Man, I stink at creative titles. Here are the valances I spent a lot of time making this weekend:
I still need to hem them - that's why there is a lighter strip along the bottom. Here is a closeup to better see the colors:
I did get to make that apron I wanted, and it is super cute - I haven't taken a picture yet, so I'll post it tomorrow!!
Labels: homework, sewing
So I made a necklace to match the
earrings I made a couple days ago. It's a nice weight, with all the jade.
It came out about a centimeter longer than I wanted, and I'm not sure how to fix it - maybe just try to shorten up any of the loops that are too long on either side of a bead... we'll see.
In non-jewelry news, I have the valances for the kitchen about mostly done. We buy the curtain rods this morning, and have put up two of them. I still need to hem the valances - I didn't want them to be too short so I haven't hemmed them yet...
And exciting things at the sewing machine this weekend - I'm hoping to try a few new projects. Stay tuned!!
Labels: jewelry
My thread spools and bobbins have been a mess - just thrown in the bottom of my old sewing box. I needed a way to organize them. I saw plastic organizers at WalMart for cheap, but why buy something when you can use power tools and make it yourself??
In progress, with our mitre saw behind it:
And spray-painted and loaded up:
I'll probably fill this up before too long, but I made it stackable so I can always make another one. I love it!
Labels: craft room
Here are the matching earrings for the necklace I posted yesterday. I ended up kind of wire-wrapping them, since it was the best way to attach them to the earring. I really love how they came out!
Labels: jewelry
This necklace is made with Mother of Pearl (MOP!) beads from
FMG.
It took me way too long to make because first I tried putting each piece on its own "bar" but that made it too wide, so the outside pieces stuck out at a weird angle... Anyway, I like the way it came out! I have an idea for matching earrings that I think I'm going to go try...
Labels: jewelry
I have so many awesome beads waiting to be made into jewelry - the folks at Fire Mountain Gems are going to know me by name!! I couldn't resist whipping up some simple earrings:
Don't be surprised to see another post tonight - I love this jewelry stuff!!
Labels: jewelry
The pieces for my May quilt square are cut up. It didn't take too long, but there are a lot of pieces in this one!
I learned a neat trick for the triangle pieces - it's hard to explain, but the larger pieces in the corners all become triangles. Here are the directions for the final square:
You can see a little better now what it will look like.
In other news, I finally got out my scrapbooking things again to work on my wedding album! I have a lot of work to do to meet my goal of finishing it by our second anniversary - only 4 months away now!
Labels: quilting, sewing, wip
I am so late onto this bandwagon, but I finally made some marble magnets! There was a neat ad for scrapbook paper in one of my magazines, and I liked the samples but needed an idea for them... ta da, magnets!
I'm not sure I used the right kind of glue, or if they'll last, but it was fun and cheap, so I don't care!
Labels: crafts, paper craft
I used some of the pearls leftover from Grandma Jeanne's jewelry to make a necklace. It came out a little differently than I pictured, but I think I just need to make the chain shorter. I also ordered even more supplies from
Fire Mountain Gems - I'm going to have to take a break for a while since I've exceeded my craft supply allowance!!
Here are pictures of my new necklace:
And a closeup:
Labels: jewelry
I decided on a project for a little bit of my vintage fabric from the swap with
Hillary. Since I love it so much, I took a lot of pictures.
Here is the outside of the bag:
It's about 5.5" by 9" so that it will fit my calendar - that's one of my purse dimension requirements! Also, you can't see in the picture, but the sides are khaki and the back is the vintage fabric. I put a strip of chocolate brown grosgrain ribbon along the edge of the flap. Here is the inside:
I lined it with simple pink because I didn't want to take away from the outside. I put a little detail on the strap:
And because I love the length (very long strap!) I took a slightly artistic window reflection photo of myself with my new favorite purse!!
Yay!!
Labels: bags, sewing
I'm posting from work, so this will be quick. I'm almost done with a new bag that I started before heading to the midnight Star Wars last night. I think I should be able to finish it tonight, even with the going to bed early that I'm sure will be happening at my house. And since I don't like to post without at least one picture, I'm totally drooling over making a necklace like this:
There is a tutorial posted
here on DIY.net.
