You asked...

It's funny how many times I get asked the same questions from friends, family, or just people you meet and end up having conversation with.  So, I thought I'd write down some of my answers to common questions.

1)  Where do you find the time?

Yes, I am the mom of two little kids.

But, nap times are my time (usually).

Some more or less than others.  Does that mean I get a solid amount of time in each and every day?  No.  Some days it's nill and others I say...forget the mess that is my house I feel like __________ (sewing, painting, reading, relaxing, napping, etc.)

2)  How did you get so good?

Lets clear this up...I spend more time ripping out seams and yelling cuss words in my mind at some projects than I do happily sewing along.  Like that shirt I made my son.  Sure...it turned out well, but that doesn't mean it was all hummingbirds and cherries (I have no idea where that came from) while I was constructing it.  I sewed part of the shirt to itself, and then had to rip out my stitches, which caused the fabric to rip, so I had to take apart one entire half of the outfit, buy more fabric, and redo that half.  Ugh!

I have also been known to throw things out.  Like my hubby's Christmas stocking.  Yeah, I got off count on the cross stitching and then couldn't figure out where I went wrong, got annoyed, and threw it out.  Then about 2 hours later I dug it out of the trash and decided to listen to my internal Tim Gunn and "Make it work!"  lol

I guess I have a flair for the dramatic at times.

3)  Why sewing?

Why scrap booking?  Why knitting?  Why painting?  Why reading?  Why TV? ...  I enjoy spending my time sewing.  It's certainly not the only crafty thing I do, but it gives me the most sense of peace, calm, and accomplishment.  I love that I'm making functional things, and especially things that I know my kids will treasure.  And some days...I just don't feel like sewing, and on those days I do something else.

4)  Why quilts?

Quilts never crossed my mind until being all cozy under the ones my Mother-in-Law had made.  I like sewing many different things, but quilting...I dunno.  It's like magical to me.  But, certainly not a project that one can just whip up in one sitting.

5)  What inspires you creatively?

Friends, family, random things I see as I'm out and about, many many many blogs...and now the addictive Pinterest.  lol  Where I spend more time collecting ideas than making anything.  It's a great way to keep track of all of the things I'll never get around to doing.  ;)

And then I love crafty magazines.  I'm finding that I'm especially fond of ones made in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.  And my FAVORITE is a new one called Making, from England.  I get it digitally, on my iPad.  It's pricey (although cheaper on the iPad than in print) and totally worth it.  It covers lots of crafting avenues, with fun tutorials, ideas, recipes, patterns, interviews...just all around GREAT!  If you have kids, and want to venture into making clothes for them Ottobre is also a great one.

Well, I hope that helps clear a few things up.  :)  I'm not super woman, or the perfect mom, or a '50s TV housewife.  I just know that if I don't take a little smidgen of time for myself, I'll end up a crazy person walking up and down the train mumbling to herself and frightening fellow passengers (yeah...I saw that woman once.  It wasn't pretty.).


Happy Crafting!

Cereal Flower

Humph.

Our pictures were pushed back from their original date due to over clouding and light rain.  It hasn't rained like all summer!  What are the odds?

So, the new date for pictures are today.  I whipped up a couple of flowers for Lorelai's hair/headband while the kiddos were napping today.  Don't you think this will go great with her flower dress???

I can't wait to see the pictures!

Happy crafting,
-Amanda-

A Nap Mat

My sweetie of a son starts Children's Day Out tomorrow.  I'm not quite sure he's ready for this.  I'm not quite sure I'm ready for this.  He likes his classroom.  He seems to like his teacher...although he's shy so it's harder to read that at times.  But, he didn't do so hot in the church nursery during my first MOMS meeting last week.

We're doing this to help him with his speech and some of his independence mostly.  I really do like having my kiddo around every day.  We'll give it a month...see how it goes.  For both of us.  In the meantime I'm determined to make it as pleasant for him as I can and so I made him a nap mat.  He chose the fabrics (okay...I chose the striped flannel for the backing), but he chose the truck flannel and the Curious George fleece.  It doesn't match...and that's okay with me.  He loves it, and that's what matters.

I used this tutorial from sew4home that I had saved a while back.  It turned out really nicely I think.

The blanket is sewn into the mat.

All rolled up and ready to go for tomorrow.  :*(     <sniff sniff>

Dress Upgrade

Yeah, Lorelai's dress needed more cheerio print.  So, I gave it an upgrade.  :)