Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Can't Help Myself.

August happens to be a very important month at our house, smack dab in the middle of it is Charlie's birthday. She has asked me almost every morning for the past 3 months if 'it's her birthday today', so I finally could say 'YES!'

We had a fun-filled birthday weekend filled with food, fun and presents (Charlie's favorite part) ... So I thought I would share with you what Charlie and I made for 'thank-you' cards. I 'stole' the idea from the Crafty Chica, and thought it would be a fun project to do with Charlie. Here's what we made:

How-to: the Mini-zine of Charlie

the layout for the mini-zine
We decided to do a photo in each square.



We put the photos in order and decorated with sharpies, glitter, sequins and stickers.
After the decorating was up to snuff, I scanned it and printed it out.


Finished product.

See the Crafty Chica's video on how to fold the mini-zine...

I thought this was a cute way to share how much Charlie had grown between age 3 to age 4. And she got a kick out of making her own little story book. We had such a good time making it that we just might make another mini-zine for our Christmas card this year!

I also got around to making another upcycled t-shirt dress for Charlie with a t-shirt that she hand-picked herself.


She makes me so proud.


I also dropped these new appliques off at Sweet 'N Sassy last week. If you know me, you know that I LOVE Mexican folk art. My sister's have told me that my house decor looks like a Mexican restaurant, and I take that as a compliment. So here's the new applique...




I just can't help myself!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Wow! What a whirlwind weekend!

Friday night Stacey and I shot our first vineyard wedding out in Temecula's wine country.
The setting was Lake Oak Meadows and it was absolutely gorgeous. If you are in the area and planning a wedding, it is definitely worth a look.
Saturday turned into a birthday gift making event. I have been wanting to freshen up on my applique attempts. I had a hard time in the past because I bought the wrong type of adhesive. Wow, what a difference the right kind of double stick adhesive makes! This time I bought the Press 'N' Steam adhesive for $4.50 a yard, and it was worth every penny.

I made 3 dish towels for Trey's Granny, she lives in Texas so I went with a patriotic theme.
Here's what I came up with.
I loved the cupcake so much that I made 2 shirts for Sunday's birthday party. Charlie turned 4 on Sunday, and I didn't want to show up empty handed since the birthday present we got her was something we couldn't put in a gift bag. I made her shirt, showed Nellie and she said,
"Mom do you have time to make one for me?"
Of course I do, I need the practice after all.
Charlie with her Birthday crown made by Jaime.
I think Nellie really liked her shirt, she never asks me to take her picture, but she was really excited to pose for me in her cupcake shirt.

I think the shirts made great party shirts for the girls.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers...

I don't think one girl could ever have too many flowers!

My latest and greatest project has taken over my whole house. I was blog surfing and found these magnificent fabric flowers on Emersonmade. I became obsessed with figuring out how to make them. Thankfully good ole' Martha Stewart had a great fabric flower tutorial and template that made it all possible.

So my latest project has been designing a few items for a friends wedding. I have finished the ring pillow, and now I am working on a few accessories, hair pieces, corsages and brooches. But here is my ring pillow.
I will share the other items when they are all put together.

But in the meantime. Check out what these flowers can do to any outfit...
Our middle sister Stacey made these fabric flowers for a photo shoot she did recently. Stacey and I have fun shooting weddings together. You can see our work at www.theothersisterimages.com. Stacey enjoys working with models a lot more than I do, and she is much better at it. I prefer the little ones, so I can get really silly with them.
Stacey has been helping Sam get a portfolio together.

This is one of my favorite hair accessories.
And of course the peacock feathers.
Jaime added these flowers to an engineers hat, but you could add any style flower, to any style hat to make it just a little more feminine.
I'm not sure if you caught on, but Stacey has so many talents. She's a great hair stylist, photographer, artist, landscaper and craftster. I guess this is why we have always been pretty competitive with each other, my sisters set the bar pretty high.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Hanging Junk Garden how-to


My mom bought this little gem on one of the many 'treasure hunts' her and my dad have been on. Such a fun and simple idea, I had to make a few more. Luckily for me, she also picked up tons of containers to turn into hanging pots... and this is how I did it:

Grab wire cutter, needlenose pliers, wire, beads, buttons, anything else you can think of to thread, and a container.

I had my main man drill some holes into the container. A few on the bottom for drainage , and 3 around the lip of the container to thread the wire through.

Loop the wire through the holes and twist a few times.

Start threading the 'flare' onto the wire. I stole some of Charlie's plastic beads, used buttons, and some of the glass beads I had in my collection. I prefer more 'see-through' beads, they really shimmer in the sun.

Thread all 3 wires to the same length and do a twist with the wires at the bead ends. Then I just made a loop to hang and finished with more twisting.
... and here she is.

I had lots of succulents standing by from my favorite nursery.



I got around to doing three pots. I love the fuchsia plant, and my mother will be the proud owner of the hanging cup o' pearls.

I've also been working on more appliques for boys, other than ties. Don't get me wrong, I love the ties, but we wanted to spice it up a bit.

Introducing.... el luchador



I made 3 of these bad boys and delivered them to Sweet N' Sassy last week. Cooper made a special order for one, and then I have a few more ideas for boys appliques to get to. Guess I better get busy.