What? Is something wrong?

Christmas Fail

The past couple of weeks things have been pretty crazy at work for Graham. Many, Many banquets and a Banquet Chef that quit in the middle of it all. Needless to say, he has been working 5am-7 or 8pm 6 days a week...We were really hoping that this past week he was going to have his 2 days off again as we had so much planned to do, one whole day filled with Christmas errands. So we had to cram everything into one day which turned into an almost utter failure. We didn't leave the house until noon which already made it tough.

We had to stop at Babies r Us to pick up new sippy cups for Oliver since he likes to chew the straws, a new mesh feeder for Henri since the dog decided to chew that and some diapers. (at least we only have to buy 1 size!)

Next stop was the Zig Zag Ranger Station for a our Christmas tree permit. We didn't have much time as we wanted to see Santa and were meeting friends for Zoo Lights at 5pm. WE got up there, got our ticket and map and headed up the closest road. After a bit we pulled off onto a logging road (thinking we needed Sammy the Samurai, Jessica & Joe...!) We thought it might have been the spot, got out, bundled up and head on our way....

Almost 8 months can you believe it!?

Oliver LOVED the snow. I've been surprised that he remembers it from last year. We have been talking about it and Christmas a lot lately and I was happy to see that he didn't freak out!

And we headed down on out on our trek....

Making it a whole 50 feet before Graham deciding it would be best to get back in the car, drive and then he would get out to chop a tree....

The view.

We drove some more, didn't see anything, tried a different road, nada. Then Graham decided to give me a panic attack by backing down a very steep narrow road on the side of a mountain...makes my heart race just thinking back on it!

We kept seeing people with great trees and I seriously wanted to ask where they found them...(at about this time, my camera batteries died)  :(

We eventually found the tree spot and it had about 2 feet of snow. Graham got out and climbed up and absurdly steep hill to check out a couple of trees that turned out to be 20 feet tall...oops! We had some great laughs but decided to head home and stop at a tree stand we saw in Troutdale. Only problem was when we got to the tree lot we didn't have time to stop. We were hoping to stop at home, get some more snacks, batteries and dry shoes for Graham but we hit rush hour traffic and made it to the Zoo at 5 o'clock on the button.

I really wish I had pictures of the Zoo. It was a lot of fun and I got numb to the cold after awhile. Oliver spent a majority of the time on Daddy's shoulders. I don't think he could have really walked if he wanted too it was so cold. He just hung out and chowed on a cookie.

So, needless to say, our house has yet to be decorated for Christmas, it seems to have snuck up on me really fast this year. I haven't even started sewing my gifts yet! (partly due to the fabric people screwing up, but we won't get into that...)

Mom will be saving the day with a tree drop off in the truck tomorrow while Graham is at work. At least we DID get a baby tiny tree for the boys in the playroom. It is very cute and after some frustration, annoyance and a drill, in the stand, naked.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day.

:)

Happy Holidays!

First Timer

My first book review blog was posted today over at Magpie Patterns!

http://magpiepatterns.blogspot.com/2009/12/henris-flags.html

woo hoo!

Let's Play a Game...

..of Where's Oliver?

Oh there he is!

Henri's Name up in Felt.

I recently stumbled upon a website that sells patterns and books for crafters, sewers & knitters, called Magpie Patterns. On the their accompanying blog, I read that they were looking for designers to make the patterns featured in their shop and blog about them. I sent a little introductory email about myself with some examples of my work and a link to my etsy shop. I was excited to hear back that they LOVED my work and were interested in me blogging for them.

The first book I chose is called Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule. Since recently purchasing and moving to a new home, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to make some items for our home while sharing my thoughts with the rest of the crafting community (not to mention the potential for Holiday gifts...)

At first I was a little disappointed in the book, I found it to be a little crunchy granola for me but quickly realized how I can adapt the projects for my very own life. I am not one to make the Women's Cloth, but had I even thought that I could have made my own cloth diapers, I would have been scrounging my fabric stash to sew myself up a bunch! What I love about this book is that she emphasizes using scrap fabric and items from around your home, something I have been doing for years. It is written very well and easy to follow ( I personally add in a few extra steps). Compared to the tutorials and other crafting books I have read, it is one of the best in that aspect.

For my first project, I chose the One-Word Banner which is featured on the cover of the book. I decided to actually use Henri's name as I have been wanting to put his name above his bed like his big brother's since we moved in 3 months ago, but did not want to spend the money (and time consuming painting process) on more letter blocks. In Oliver's case, the letters were found in my Grandparent's garage from a long gone Real Estate office, primed and painted a fresh coat of white paint.

I had plenty of Cream felt on hand from my handbag supplies and many, many scraps. I sorted through all my scraps to find the perfect fabric & color combination for my Sweet Little Man. In the book, Amanda, suggests either drawing your letters out freehand or using your computer. I chose the latter as I wanted consistency and perfection with my letters. I printed them out using Word with the font at about 500pts. It took a bunch of experimenting to find just the right font and letter size, and in the end, I ended up changing them up a bit while cutting my fabrics. I cut out all of my paper letters and placed them on my fabric scraps, tracing them and cutting them out.

Next I wanted to tackle the end pieces. The Author, had sweet little birds framing her word "Dream". For Henri, I wanted Owls. I spent a bunch of time drawing out how I was going to do it and finally looked at my neighbor's etsy shop, Little Mamas Designs, as I knew she made owl appliques that I have been drooling over and then looked at Henri's Owl bedding and it all snapped into place what I needed to do, the Owl's needed ears!

This is where I added a step. The instructions tell you to place the letters, 1" up from the bottom of your flag, center them and pin. I went a step further and used some Stitch Witchery to fuse my letters and owls to my felt (you MUST use a press cloth here or your felt will melt...) This step insured that my letters wouldn't move on me during my stitching. Next, I took all of my pieces to my machine and stitched around them with a 1/8" seam allowance allowing for some natural fraying to occur over time.

Once I had all the letters and owls stitched onto my flags, I grabbed my tub of bias binding and found the perfect chocolate brown binding. I chose to make a slightly longer length for my banner, laid it out and placed all of my pieces pinning them in place. At this point, I stitched all along the open edge of my bias tape and across the top of the folded over banners, securing them to the binding, and Viola! It was finished! The next morning I was so excited to hang it on Henri's wall, that it was the first thing I did.

I am so proud of how it turned out, and I would have NEVER thought of making a cloth name banner if it wasn't for the book. I am thrilled with the experience and looking forward to my next project out of Handmade Home.