I made three fabric journals this past week.  It was so fun to get out the sewing machine again.  I have a custom order for a recipe card holder (fabric) and recipe cards that I’ll be working on this weekend.

I hope to take time to make some more fabric journals to list in my Etsy store.  The three ring binder kind.  Two of the journals I made this past week have already gone to their home.  The third journal (the quilted one) is being donated for a raffle to March For Babies.

I’ll post pics of new creations as I make them.

So….I just found out that Danielle from The Conservatory Girl has a giveaway.  Kathy, from Creative Home Expressions is hosting the giveaway on her blog.   Check it out here.

Each person has up to three chances to enter.  This giveaway runs through Thursday, March 4th at 8pm, so be sure to head on over there for your chance to win something from Danielle’s Etsy Shop.

I sold another fabric covered journal this past week.  When I sell something, I love to check people’s feedback to see what other things they purchased (yes, I’m nosy).

From doing this, I came across a wonderful new Etsy store (The Conservatory)and made my first purchase (a Chocolate Satin Double Bloom Headband) from Danielle.  I’m now interested in one of her clutch’s, two of her onesies (one being custom made to have Brody’s name on it) and a Chocolate Satin Bloom ponytail holder.  I’m addicted to this seller!  LOL!

What sold me on her stuff even more was her story.  Please take time to read her story, check out her store and if you like something, help support her and her family.

I have never met Danielle, but through our Etsy “chats”, she has been so kind and personable.  She has been so great to work with (my custom orders).  I’m excited to get my new purchases from her (and watch for a bloom in my hair).  I know you’ll be wanting one too.

To my surprise, I’ve made four sales in 19 days.  WooHoo!  My Etsy store is starting to look a bit sparse so I’ll need to take some time to create some new things to list.  It’s been a while.  Here is a picture of my latest sales:

One of the first pieces of clothing I got Brody was a cute striped coverall with the word ‘football’ on it. I purchased it before he was born. I believe it is 0-3 months. I finally put it on him the other day and it was snug in the legs. Bummer, I had missed my opportunity to have him wear such a cute outfit.

What’s even funnier is that a friend gave us the same coverall in a much larger size that matched it. It is size 24 months. I doubt I’ll be putting Brody in a coverall at 2-years old, but still love the look of it.

So, my solution to both issues (too small and too big) was to cut the coveralls and make them into shirts. I haven’t tried the 0-3 month one on Brody yet, but I hope it looks good. If not, I guess I’m not out anything (except passing on a cute coverall outfit to someone else).

My parents took the quilt to my Grandma yesterday.  They kept it in the box I shipped it in so my Grandma would be the first person to see it.

My Dad took a video of her opening it, which I’ll have to wait and see when they visit to see the baby for the first time.  My Mom took photos of my Grandma with the quilt.  I don’t have a photo of her reaction, but have a great one of her holding the quilt, which I love!  If you look at the table to the left, there is a heart and then a picture of my Grandpa underneath it.  How fitting.

My Mom said that my Grandma looked through the ties in the quilt and kept saying that he wore that tie to match such-and-such outfit that she wore.  What great memories!  I love that she can have something to display with so many memories and be able to share that with others.  I’m so glad she likes it!

My niece is into the color teal, so I purchased a paper pack of teal and white paper from Stampin’ Up and used that to alter everything I’m giving her.

I had a large clothespin on hand that was already painted white, so I just added paper to both sides of it, sanded down the edges and added her name to one side and a three-piece chipboard flower to the other side.  She can use it to hold notes or whatever.

I purchased large binder clips and used the matching paper to cover the black binder clip, then used a bottle cap and a magnet to attach to one and put a few stray matching flowers together with a brad to attach to the other.

