Peg Santa Gnome

Do you like him? Do you like him? He's all mine. With a needle felted pom pom and beard. All hand stitched. Ready to put on your tree or playscape.
I like him. tee hee

Amanda

have you been to Ikea?

the last thing you get to at the end of the store is the christmas Section. I have to say, quietly, I was excited to see it. shh.
And so excited to see the theme this year. Last year's didn't excite me much. But this year!!!!! GNOME CITY!

Aren't they the cutest? It's felt! (well, not the good stuff) but it's felt! agghhhh. Comes in a package of 6. And there is matching paper!


Too much I tell ya.


This felt star is a tree topper for only $1.99! Almost as good as giving them away. :} you know what I imagine them as?? A very large ornament with our names embroidered on them. can you see it? You will when I get it done.


So it was a good visit to Ikea. plus the obligatory visit to the snack shop. a few lovelies there too.


And now to switch back to Halloween, here is the Alvin costume. A red t-shirt with a yellow A over the red hoodie. Yeah refashion. And his dad's hat with the red panel and A to cover up the logo. There was a little fleece tail on the back too. People were shouting out to him all day... "ALVIN!"

We had a great night trick or treating and seeing our neighbours. A lady on the corner hires a fire breather every year and it is a main event. ooohs and aahhhs.
Hope you had a good one,
Amanda

fleece coat

I finally got a picture of this coat I made last month. I bought the fabric about 8 years ago to make some ponchos! I bought the pattern for this coat last year. Glad I waited as she grew so much this summer. I also made it in size 6 instead of 5. i think she'll get a few years out of it.


Here's a close up. I love the fleece. there is embroidery in it. The "buttons" are because I was too lazy to make button holes. Actually, Neve and I went to look for buttons, but didn't see anything we liked. until we were out the door. I need to put pockets in the side. She HAs to have pockets in the sides. :}


Her tinkerbell costume is underneath. so it's puffed out. She's a social butterfly. Waving to her people.


HAve a good one!
Amanda

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
inspired by Amanda Blake Soule


My mom and dad are here! We went to Niagra Falls on the most, bestest autumnal day.

i have laryngitis. it hurts when I laugh.:} I'm laughing a lot.

have a good one!
Amanda

Costume ramblings

Oh my. My son wants to be Alvin the Chipmunk for Halloween. I've given him many chances to change his mind. His friend is going as Mario or Luigi. He didn't even bite to be those. Nope. He wants to be Alvin. Good Glory! The costume has to be ready for Friday. I'm going out tomorrow night. When's that all going to happen?

Here's the other problem, there is more than one kind of cotume for Alvin over the years. Here is the one I was thinking of and went out an bought a women's sweater to refashion:
turtle neck Alvin

but in the last movie, he was wearing this hoodie and no hat...
Hoodie Alvin

He has a faded red hoodie with a zipper and writing on the front. Here are my options for this one, I have red fleece. Cut out a panel and put a yellow fleece A on it. Are the kids still going to know who he is? He's not even wearing pants for goodness sakes!! What's a mother to do? I guess I'll have to put some kind of face makeup on him, But it would have to be in the morning and it will be a mess by the time the party starts in the after noon. and what if the other kids don't dress up until after lunch? Oh dear. I'm lost here. I'm proud he is confident to be something out of the loop, but... oh well, I've said it all above. And I'm going out tomorrow afternoon and into the night.

Little Missy wants to be tinkerbell. She tried on the tinkerbell-like dress we scored upon a month ago. Even down to the wings and arm bands. Arm bands? Anyhow, with the addition of a leotard and tights, she'll be good for Friday.

Stay tuned for the Alvin thing...
here's hoping you're having better luck with the costumes in your house,
Amanda

max the gnome

Once I had a millisecond, Rafael was all over me to sew his gnome. watching over my shoulder.

His name is Max. Max goes everywhere, except outside, "he may get dirty". Oops, hope Rafael doesn't see this post!


Max had a great time hiding on me.

Showing up with the strangest friends...

But he has a good heart.
\
Just like his new guardian.

