Happy Mother's Day

What a fun Mother's Day weekend!  It's wonderful to spend the time with the people I love.  :-)

Several projects have been completed with my new sewing machine, all of which I have been very please with their outcome.  This weekend I started to explore a different aspect of sewing and my machine...embroidery!  I'm stoked about all the possibilities!




Project number one:



FABULOUS.

This ended up being part of a Mother's Day gift.  I needed a bag to put it in, so this is the result:










My mom loves elephants, so the fabric was perfect.  Happy Mother's Day.  I love you Mom!

All By Myself

I've toyed with the idea of getting 'keychain hardware' to make keychain wristlets (or whatever they are called!).    I have yet to do so because I spent a good bit of money lately on sewing a jewelry stuff.


Well....today was a bad day at school. Only 16 more days of school left;  students and teachers are ready for summer!  But to make myself feel a little better, I made my first wristlet...without the hardware.  I was going to get special kind of ribbon and hardware to make it when I first decided to do this, but  I used what I had instead.  I'm pretty proud of myself actually!  Surely others have created wristlets like I have, but it felt really good to not read about someone else's idea and instructions for me to be able to do it.  It's a pretty simple project (took about 10 mins), but it made me feel really good...which is what I needed!







What do you think?

Stress Relief

I almost titled this post "baby blues,"  but I thought better not or I may give people the wrong impression!  HOWEVER...I did spend the weekend thinking about babies, but not mine.  My only babies are my dogs.

Yesterday at school we had baby shower for a friend of mine.  I spent a good portion of the weekend making presents for the shower.  Friday night I went shopping, got my supplies and enjoyed getting all pieces for cut out for bibs, towels, and baskets.  I was super excited!  Everything went great....until I was finished.   I loved each of the fabrics separately, but I made some terrible choices combing colors.  The bibs looked like they came straight out of the 70's!  Yikes! Not that I don't like the 70's, but I'd rather give a more modern gifts.

I started over from scratch.  I am very happy about how the NEW bibs, towels and baskets turned out!  I just forgot one thing...to take pictures!!

Some other projects from today:

I wasn't sure what I wanted to make when I made this keychain!  It started of as a bead charm for earrings or a necklace.  I wanted to try out what  hammering would do to the wire and try to flatten the wire for a new look.  The keychain was a last minute decision, but a good one...at least I think so.
The "play" charm was added to lighten my mood a bit.  We only have 3 and a half weeks of school left. That is absolutely crazy!  Either way,  I'm ready to PLAY!!

I very much enjoyed the process of making the key chain.  Mid project picture:



The beads in my bracelet are darling.  The bracelet is cute, but kind of plain though, so I may take it apart and add some pizzazz!



Ahh...I'm always looking for a new set of earrings.  So I thought tonight is a good night to work on it! The picture below is actually a secondary picture of the finished project.  Can you see the difference between the first and second picture??



Original picture of final project:



It wasn't started taking the picture above did I see my mistake.  The picture above kind of makes the one on the right seem smaller, but actually that wasn't the goof.  I put two different types of hoops on the earrings! Lesson learned...don't make jewelry while you are tired.  :-)

I am stoked about a package I should receive in the mail soon.  The most adorable fabric by Amy Butler should be arriving any day now.  I'll be using it to make some Mother's Day gifts for my favorite people in the world.

Take care,

Janelle

PINK PINK PINK!!!

A long long time ago..well, actually not that long ago....I use to be a pretty big tom boy growing up.  Shopping, dresses, getting my nails done...they all scared the heck out of me. What makes a girl change directions?  What makes a girl turn from lanky softball player and runner to a woman,  other than hormones and boys?  Oh wait, I guess there are not any other motivating factors for most of us.  

I teach 7th grade math.  I'm just about every middle school student's worst nightmare, at least on the first day of school until they get to know me.  The year is ALWAYS extremely frustrating, but at the same time it's sweet to see the changes and maturity made through out the year.  

No matter what makes us change and mature, I'm so glad we do....it usually seems to be for the better.  I didn't see all the beauty that I do now!  It's kind of funny how God can change our heart and direction like that.

Pink.  I love pink.  Yes, I do like the musical artist Pink, but I'm referring to the color pink. I love it.  I'm not sure why, but it makes my heart smile.  I'm glad it does and I never would have thought that I'd be a girly girl.  Okay, maybe I'm not a full fledge girly girl, but it's definitely there.

These also make my heart smile:

These earrings were made late last night so I'd have matching earrings and bracelet for work today! It's nothing spectacular, but I'm happy with it.  I'm really surprised that it only took a few minutes.  :-)

You know what really scares me?  The thought that I could possibility have the same out look on life that I did when I was in 7th grade! Yikes!

Take care,

Janelle

Hello World

So I think I am a bit crazy. Yes, I admit it.  But isn't that what makes life great?  In between teaching, going to grad school, taking care of my dogs, and trying to have some what of a personal life,  I've decided to start crafting.  Maybe even make this hobby of mine into a business one day.  Who knows?  But for now, here is what I've done:




I saw this tie-dye fabric and immediately fell in love!   I knew I had to have it as soon as I saw it.  I got it from JoAnns Fabrics, but I'm finding all kinds of cool fabric places on the internet.  What did we do before the internet?!!   The bag was made using this tutorial.  I made a few modifications, including the pocket on the front and altered the button closure to fit my liking.  Overall, I'm very pleased!! Specially considering it was my first sewing project.

Another first...


This bracelet was made for my grandmother!  She is my favorite person. EVER.  Don't try to out do her because you can't.
On my spring break, I went to visit her in Pennsylvania.  We talked about some interest I had in learning to sew and making jewelry.  Actually,  she is the one who inspired me to start making jewelry. One day she brought back a couple magazines about beading and said the magazines reminded her of me.  Who knew that a simple kind act could spark such an interest?  She gave me the dove the charm and asked me to make a bracelet.

And a second...




For this bracelet, I took a chance and created my own handmade jump rings.  To my surprise, they actually turned out pretty well! The Byzantine Chain was a little time consuming, but well worth it!  Pink is my favorite color, so I couldn't resist using the pink beads!

Take care,

Janelle