{ Birth Announcement }

I'm so extremely excited to finally be able to share Jenny's birth announcements! They are finally completed and it only took me forever to get them done! :) I guess that's to be expected though since she's only 2 1/2 months old and that means not much time for doing anything extra at this point! I just sent these out last week and decided to include an updated picture with it since she's 3 days old in this one and has definitely changed since then! I had so much fun making these and my sister did a fabulous job on the photos didn't she? She's truly AMAZING! Thanks Lauren!




Here are some new hair clips I made too... I really liked how they turned out!

{ Self-mitered blanket & cards }

I realized the other day that I hadn't posted in a while! So here are my latest projects, which all happened before little Jenny came of course! :) I haven't done a whole lot since she got here other than trying to keep up with the house and catching up on lost sleep!

Anyway... here's the outcome of my last sewing class, it's called a self-mitered blanket. It's a mitered edge, which is what gives it it's name and it turned out really cool! I love that it looks different than your regular flannel blanket and it gives it a nice finished and classy look too I think!

Here are my attempts at boy cards! I'm always in girl mode that it's really hard for me to switch over to using different embellishments than glitter and flowers and such! I thought they turned out really cool though!

I recently made lots of thank you cards, because I never seem to have enough of them. And they definitely have come in handy since I had a baby of course because we've received so many wonderful gifts from the baby shower and also lots of help ever since we brought her home!


And these I was just experimenting with some new stamps and new embellishments. I love using new things to create with! Enjoy!

{ Tutu sewing class }

I forgot to post this picture from one of my sewing classes. We learned how to make tutus and matching headbands and Angie of course had to showcase it for me! It was such a fun class and they turned out soooooo extremely cute!!! Much better than the ones that my Mom and I originally came up with, they just poof out more, which is what little girls love! And it makes then look very classy and not homemade, you know? I even made a little one for baby Jenny so that she can match her big sister when she gets here! (5 1/2 weeks to go!)

{ Cricut Fun }

Ever since I got my Cricut Expression for my birthday I've been making a lot of cards! It has definitely inspired me to create because of all the different shapes you can cut out! So here are the latest of my creations!

{ more projects }

More projects from my sewing class! I have such a sense of accomplishment at the end of each class when I go home with a finished project! This celebration banner turned out cute with rainbow colors, and I'm definitely a bright color lover, no pastels for me!

This is a nursing cover, so now I'm all set for when little Jenny gets here! I wish I would have had one of these when Angie was a baby! It would have helped tremendously! My Mom picked out this cute flower print and as everyone knows... I love flowers!

We learned how to make this pin cushion using little pieces of fabric, which turned out fun and much cuter than the little tomato pin cushions that you always see!

Along with the pin cushion that same night I learned how to make this thread catcher! You slide the long piece of fabric under your sewing machine and then little bag hangs over the side so you can stick your pieces of thread in it. That way instead of being all over you and the floor, the thread is contained! Very clever idea and so very useful too!

This journal cover has to be one of my favorite classes probably because I love to write in my journal! It's great though because it fits over a composition notebook and when your journal is full you can slip it off and cover the next one. It was fun to quilt the top together and gives it a wonderful finished look, much cuter than how I used to cover them with fabric!

Well, that's it for now, let me know what you think! I can't wait for the last few classes for this month. We're going to be learning how to make a child's activity apron, pot holders and a microwave baking bag and lastly a self-mitered baby blanket! Until then... happy creating!

{ new projects }

So here are the latest finished products from my sewing classes. This little tote which was from my second class and it turned out super cute... much easier to make with the right instructions! I had made it a few months ago and it was much more difficult and time consuming, so I was excited to go to Chris' class and learn the easier way! Angie loves it of course and what's even better, it matches the ladybug picnic blanket my Mom made her last year, so now she'll be able to picnic in style! :) You can never have too many purses right? At least my sister thinks so! She has a purse fetish and I have a shoe fetish! It's fun being a girl!

At our third class we made this bib and "Tinkle Covers". They were super quick and easy to make and will be a great gift for one of my friends with a little boy, since I just found out we're having another girl! :)
And lastly, our 4th class was making this travel pillow and pillowcase. I love the size which makes it easy to carry anywhere and especially perfect for kids! All of her classes have been so fun and easy to learn... I can't wait for this Thursday to learn something new!