Pattern from More Softies Only a Mother Could Love

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Maisie

Well, we went to the Creativ Festival on Friday. We were so excited. We were looking for roving and needle felting stuff. we found nada. I would have been disappointed with the whole thing, but one spot made me very happy.
Mad About Patchwork She had a bin of ends of bolts. 10 cents an inch! How cool is that? Because I sew little things, it was perfect for my desire to have much of everything. And I didn't even have to match the fabrics. it's already done. She had a 7 week challenge for herself to make 7 Christmas gifts out of 4.5 metres of fabric. It's under her blog.
I haven't taken pics of the fabric, but here are the threads when I took it out of the washer! oh boy.


What to make, what to make with such lovely designs and colours? Well, there were some swatches of a soft flannel that was needing attention. So I made Maisie from More Softies only a mother could love


She's so soft. I used eco fill to stuff her. I wanted to use wool, but I have to card it first. Lazy me. It was easy to do the face and so fast to put it all together.


She is loved. Here is Miss Neve all sad. Don't worry. She's having an off day. All we asked her to do is take her coat off. Right now, she's wailing b/c we asked her for the umpteenth time to put the game away before she takes out another one. Oh the joys.


We printed off a bunch more patterns of the same book, so stay tuned. An orange gnome will be next.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Nature bunting

My friend Michelle is finally getting some "stolen moments" from her growing children and is finding her way in the crafting world. She made this bunting for her son's bday.


I love her stitching.


Cutie owl




The stitching on the back is almost like the front.



And this itty bitty hedgie....


Isn't it just wonderful to look at. Drink it in.

THanks for looking,
Amanda

Moon Landing

A little friend of mine had a birthday yesterday. I wanted to make something special for his great imagination..


We have landed.


A bit of fleece and some swirls of the sewing machine, you have a good moon landing.

One that has it's own carrying case...


Prepare for take off..


Blast off!


And you can hang it while you go off on another adventure!


Happy Birthday K!!! Hope you had a wonderful, adventure filled day!

Have a good one,
Amanda

Halloween rewind

The kids had fun looking through the Halloween decorations this morning, so I thought I would share this post from last year...
(obviously, before my new camera)

I wanted a sewing project for craft time today. here it is...


It's a pouch that the kids can put treats in. After halloween, they can choose a few treats and put them in their pouches. After their treats are gone for that day, they are gone!! A lesson for them to learn. Gorging or spreading it out. I'm intrigued to see what outcome this will have over the days of chocolate and too much sugar.

And here are the happy pouch wearers who have a few early treats, thanks for Tia Rosemarie. thanks Mishie!


Rafael sewed his own pouch and Neve chose the colours of thread for hers.

Thanks for looking.
Amanda

Well, the idea did work for a few days. after that, they kinda lost interest in the candy. I finally threw it out, along with the collection of Christmas, Valentine and Easter candies that were deemed, not worthy.

felt hair clips

hi ho,
well, the kids need a haircut again, so that means I need to make more clips. (I sell them at their hair cut place)
Here is the obligatory halloween clip. I'm going to make some candy corn clips too.


And the autumnal leaves... love the ginger colour and the moss green


And some purdy butterflies. I decided to change up the front a bit and swap the colours, but they're still a pair. And what do you think about that? I actually made pairs! I hate making pairs, but I was very good about doing these.


And my attempt to be a little artsy in my phototaking. The whole post was to be with greenery in the background, but my camera is having some issues. User issues I'm sure. Or maybe the wind blowing everything to kingdom come?


All shapes were cut using my QuicKutz dies and the cuttlebug machine.
Have a good one,
Amanda

more remakes

A friend of mine gave me some of her fabric stash to make some crayon wallets. I believe the felt is actually wool felt. not a wool blend like I use. it is so heavenly. i think i may be converted in my next felt purchase. like buttah...
And the print. oh gosh, how adorable is that? sorry, don't know what it is.

I bought the pattern for the Crayon Wallet from Jcasa

So I just HAD to make a little zippy wallet with the leftovers. (sorry for the fuzzy photos, didn't realize they were until now and the wallets are gone)

SOme cupcake fabric from Joann's. Zippy wallet tutorial can be found over at Noodlehead. it's so easy to make.
I can do them in my sleep now. and it's where I learned to do zippers.


another shot of the crayon wallets and zippy wallet.