our food to be grilled, the grillers gave Riley a mallet to hit the gong they use to acknowledge tips. Riley smacked it hard, and the gong rang out. He was clearly pleased with himself, and after he returned the mallet to the grillers, he leaned over to me and said,

"Mommy, that was my very first time hitting a bong!"

Uh, yes Riley. And hopefully the very last time. :)

First Post!

This is my very first blog post, so I will take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Emily. I am a Doctoral student in Sociology, a mother to two beautiful boys, and a wife to my best buddy and high school sweetheart. My most recent endeavour is learning to sew. I have always enjoyed being creative, but my outlet has generally been music, so this is new, fun, and exciting for me. I've turned into a total fabric junkie. You can see some of my favorite designers on the right. 

I set up an Etsy shop recently. Currently, I just have crayon rolls listed. I gave some out as gifts to friends and got a great response and requests for more, so I thought I would list some and see what happens! 

Tonight I whipped an adorable crayon roll using Patty Young's Andalucia fabrics from Michael Miller. I think this collection is ADORABLE. There is part of my that yearns to have a little girls so I can make her all sorts of tihngs with this collection. I picked the fabric up from Lanie Jane on Etsy. I'm also looking forward to some more fabric arrivals this week!