Thanks to LA‘s tutorial way back when and an addiction that seems to have returned (probably due to a growing pile of fun scraps) I’ve created a few pin cushions. I think I’ll need to go around in September when I’m back at work and find out who sews or crafts and start giving them away!

As if playing around on etsy isn’t dangerous enough already, the other day while poking around I clicked ‘shop local’ and stumbled onto some pretty neat stuff. My favourite was JewlezyBug so I’m sharing her first! Julie has created some really cute characters and uses some interesting materials. She paints on rocks to make neat pendants and uses pages from old books and phone books as the canvases for her whimsical paintings!

I sent her a message on etsy and she seems really fun and agreed to do a GIVEAWAY!!!!! Soooo free stuff to someone who’s in need of cuteness! Julie is willing to giveaway one of her prints, see them all here in her flickr pool, just leave a comment here telling us which one is your fav (they’re numbered 1-90). I like this little guy.

I asked her a little bit about herself and she sent this little blurb, thanks for sharing!

“I have always doodled and painted for as long as I can remember. I am drawn to bright colours and happy motifs that catch the eye and make you smile. I like my art to make you feel good and brighten your day. I use old books and phone books as my back drops because they visually stimulate the eye and provide texture to the art. I feel my art is a reflection of my inner child just wanting to play. I take inspiration from colour, from my day, nature, from the people in the my life and from my furbabies (4 cats and 1 dog: Jewels (hence the name!)”

She also has a blog where she shares her new creations, fun crafts and her cute animals. I love these ribbon curtains she made.

I’ll do some magical random winner picking Sunday night and announce Monday morning! Ohhh the suspense, I’d better set my iphone alarm . . .

]]> http://www.sewtara.com/2010/07/16/friday-find-jewelzybug-designs-giveaway/feed/ 16 http://www.sewtara.com/2010/07/12/craft-swap-fun/ http://www.sewtara.com/2010/07/12/craft-swap-fun/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:50:25 +0000 tara http://www.sewtara.com/?p=1342 So I worked really really hard to get all of my pincushions done, even worked on them while the hairdresser and make up lady were getting us ready for the wedding last Saturday. I’m being inpatient and sharing now.

The swap is run by Amanda. I headed out last Monday with my box squished with 16 pincushions to mail them far, far away to Colorado. The nice man at the post office had icky news. To get the package to her before the weekend it was going to cost just under $60. Technically it was due to her on Wednesday! I could use the 5 day option for $25. It was a sad, sad day.

Luckily Amanda took pity on me, and some other people facing similar problems and extended the deadline nto the end of the month! Now I can send my cute little goodies for less than a zillion dollars. AND I’ll get a nice and fun box full of 16 camp themed goodies in the mail! It’s going to be so fun.

I was very industrious outside yesterday with the wonderful help of my friend Joanna.  Now my backyard looks so neat and tidy, better than it’s looked in the 3 years since we moved here!! It’s hard to do things with 2 little ones underfoot. Joanna did more work than me since I had to keep getting drinks/snacks/stopping quarrels . . . but the end result was great. Before and afters soon.

Today is a rainy gray day so we’re staying in and relaxing after a busy week. However, with that comes the horrible summer-keeping-a-compost-bin-on-the-counter problem of fruit flies. So I made some little traps.

That trap was near my compost bin for a about a week.  I suppose you could be diligent and free the little fellows outside.  I apologize for the fruit flies that were harmed in the making of this post.

I just stole it from here.  I also doodled other little bits of the comics that I knew he liked, adding my own little geeky joke to the bottom right corner.

Hubby was absolutely thrilled! He instantly posted it on Reddit, and the world (well of geeks) started to notice. It got a bunch of  comments on Reddit, ended up on Digg as well. The image got over 150 000 hits!   Waaaay more attention than I thought, I was just baking my honey a cake he’d like.

His birthday is quickly approaching and I have nooooooo idea how I can compete with last year’s cake

It’s absolutely ginormous and can hold everything you need to head to the beach/park/swimming.  I’ve carried mine back and forth to work, swimming with the kids and yes, to the beach!  It’s great for things that are wet, like your water bottle that gets all condensation-y, or your wet swim stuff.  I used black nylon for the straps and I made them really big, I bought about a  metre/yard and just cut it in half to make 2 straps.

