*headdesk*

The pennant garlands I've been working on need to be machine stitched into place before they're packaged up for sale.
I went back into the sewing room today to try and get them done, and it turns out my machine is all out of whack. I am able to get 3 or 4 inches of stitches in, then the thread slips off of one of the guides up on top of the machine. As soon as it happens I hear a *thunk* noise and then the bobbin thread turns into a massive snarl on the bottom of what I'm sewing.
I have tried changing the tension, my husband took the case off the machine and cleaned it out with compressed air... I'm thinking I need to take the machine in and have it serviced, but try finding someone who does that these days. (Try finding someone who won't charge as much as a new machine will cost!)

So for now, the pennant garlands are on hold and I'm back to work on the smaller tag garlands.
Meh.

gallery items finished

I managed to get a couple of garlands finished today. Now I just have to package them up and get them over to the gallery.

Butterfly garland - blue, brown and green:



Little girl tag garland in pink, orange and yellow:

WIP

So here's what I've managed to work on lately in the midst of the Cookie Crazies.
These are Valentine's Day door hangers I'll be dropping off at the gallery tomorrow.



This one is my favorite. I love the font and just the overall look of it.









The baby one is going to the gallery, but I am also considering taking some to an upscale baby boutique I know of. Worst they can say is "no", right?



These are WIP for spring. Right now the papers are just glued in place, I still need to run them through the sewing machine to finish them. I'm aiming to have them in the Gallery by March 1.









Now I just need to figure out how to price everything. I'm awful at that.

Crazy for (or from) Cookies

I've been lax and haven't posted in over a week, but with good reason:


So be sure to support your local Girl Scout council and buy some cookies!!

Jeans into Skirt - WIP - update

All of the embroidery on Ladybug's skirt is finished. Tonight I'm going to start deconstructing a pair of jeans shorts to fill in the middle of the skirt.
I'm thinking the top of the jeans may find new life as a bag...

Completed banner

I finished a banner for the girls' bedroom today. I'm in the process of redecorating their room in a Hawaiian theme. My plan is to do more banners like this and sell them at the gallery and possibly on Etsy.



This one is less than perfect because daughter #2 (Doodlebug - age 18 months) ran off the "O" and squashed it, so now it hangs funny. Any subsequent items will be made well out of Doodlebug reach.

Jeans into Skirt - WIP

Both of my daughters are rough on their clothes. Daughter #1 - "Ladybug" age 7 yrs. - is especially rough. She's the girliest tom-boy you could ever hope to meet. She's all about running, jumping, climbing trees - she just wants to do it while wearing a princess dress and full makeup.
Within the span of two weeks she managed to bust the knees out of 3 pairs of jeans. They were last year's jeans, so I guess they all reached their abuse threshold at the same time. In any case, they still fit, so I wanted to get as much mileage out of them as possible.
The first pair I did a straightforward basic knee patching job. Denim on the inside, decorative fabric on the outside. I used a combo of pink skull print and black and white stripes. (I'll post pictures after they're washed.)
The second pair was a little more tricky - they had machine embroidery on the legs and one of the rips was right in the middle of the embroidered area. Interwebz to the rescue! I googled "jeans into skirt" and went about making her an embroidered mini.
She loves it and wears it every chance she gets. (Again, photos when it's clean.)
I'm currently working on the third pair. She requested that these get turned into a full length skirt. No problem! So I patched the holes and in a moment of inspired creativity, decided to "doodle stitch" the front. I've currently been working on these for 2 weeks - a bit here and there while the baby sleeps or while riding in the car - whenever I have some spare time.
Here are a few photos. Free-hand stars in progress:


Finished stars and rainbow butterfly. Butterfly is a Sublime Stitching pattern.


The "L" was done freehand, everything else is Sublime Stitching.






The back pockets were removed, existing embroidery ripped out and replaced, additional embroidery added freehand, then I hand sewed the pockets back on.



I don't have to much more to finish - the last few bits of embroidery and 2 more small holes to patch - then I'll machine stitch it together and voila! skirt.
I'll get Ladybug to model when it's all done.

New Year, New Blog

I used to have a Livejournal. For several years I wrote in it every day, sometimes several times a day. In 2010 I think I posted 4 times. All of my LJ friends had moved over to Facebook, and for a time, I just found it easier to say what I needed to say in soundbites.
Now that the baby is older (almost 18 months) and able to entertain herself for short periods, I am trying to turn some attention back to my art and other endeavors.
My list of goals for 2011:

1. Focus on my art - do something creative every day - at least 15 minutes.
2. Create artwork to be submitted for publication and actually send it!!
3. Keep finding fun and interesting things for my Girl Scout troop to do.
4. Create a new collection for sale in the gallery.
5. Do a great job with the Art Guild newsletter that was just passed on to me.

So this blog is going to be my creative journal with the occasional sidebar.
Welcome aboard!