Labels: jewelry
The
pink earrings hang really pretty, and I finally got a good picture of them, so I had to share.
Labels: jewelry
My grandmother's birthday is next week, and she loves purple. So I bought some amethyst chips and fresh water pearls to make her a bracelet. I also decided to make a necklace to go with it.
This is the bracelet:
Hopefully it's not too long - I can always fix it, but then Grandma would have to send the bracelet back to me, which would take time, etc. So I hope it fits on the first try! And here's the necklace that goes with it:
To see the stones better,
here's a closeup.
And this is a
picture of the clasp, since I think it's really neat.
Labels: jewelry
I finally have something to post besides a tote!! I had a vision for some cheap pink beads I got at Target, but they didn't look the way I pictured. When I was in Hobby Lobby the other day I picked up some smaller pink beads, and I love the way the earrings turned out with the smaller beads!
I went ahead and used my sterling silver supplies, since these 6 teeny beads were almost $3!! It just looks better out of sterling, too. Part of what looks good is how they hang, but I can't seem to get a good picture of it. You'll just have to take my word for it!
Labels: jewelry
This is my last tote for a while! And I'm not even going to post pictures of it!! Because that's all I've been posting lately. So I'm just going to post the fabric.
The purple is for the stripes and the pockets, and the polka dots line the inside and the straps. It really does match in real life but I can't get it to look right on the computer. I'm filling it with some fun office supplies, to prove to my friend Lauren the just because she's a lawyer she doesn't have to have a bunch of serious stuff on her desk.
After Survivor tonight I think I'm going to fix those pink earrings I tried a while ago - I'm not sure if I mentioned them or not. We'll see!
Labels: bags, fabric
Here is photographic evidence that you should always cool baked goods in the pan for a little while before turning them out on a rack to cool:
And from the end, where you can see all the pieces that have fallen off the cake:
Luckily I was already going to frost the cake, so I was able to put it back together and make it stick with a yummy cream cheese frosting. And like Peter said, it won't taste any different!!
Disguised cake:
Labels: cooking
Well, I blew the surprise - I was saving this post until Katy got the necklace in the mail, but then I went and put the picture on
my website and then told her to check out my new website. Forgetting about the picture of the necklace. Oh well, she likes it, so that's good!
So here it is, the necklace to match the
earrings I made a couple weeks ago.
Labels: jewelry
I put the satin binding on the flannel for my cousin's baby! The blanket will definitely be cuddly and soft, but it's not very well made. I need to talk to my parents' friend that does this a lot to see how she keeps it from being all bunchy. But, I don't think the baby will be able to tell!!
In other news, I have a website! I've had it a little while, but I finally have it looking close to how I want for now. Check it out:
SarahMDesigns.com.
Labels: sewing
A local quilt shop (apparently ranked very high in some national quilting magazine) does a Block of the Month deal. You pay for the first set of supplies, and if you finish your block and bring it to the next meeting, you get that month's supplies free. Quite cool! I got in a little late this month, so I had to do my block tonight in order to take it tomorrow to get next month's...
Anyway, this is my first time ever doing piecing like this, and I have to admit I thought it would be easier. Here is how it came out:
I'm not sure if it's because I didn't cut the pieces out myself - my mother-in-law did to save me time, and I do trust her, but I suppose there's a chance some of the pieces were cut a little off - or just because I stink at doing consistent seam allowances... whatever the problem, it is definitely a little crooked. Oh well, not bad for my first try!
Labels: quilting, sewing
The last tote is done! I really love the fabric on this one. Since I've posted a lot of totes lately, I'll just post the pictures.
And the inside:
Labels: bags, sewing
I'm participating in my first-ever
fabric swap with Hillary from
WeeWonderfuls. I wanted to include a little something extra with the fabric, since what she's sending is so awesome. I've also been wanting to try to make a little felt flower hairclip, since I might make them as favors for Lauren's bridal shower. So I combined the two, and I'm going to send this with Hillary's package:
I'm pretty sure I'm going to send Hillary some of my Curious George fabric, since she has an adorable little boy and all little children need some Curious George! It will be hard to part with it, so I might have to get some more. Darn, fabric shopping!!
Labels: sewing, swaps