Here’s is the wonderful and eclectic snuggle quilt I have created for my lovely BFF and her soon to be hubby.  It took a while to track down and collect all these fabrics that mean something special to them and it makes for one colourful quilt!  The backing is just plain brown in case tehy want to flip it over and actually have it in their living room without it accidentally hypnotizing people.

Years and years ago I sat down and created a quilt for myself, which I never actually quilted.  This was my first time stitching through the layers of the quilt and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.  I did stick to the easy route and just stitched around the boarder, the outside row of squares and a box inside to hold the batting in place.  I’m really happy with the result and I’m sure it will provide years of snuggily warmth to my dear friends.

I absolutely love rides and before I carry on about my weekend I have to blab about the Behemoth at Wonderland.  Go here, check out the size of it, click the video part and ride the one as if you’re on the coaster.  The first drop is a 75 degree drop, we were in the front car, as you go over the top you can’t see the track below it’s that steep, it’s crazy!

Anyhow back to the weekend. So we rode most of the rides at Darien lake, some were closed. The Twister was crazy fun!It doesn’t look like much but it spins like crazy and all random,  you don’t know what’s coming at all, it’s great.  I didn’t have reception on my iphone once we crossed the border so I left it in the hotel room not thinking we might have wanted the camera and video taking abilities.  A video of us on this would have been great.

The Motorcoaster was also a blast! Again, it looks tiny and innocent compared to sprawling coasters but it was great.  You also get to sit on little motorcycle thinigies and after you get on it pulls around the corner to sit at a red light and wait for the green go and then it shoots you flying around the ride, it’s amazing!

Ok so onto my shopping!  Of course I hit Jo-Ann’s and grabbed some fun fabric.

Got more of this zoo print because I love it.  I bought 3 yards with no real plan in mind.  I’ll use it to revamp Nate’s room once we move the toddler bed in and ditch the crib.  The flannel on the right is for a rag quilt for his bed.

Every time I make a rag quilt Wesley asks where his is so I got some Cars flannel to start making him his own rag quilt.

Found this nice corduroy print, it’s a nice rich chocolate brown colour.  There was only a bit left on the bolt so I grabbed it all, just under 2 yards.  I’m sure a bag of some sort will come of it.

Ok now that it’s getting late I shall wander down to my machine and get to work until I’m too sleepy.

]]> http://www.sewtara.com/2010/06/09/the-fun-of-last-weekend/feed/ 0 http://www.sewtara.com/2010/06/07/had-a-great-weekend-and-won-a-giveaway/ http://www.sewtara.com/2010/06/07/had-a-great-weekend-and-won-a-giveaway/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:06:30 +0000 tara http://www.sewtara.com/?p=1223 Go me!! Good thing I decided to lug my lappy across the border on our little adventure (post to follow), not only did it give us all a way to check our email and waste time online, I won something!

Thanks to Sew Spoiled for pointing me in the direction of her sponsor’s giveaways I won a personalized vinyl monogram over at Baby Bunkins. It’ll look like this (but with my initials )

You can buy your own in her etsy shop.

I had photos of our home inspection which would show a complete before but I guess I deleted them after I scrapbooked them, silly me.  So instead I have these shots that just happen to be in the kitchen, hence the kid, cat, hubby . . . travel around and behold the beauty!

2008 – First one we purchased ourselves a nice big new fridge and a lovely dishwasher, delivery day was Valentine’s day, how sweet. Then on March break I got inspired and set to work painting the walls. I even added some panelling and a chair rail, yeah, I got fancy. Then, I believe it was a lovely May 24 weekend, I recruited my two friends to come sand and refinish the cupboards. I was early with child and easily pooped out so I needed a crew. Instead of hanging out while the ladies worked my hubby bought a shed (I think I made him sorta) and the men set to work assembling it. We were done the removal, sanding, priming and painting of the kitchen cabinets and cupboard doors around the same time 5 men finished assembling a shed. Then the kitchen sat for a while. There was plywood over the dishwasher when we moved in so we had added some IKEA cutting boards to fill the gap, which they did but it wasn’t ideal. My handy uncle was visiting that summer from BC and even though on vacation from his job of building houses took time out to replace our icky metal tan door with a beautiful bright white one.
Christmas 2009 and my mom announces our gift is a new kitchen counter!
May 2010 we actually get around to having it installed! I also got us a nice little pantry for beside the fridge and got rid of that cluttered garbage can corner. So happy with it all, thanks Mommy