I purchased a notebook that has the tear out pages and a three-ring binder.  My niece loves to write songs (and is VERY good at it).  I put rub-on letters on the outside of the notebook that reads, “LYRICS and other random thoughts”.  She can write her music in the notebook, tear out the page on the perforation, and then use the sheet protectors I put in the three-ring binder to keep her lyrics all in one place.  I made the notebook and binder to match and added a tag on the side of the binder that reads, “my songs”.  Now she’ll have a nice place to keep them all together.  And, I can’t take credit for this idea.  This was my sister’s idea and I love it!

The last thing I made (and am not satisfied with) is a bottle cap choker necklace set (or a magnet set).  I picked out and printed images I thought my niece would like and used a 1-inch circle punch to cut them out to fit perfectly inside the bottle caps.  I used metal glue to adhere the images to the bottle caps, then used Stampin Up’s Crystal Effects on top of the image to seal it in and make a glossy look.  This was mistake number one.  The Crystal Effects blurred the image and I’m not happy with them at all.  Some images even bled (look at the bottle cap that’s attached to the large binder clip).  *sigh*  I then hot glued magnets to the back of the bottle caps.  This was mistake number two….the magnets are way too strong and when you try to take them off of something they’re stuck to, the hot glue comes off too.  Bonus is that the magnet is strong enough to stay on the bottle cap and whatever you’re adhering it to without the use of hot glue.  I then took five different colored ribbons, added a button slide to the ribbon and used hot glue to glue on a metal washer to the button slide.  Now the bottle caps can be attached to the ribbon choker via the magnet (again with the problem that when you separate them, the hot glue comes undone because the magnet is too strong).  The ribbons have velcro closure to attach.  I figure the worse case scenario is that my niece can use the bottle caps as magnets and forget the choker part.  I put them in a metal tin with a see-thru lid and put matching paper around it to make it look more appealing, then attached a bottle cap to the top.  Wah-lah….done!

Yesterday, I worked on making two sets of baby items to give as gifts.  Each one includes a burp cloth, a bib (with velcro attachment), a diaper clutch (also with a velcro closure), and a onesie.  I used coordinating fabrics for each set.

I found the tutorials online, so they were very simple to make.  I had leftover fabric from making my niece’s quilt years ago, so what a fun way to use some of it up.

I’ve included two newborn diapers and a pack of travel diaper wipes in each of the diaper clutches.  I used a pink ribbon to tie all of the “goodies” together and now they’re ready to give.

I was amazed at how easy everything was to make.  I hope to have time to make more, but I’m guessing not before the baby arrives.

I hope today to get started on making my gifts for my niece.  I’ll soon post pictures.

My goal was to finish the quilt no later than last night so I could get it out (via UPS) today.  I met my goal!  I finished the quilt last night and got it all packaged up to ship out today.  I folded it just right so the center (large) square is what my Grandma will see first when she opens the box.  I am shipping it to my parents who will be seeing my Grandma next Wednesday and plan to take pictures of her reaction, which I love (and hope to post her reaction here on my blog).  Stay tuned.

My next project is working on my birthday and Christmas gifts for my niece.  She’s requesting handmade items from Aunt Jan (she’s so my girl) and since the quilt I made for her is part her birthday and part Christmas, I’m going light on the gifts for her this year (which she’s great with).  I’ll soon post about that.

I’m also working on making two “girl” sets, both containing a burp cloth, a bib, a onesie, and a diaper clutch to give to a couple of friends who are having girls.  I will be working on these this coming Friday and hope to post photos of those creations soon (hoping they turn out nice).

I still have piles of things to go through to prepare for the baby as well.  All in due time.

Yesterday, I had plans with my friend Susan (who taught me how to quilt) to work on our quilts (we’re both making one).  I had hoped to get 1/4 of the way through free-motion quilting this quilt, but surprisingly got completely done.  I have no clue how because it took me four days to free-motion quilt my baby quilt.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I was even able to sew the binding strips together and get them ironed and ready to go.  All that’s left are the finishing touches (binding it all, which will take a few days and rest in between, then washing it).  I can’t wait!  Stay tuned for the final pics.