pack up your troubles in your old kit bag....

and smile, smile, smile. A song we're singing on Canada day for Veteran's show. Should be fun.
Anyhow, I digress....
Here is a pic of the kit bag mentioned in the post below. I kinda lost steam when I realized the binding was not sewn in some places. I sewed the narrow side of it to the inside of the bag instead of outside. I know I'm going to have a problem when I turn it over and sew the rest on. So I'm taking a break from it.


I like it. Because I used denim, (which is light on the inside) I made a flap for the ends of the bag. It extends the pocket a bit. I'm going to experiment with the size of it to fit in some diapers and a wipe case. And I'm sure the kids would love one for treasures. Just needs a handle on it. yep, a few uses for these. this one is 7 inches wide instead of 9 as she suggested. Simply, I had 7 inch zippers.


A little space rocket ship landed in front of our house this morning. (At 7:30 am, the earth shook, the construction crew was breaking the earth in half. Welcome to summer). I bought the rocket ship finger puppet at a yard sale and painted a wooden peg. I saw it on some one else's site. if you've seen it to give credit, please let me know. He fits perfectly inside. maybe another project to make the ships. Need more boy toys.


And a tip on how to take pictures in peace...

Give them their own cameras.


I have a few more projects in my camera, so I should be a little more regular in posting this week.

thanks for looking,
off to enjoy the 1st day of summer vacation..

Amanda

WIP

Hi Ho,
just working on a few teach gifts, nothing you haven't seen before.

But here is a new thing I'm working on. No pics from me, it's late... and it's not looking pretty in the binding department.

DIY Father's Day Gift from Not Martha

And I bought the book "Wool Toys and Friends". in the middle of making the little elf. it's fun with bendy arms and legs.

Only one more day of school left. yeah. the kids are so tired from staying up too late and rushing out the door in the morning. I let them sleep as long as they want, but we still have to get out at a certain time. so Wednesday will be nice....

Come back for some pics soon...

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Crochet butterflies

Looks like this will be my next take it with you project. Wonder if I can crochet in the car without feeling sick? We're all touched with a little bug here at the moment.
Little Birdie Secrets

more to follow.....
thanks for looking,
Amanda

star wand

I had a request from a repeat customer! Thanks M. I was joking that I was her personal etsy shop. that's her hand BTW. Now you're famous. :}

So at 5:30 this morning (cause my sleep schedule is so messed up. WHen you go to bed at 8:30, 2:30am is 6 hours later and then last night, 10 pm and 5:30 am wake up time.) I made this wand. It pretty much was what was in my head. I decided not to trim them to make it equal as I liked the dual colours.


Apologies for the poor photo quality. It's the little digital instead of the nice big one I've grown to love.

I just felt an earthquake. did you feel it where you are? They said it was felt from Buffalo to Ottawa. Have to find out where there centre was. Interesting..... Last time i felt an earthquake, I was in Nova Scotia and the quake was in Montreal area. Big area.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

flowers and labels

Howdy,
another brilliantly bright, hot day here. Perfect weather for summer solstice. How 'bout you?

Here's a pic of my flower wands to go with or without the pompom skirt. Together, it makes a nice bday present. (bright picture, it is sunny)


And I finally got a stamp with "By Hook & Thread" on it. I ordered it from Caroline at
Stampin' Up! ( Canadian orders only. Find a representative from your country to purchase from Stampin' Up! They have a demonstrator locator on their site. Even break it down locally)


It's the Princess or Pirate stamp towards the back of the catalogue. I can't remember which one. For now, I'm stamping it on ribbon and sewing it in to my projects. (When I remember) I also have a logo drawn up by a friend. Just have to tell her which one I like and let her do a good copy. Fun stuff.


And how do you like them polka dots? Yummy on the pom pom skirts....


thanks for Looking,
Amanda

Fun Fair

Then Fun fair was a success. My table was a success. Although, I wasn't there much to sell stuff. thanks to good friends for taking over when I went running around in my official capacity. A nice bunch interested in my things and possible venues for future sales.
Yes, t'was a busy week and a brilliant night.
My feet hurt. lol but in a good kinda way.

nite....

mushroom city

hello,
checking in.. busy week with Fun Fair prepartations. Both for my vendor's table and for being on the committee. Be so glad when it's over.
And because I can never be finished or satisfied until there is no time left...