{ a little bit of scrapbooking... }

I finished this scrap/guest book for my brother-in-law, Rob and soon to be sister-in-law, Kali. They'll be getting married on April 18th and I've been helping out with the wedding. My gift to them was to make a scrap/guest book for their reception just like I did for my brother Brad and his wife Krystal.

Once I started, it only took me 3 days to finish. I worked on it in the evening and during Angie's nap and I finished quicker than I had anticipated! Rob and Kali's colors are teal, aqua and red which made it fun to try out some new color combinations! Hopefully you'll be able to see the colors in the pictures, sometimes pictures don't do them justice!

The first picture is the scrapbook we found at Michael's which was the perfect color and had a cute embroidered flower on the front! I ended up with 11 pages and then made two extras just in case they ran out. They're having 2 receptions, so hopefully it'll be enough room for all the quests to sign. Anyway, please tell me what you think of the finished product!

{ sewing classes }

I've started taking sewing classes from one of my Mom's dear friends, Chris Benavides. She is an amazing seamstress and is teaching us how to make some really fun projects! The classes started this month and meet every Thursday, so it's fun to have this fun class to look forward to every week.

The first class taught us how to make "taggie" blankets and toys. We had the option of making a triangle toy and a circle toy, but I loved the triangle so much that I made two of those instead! They turned out so cute and weren't hard to make either! The great thing about the classes Chris teaches is that she provides all the supplies except for your sewing machine, scissors and thread. You then come home with your finished product, the instructions and patterns too! It's an amazing deal for just $25.00 a class! If anyone is interested in the classes, contact me and I'll get you the info!

I'm so very excited about this, as I'm sure you can tell! I just love to create and more importantly to finish a project! Sometimes I get carried away trying to make things perfect that I don't finish it as quickly as I should, so it's good to come home with a complete product! Here are my finished creations...

{ new flower clips }

My friend Brandee came over the other day to learn how to make hair clips! I was in a flower mood and had found some new flowers made out of felt, so I had fun creating clips with fun color combinations! Here are my creations...

{ angie's quilt... officially finished!!! }

I am so excited to finally be able to post this on my blog!!!!! After many months of working on this quilt... it's finally done! This was a slow process for me probably because I'm such a perfectionist and because I was very intimidated by all the steps that go into completing a quilt! However after my Mom showed me how to do the quilting and binding on my Valentine's table runner, it finally clicked for me! So since this past weekend, I've been determined not to put it off any longer, but to tackle the project and get it finished! Here are the pictures... the last picture I took this afternoon after I washed it, so it now has that authentic "crinkly" look that makes a quilt look complete! I think my favorite part of the quilt is the flowers of course! I love doing appliqués! On the back of the quilt I put chenille, which made it extra soft! It's a different texture than minky(sp?), but still very cozy! Also, my camera doesn't show the true colors because of the lighting, but it's definitely pink... but you get the idea! Anyway, enjoy and tell me what you think!

{hair clips and b-day cards}

Here are my some new hair clips! I had a friend ask me if she could buy some from me after she saw all the ones I had created for Angie. She wanted a set of two that matched and here's what I came up with. They turned out cute and will be perfect for Valentine's day too of course! After getting all the supplies out for her order, I decided to make a few more clips and the ones with the hearts are my favorite! Lastly, here are some birthday cards I made out of cupcake paper I got recently.... I love anything with cupcakes!

{ scrap/guest book & cards }

I realized that this is the only picture I took of the scrap/guest book I made for Brad and Krystal's Wedding/Christmas present. It's not very close up, but hopefully you get the idea! :) I bought a black and white polka dotted 12x12 scrapbook and took out the flimsy white paper it came with and replaced it with 20 white card-stock pages. I then got copies of all of their engagement pictures that Lauren took and matted them with black and red card-stock. I put 1-2 pictures to a page and tried to vary the layouts so they all looked a little different. I also inked all the edges in black ink (their colors were black, white and red) and then to finish each page I put different embellishments next to the pictures. I had ribbon on some, gems, chipboard, staples, paper flowers, etc. They wanted more of an artistic, rustic look instead of classic, so I did lots of inking. Anyway, it turned out great and it was a fun way to make a guest book more memorable. This way people could leave words of wisdom and thoughts, much better than just signatures on a page. Just an idea!


Here are a few of my Christmas cards I sent out... very belated I know, but the cards were sent on time! :) I love these cards because of this Santa stamp! What a great find!