I found some mushroom like wooden knobs and had to paint them for the sale. I'll pair them with the 55-11 gnomes I've been making.

The weather is going to be hot and the committee has been working non-stop. Let's hope for some sleep tonight.

A few nights ago, my daughter got her pinkie caught in a door and almost took the tip of it off. We spent the evening and wee morning hours in the ER. She was a trooper. They sedated her. It was weird as she was still awake, just not in her body. Kind of hard to watch her slip away. It didn't cut the tendon or bone. We'll see a specialist next week to see if there is any nerve damage. hope not. She's going to be a pianist! Her musical mother says so! :}

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Sewing outside

I need to sew everyday until Friday. Friday is the school fun fair. The fun fair where I innocently said 4 months ago.."Oh, you should have tables for vendors" Yep, I'm now in charge of it and on the committee. Like big time!!!

Today, I had a choice, drag the kids to the attic or bring the sewing machine outside. We all voted for outside. Fortunately, I spent last night cutting out little circles for my magic flower wands. (oops, forgot to take a pic of those, look on the table, they are in progress)


Then I brought down some pompom skirts. The kids were playing nicely in the yard...


But ultimately, they can't be too far away from mama...


Don't mind the hair.. oh my hair!! What is happening to it? Ever since last summer, it is heavily affected by the humidity. It was all one length except for the bangs. They would curl up and make wings. And not in a nice way. So this time, the hairdresser thought he would layer it so it could be "free" and it could do what it wanted in the humidity. yip, not so sure about that. I dried it straight this morning. A bike ride on the beach this morning had a different effect. Ok, too much information. But does anyone else have hair that has just changed? What to do what to do? lol

thanks for looking,
Amanda

bearded gnomes

It hit me all of a sudden... a flash. doncha love when that happens...

A bearded gnome. i wasn't settled with the round face of the gnomes, this is a little better, but still needs some tweaking.


thanks for looking,
Amanda

sewing, felting and WIP

Hi All,
steady go here...
One apron of a few that need to be made for teacher gifts. I gave bags last year, so aprons this year. this one if from Weekend Sewing, Heather Ross.

The waistband is folded over. I like this pattern. It's easy, but takes a fair bit of fabric.

A little needle felting. Ladybug, mushroom necklace, half finished bee ( DS lost the 1st one) and a half finished hedgehog in the back.


Mama decided to work in the garden today,


I love the little bun in her hair. She needs an apron and more hair on the front. Whenever.....


Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Busy busy

How busy are you these days? I wish I was home long enough to do something.. like clean up! haha

Missy Moo has a dance recital next weekend. Well, 3 of them to be exact. She's excited to go on stage and tells me that I don't have to be back stage while she is there. I can just drop her off. Quite a change from the 3 weeks of trying to get her to go into class at the beginning in january.


Here's her costume.


I've been sewing little bits of other dancers' costumes and fixing the priest's robe. Needle felting wee little ladybugs, bees and snails and making more gnomes. No pictures. no time for pictures. No time for nuthin'. I'll be glad when June is over.

I can't wait to have some sewing time. Maybe tomorrow. I'll show you whatever I'm making. WIP

thanks for stopping by,
Amanda

I won!

During the Sew Mama Sew May giveaway, I not only gave away, I entered and entered and entered. And I won. A princess and the pea playset from Coming up Rosemary
I chuckled out loud when I read that. Because... I was giving away a princess and the pea playset too.
We received the package today and it is fabulous. I love her doll. And the mattresses are larger than mine. DD loved it and took it to playgroup for everyone to play with it.

Thanks Kate. we love it!

I'll put a pic up later. check out her page above to see it and check out the other fun things. I love the visors.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

rainbow gnomes

Here are a few gnomes made with wool blend felt from Felt-o-rama. So much nicer than the acrylic stiff from the craft stores around here. I would splurge if I were you. And it's not that much of a splurge. Go for it.


And here are some needle felted gnomes. Not settled with the face, but I'm going to try another way next time I do it.

They are fun and easy to make.

And fun to arrange...


And a little bag to put them in.


Off to enjoy the sunshine.. again.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda