My 100th Post Giveaway!!!

YAY!!! I made it to 100!! It was touch and go for awhile....I thought I would NEVER get this done! Without further ado....here is what I am giving away.....







This banner is made using burlap, felt, tulle, ribbons, and a thick "rustic" twine.




The leaves were cut using a pattern from my sweet friends at Wee Folk Art, then monogrammed with family names. I used a thin wire threaded through the back to help "shape" the leaves, and to make them stiff.
The banner is approximately 78" long...that's over 6 ft of burlap goodness!! The individual pennants are about 8" x 10", the 8" of course, being at the top of the pennant. The ends have been serged to keep the weave of the burlap from coming undone!



Here is the Giveaway info:

The Giveaway will start NOW and go until sometime Monday, November 2nd. I will be out of town this weekend and possibly away from my computer so if I don't get a chance to thank each of you for visiting.....THANK YOU FOR VISITING!! :)


All you have to do is leave a comment...interesting ones are the BEST...tell me what your plans are for Thanksgiving....tell me what you did for Halloween...and for all of my "out of the States" visitors, tell me what SEASON it is!! :) (YES! I am shipping internationally!!)


Make sure you leave an email, blog link, or some other way for me to get in touch with you if you are the winner!!

The winner will receive a Burlap Banner. If you like the FAMILY one...great, but I would be willing to do FALL or AUTUMN. If you prefer all one color on the letters...I can do that too! Tulle and ribbon colors can be your choice also. I'm always open for suggestions, so tell me what you like!



Well, I guess that is it for now! I will be back Monday to announce the WINNER!! Thanks again for visiting and Good LUCK!! Until later...

Halloween Costumes and a Treat Bag

When my SIL asked me to do a treat bag for my sweet little niece...it was a no-brainer!! OF COURSE I WILL!! For one thing, she is my niece and I love doing things for her, and the other is that I knew I would not have to THINK about it!! My SIL is excellent at knowing exactly what she wants!! She knew the color of the bag, the color and size of the bows, and which design she wanted on it!! She even sent me a link to the embroidery website she found the design on! Awesome. You know being creative all of the time is HARD WORK!! Sometimes it is nice to have someone tell you what to do because after that, your own creative juices are refilled!! I guess that is why I am addicted to so many other sewing blogs! I can just look and look and get the best ideas and inspiration. And if I am lucky, there is a tutorial that tells me what to do! :)

So this treat bag was made using another bag as a template. I just cut all of the pieces of felt, sewed them together, then did a good top stitch all the way around for extra reinforcement. I did two layers on the front and back panels and sandwiched the straps in between, and also added a second layer on the bottom, for extra support. Very easy, and such a cute outcome!

This is what Ms. Priss picked to be her costume this year. I said, "Sure! I can make that!"

So what do you think? No pattern, just a picture to look at! Not bad, eh? The flowers were made courtesy of the MANY blogs I read, and would never have thought of doing had it not been for the inspiration I receive from them! Thank you!

Here is the back, with a beautiful action shot!

For the flower in her hair, I threaded some embroidery floss and added some seed beads in the middle of the petals. Then ran the floss through the flower a couple of times, and tied it around a rubber band. She loves it!

The Middle Child chose to be a witch, so of course I thought....TuTu!!

I made a pair of pantaloons for her to wear under the Tutu, and used elastic thread around the leg holes for the easy "ruffled" effect. I wasn't going to do a top at first, just a black tee with embellishments on it, but decided at the last minute to "try my hand" at it! I loosely used a Simplicity pattern just to cut the pieces, and figure out how to add the "V". Once it was all together, I added a little sparkly around the "V" and pink ruffles at the bottom of the sleeves. I probably should have made it a little longer, but the Tutu does a good job keeping her shirt from rising up! For the hat, lots of embellishing on a $1 hat from Target!! I sewed the pink marabou boa around the rim, then hot glued the ribbon, pompoms and rhinestones! I guess that means I am friends with my glue gun again! :)

Here is another beautiful action shot!

For The Boy I was just going to buy him something, but again...at the last minute came up with the idea for him to be Ms. Priss' dance partner. The black pants were the ones I made for my cousin's wedding. His cummerbund is a satin ribbon joined in a circle with a 1/4" elastic piece. And his "ruffled" shirt is a long-sleeved white onesie with 6 strips of red satin ribbon with 1/4" elastic zigzagged down the center then joined to form a ring. Slip them up the arm and VIOLA! Instant Flamenco Dancer Shirt!! I SO love EASY!

Yes, his cummerbund is crooked...he was sleeping when I measured his waist!! :) We had so much fun at the Boo At The Zoo today! And everyone was very impressed with my costume making abilities! Sometimes I surprise myself!! :)

So, guess what? My next post will be my 100th!! Make sure you come back and leave a comment to enter to win my FABULOUS giveaway!! Until later...

Halloween Banners

Ok, so here are pictures of the rest of the decorations that I hinted at on my last post:

Ta-Da!! Burlap banners!! I have been having fun working with burlap. I read about it all of the time on Maya Made, but never really thought of incorporating it into any of my sewing projects until my sweet Bloggy friend, Chelle introduced me to The Polka Dot Pig!! Have you been to this blog? AMAZING!! She is so full of GOOD STUFF!! Ok, I have now used that on two posts...Martha has Good Things...I get STUFF!! :) Anyway...back to The Polka Dot Pig! She was having a giveaway for one of her Spooky banners, and sadly I did not win. So I thought about it....and wouldn't you know that JoAnn's was having a sale on burlap that week...AND felt. So the next thing you know, I'm there buying stuff!! I quickly made a couple of stencils and set out to make myself a banner!

And one for my Momma:

And a couple for my SIL's sister, whose baby Boy is turning 1 on November 2nd, so she is having a Halloween-inspired party the weekend before.

As you can see, the more I make, the more "creative" I get!! I can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas....maybe I'll do some for those Holidays as well!

But why wait??!! The fabulous aforementioned Katie is WAY ahead of me, she has already begun! She also makes awesome name photo albums and other Scrapbooky type things, AND she designs blog pages, so many things to choose from. She is truly inspirational. Thanks Katie!!

My banners are made with burlap and felt. For the first one I did, which is the purple SPOOKY one, I used a sticky-backed craft felt. I thought it would be easier to hold the letters while I sewed them on. It worked out ok, but I wanted to use different colors for the lettering, so I switched to just regular felt and pinned it on. Also on the first one, I noticed that the edges of the burlap unraveled a little, so on the next ones I decided to serge the pennants. I really liked the clean finish it gave. And because I use my serger ALOT...I have tons of scraps. So when I saw that Sew Mama Sew! was having a Scrapbuster's Month, I started thinking of something I could use my serger scraps for. That is how the idea of a little spider and ghost came about!! Don't you just love how creativity works??!! It is never ending!

Well, I am almost finished with the kids' Halloween costumes. I'll be back to show them off once I am done!! And don't forget to keep checking back for my 100th post giveaway...you are going to LOVE it!! Until later...

Serger Scrap Stuffies!!

Those of you with Sergers, THIS has got to be a familiar sight...



If not....then I guess I just keep showing my TRUE clutterbug self!! :)

So I am kinda bummed! I thought I would have this AWESOME idea and submit it to Sew Mama Sew! for the Scrapbuster Month Contest....little did I realize that the contest is for a TUTORIAL!!! UGH! I have none, sadly! :( I think I am the LAST sewing blog to NOT have a tutorial! I've got to get it together! So anyway.... I decided to at least SHOW you my idea!


So there you go....Serger Scrap Stuffies...softies...stuffed thingies....whatever you call them! Now, obviously these are NOT to be used in toys for children. I am making these into HALLOWEEN decorations! YAY!

I will be back later in the week to show you the rest of the decoration!!

But here is one...and it comes with an AWESOME pattern and TUTORIAL...just not from me!!


Isn't this the cutest little kitty?? This is from the most generous and talented mother/ daughter team on the WWW! Wee Folk Art! If you haven't been to check them out yet...WHY NOT??? Their blog is FULL of such good stuff!! And Kimara has even ventured into POWER TOOLS!! You've gotta go see....I'll wait!
Alright, now that you are back.... check out what's inside...

yep, more Serger scraps!! The Middle Child enjoyed diving into that big ole box and throwing scraps around! She even managed to get some in the kitty! This kitty, by the way, is actually a door stop! Pretty neat, huh? Well, I don't have any doors that need stopping, so it just sits on a shelf in my living room looking Halloweeny!! :) I did all of the stitching during the ride to Texas.

I didn't attach the tip of the tail so it would have a little "flared" effect!! Love it! Thanks ladies...I've got so much MORE to do from your blog...so keep the good stuff coming!! :)

Now, just for a little bit of inside information....I know of this one blog that is about to reach her 100th post, and she is thinking about having a FABULOUS giveaway to celebrate!!! Here's the link:

http://sewmylife.blogspot.com/

IT'S ME....sillies!! :) I have the greatest thing I am going to be starting-to-work-on-SOON-I-promise....and you are going to love it!!! So...if you are visiting me for the first time or tend to be more of a lurker....make sure you come back and SPEAK up!! All you will have to do is leave a comment, I promise! Well...I am off to bed, maybe....or maybe I'll be remembering to post my link over at SMS for my NON-contest entry!! :) Until later...

My Cousin's Wedding!

We went to Texas this weekend to witness my cousin Austin and his beautiful bride, Sarah's wedding! It was AWESOME! It was at the Walden Yacht Club on Lake Conroe. I LOVED the symbolism of the sand in the picture on the right. 2 vials of a darker, brownish sand joined onto pure white sand. Both Austin and Sarah have overcome HUGE obstacles in their lives to become two awesome individuals, and now a married couple that will have a life filled with love, joy, and FAITH!! They both work for Teen Challenge of Texas, after "graduating" the program. You can read all about their stories here and here. We are all SO PROUD of the people they have become! We had a big "caravan" of family travelling and staying at the Condos around the Yacht Club, so nice and the kids had fun running around and hanging out! It was nice to catch up with family that I don't get many opportunities to see. Austin and Sarah were so happy that we were all able to make it to their celebration! We wouldn't have missed it for the WORLD!! :)


They have a new home in San Antonio, where they will begin their lives as husband and wife. So I made them a couple of things that I hope they will like.
The place mats are a khaki twill with a brown corduroy backing. I love how they turned out! I am not sure if you can see in the picture, but the monogram is a gold border with hands folded in Prayer.

I used some of the left over fabric scraps to dress up a couple of kitchen towels.

This is what we got as "thanks for coming" gifts! Isn't it AWESOME???!!

The crosses are made by the kids at Teen Challenge. I just LOVE it! And it looks like the Groom's Cake!!

Awesome!

Well, I will be busy "catching up" with all of my bloggy friends this week!! And I will be making the kids' Halloween Costumes! I have a few things to showcase for Halloween, and I FINALLY have an entry to the Sew Mama Sew! Scrapbuster Contest!! So another busy week...hope you all have a good one!! Until later...

Mardi Gras Madness!

So here are some before and after shots of the Mardi Gras costumes I embellished!! I finally finished them...and my "output" has picked up!! It is amazing how much I can accomplish when I am NOT working with sequins! :D

Here is the before shot:

We wanted one of those fuzzy collar, but the Sherpa was too dull so I opted for some sparkly, fluffy yarn and knitted a big rectangle and sewed it on the existing collar. Pretty good effect!

I embroidered the patch and added the sparkly ric rac!

It is supposed to be a cloud with a silver lining, and a lightening bolt coming out! Ms. Priss said it looked like a flower!

The children that these belong too will be the Wright Brothers. So we played around with "flight gear", but probably got the time frame wrong! I don't think they were wearing sequins back then!!

Here is the other outfit before:

And after

I knitted another rectangle to add a collar to the bomber jacket. And also did another name tag. I embellished the inside shirt as well, but didn't take pictures...I don't think....

And here is a shot of the back. I really like how this design came out! It sorta looks like a "sinking sun"!

So all in all...a success! I got it too her on time for all of the Formal Pictures were taken, so that's a plus!! She was happy with the outcome, and I learned ALOT in the process. The most important one....Don' t be afraid of embellishments :)

Well, it is WAY past my bedtime! I am off to bed...until later....

Meet my Friend...

Chelle! She is AWESOME! If you haven't checked her out, do it now! I first met Chelle during my May Giveaway that I participated in through Sew Mama Sew! She made a sweet comment in hopes of winning. I emailed her back to thank her and checked out her blog and we just hit it off. She is prior Air Force, as am I, and her husband is still on Active Duty. They are stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS which now has its very own Target!! Yay!! It is her favorite store and she used to drive all the way to Mobile, AL to get her "fix"!!

This is what I chose to send her for a PIF:

She has a beautiful 2 year old daughter, who just celebrated her birthday!




And another beautiful daughter who is well on her way to the 3 month marker!!

I chose to "Pay it Forward" to Chelle because of all she does. Through her blog, Creative Momma, she finds all kinds of wonderful!! She knows the best giveaways, does tons of Product Reviews, and is just silly funny most of the time, while giving us bursts of happiness through pictures of her girls! She brightens my day, and is always there for me with sweet encouraging words. And did I mention that she is a friend matchmaker? One of her bloggy friends moved to Lafayette from Dallas and she sent me her way! Elaine is just so sweet and we had a wonderful lunch date. We would probably be doing alot more meeting had she not been almost 9 months pregnant when we met!! She had a beautiful baby girl on October 1st, so I anticipate much more visiting when she gets a little more mobile and that sweet baby is ready to venture out!! I mean, it was just blind luck that of all the schools in Lafayette, her son would go to Woodvale Elementary, which is also the school Ms. Priss attends!! So this is my big THANK YOU to Chelle for being my friend!!

Now, she is going to be too sweet to say anything bad, but right after I FINALLY made it to the Post Office and mailed out the gifts...my cousin called me. I did a bib for her baby girl using the same vinyl Damask. The bib was great, she loves the design, but when she put it in the washing machine....the vinyl pulled away from the monogram stitching!! UGH!! So it seems my great "find" was not so great after all!! The bib itself held the stitches very well, but the embroidery stitching must have been too much for this tablecloth fabric! And I was so excited when I saw it on the roll at Hancock Fabrics, because I had not seen a vinyl tablecloth material in a Damask before! So I will be making a new bib withOUT the monogramming! Here is the bib with pink monogramming and backing.

Speaking of things I will be doing....my list is getting a little smaller!! I finished the Mardi Gras costumes this weekend, and will post before and after pictures. These pictures are just so you can see what has been taking up my time and NOT an invitation for others to request Mardi Gras Costuming now or in the future!!!! WOW! The time and patience that goes into embellishing these things!!! From now on, I will just enjoy the costumes from afar...on the parade route....while being pelted with beads!! :D

And if you have lots of fabric scraps laying around...check out Sew Mama Sew! They are having a Scrapbusters month, we can learn a few things!! And go check out a couple of my bloggy friends who are participating in the Contest! Amy at During Quiet time has a tutorial for a fabulous armrest pincushion...at least from what I could see in my Google Reader...I am having difficulties getting into her blog right now!! Amy, love it!! And Tammie and her family just acquired two of the cutest little kittens, and of course they couldn't go without some fun scrappy catnip toys. Check out CraftyTammie for her tutorial!! I've been thinking of entering something myself...goodness knows I have TONS of scraps laying around!! But will I have the time to do it?? We will see how much I get accomplished tomorrow!! Which will be NOTHING if I don't get to bed...so until later....

Pajama Party....extended?

So I missed the Pajama Party at SMS!! A WHOLE month, and I waited until the LAST day to get to work!! So sad!! Especially since I've been BEGGING for one! Oh well! I did finish them, and got the pictures to prove it!!


I used a pattern to cut the pieces, but after that I just started sewing. I used my serger, which made it super fast, then reinforced the seams with my sewing machine. I used elastic thread on the sleeves and shorts for The Middle Child's jammies. Then added a ruffle on the pajama top with my serger. I got both of the fabrics in the clearance section of JoAnn's a couple of years ago. It is a really soft knit. The Middle Child has worn hers almost everyday since I made them, so they've been washed several times already. It seems to be holding up pretty good!! There was a color run along the bottom of the shirt, so I added the ribbon to "hide" it. It also helps her know which is the front! :)

Ms. Priss couldn't decide on shorts or pants, so I decided for her! I need to tighten the elastic around the waist and had to shorten the length. Maybe she will have a growth spurt!
Do you see the SASS I live with!! Notice the red hair? It must be where all that attitude comes from! :)
I used 1/4" elastic in a casing around the neck of both pajama tops, this is the first time I've used this technique. It was not as hard as I thought it would be! And I really like NOT having to use bias, or buttons, or anything along those lines!! I also added one line of elastic stitching on the front of Ms. Priss's shirt. It "gathered" it a little for a nicer fit. All in all, I am happy, because they are happy! Now all I have to do is make The Boy's.


I have been busy embellishing some costumes for Mardi Gras, yes I know that is not until next year, but these children are in a crew and they have pictures in a couple of weeks. It has definitely been an experience in trims and especially SEQUINS!! I've never worked so in depth with these little boogers and they are slippery!! I'll post before and after pics when I am done!

I also have some Fall and Halloween items I want to "feature" this month, and want to participate in Sew Mama Sew's Scrapbuster contest!! I have to get cracking on that....don't want to let the whole month go by!! :)


And lastly....I AM SO EXCITED!! Petalplum is doing a PIF and picked little ole ME as one of her "givetos"....yeah, I just totally made that word up!! But anyway, if you haven't checked her blog out yet...you really should! She is so talented and screen prints her own fabric. They are so pretty. I love her color combinations and simplicity of her prints. GORGEOUS!! She is always doing a Market, and just recently started a new business venture called Selvedge House , so if you live anywhere near Brisbane, Australia..... aren't you LUCKY!! :) Thank you Ellie!!


I will be back before the end of the week to talk about my friend Chelle, her beautiful girls, and the PIF I sent her! Until later....

Did Someone say GEAUX LSU??

At least, that's how the Cajuns around here say "Go!" Well I'm back!! Did ya miss me? I have been a sewing fool lately! Sew much to do, and sew little time! On the right is an order for a little girl's 1st birthday outfit! As you can see, the parents are CRAZY for them Tigers!! This is actually a "make up" order. Around this time last year, a proud GrandMa put in a request for an LSU quilt and two pillowcase dresses. I found out about 6 months later, that the dresses didn't fit!! After apologizing profusely, then "yelling" at them for not saying something sooner, at which the response was, "but they were just so cute"!! Really? I have the sweetest customers....but if I buy something that doesn't fit, you can bet I would be asking for my $$ back...or at least an exchange!!! So that is what I told them, then asked what they would like as a "make up" order? This was it!! Pretty cute, huh? So the moral of this story is.... Custom order or not, if it is not what you want or doesn't fit.....please let me know!!



Here is an up close look at the crown front:


And the back of the crown.


Another reason I was kinda upset that the ladies never said anything about the dresses not fitting sooner, is that through them, I've gotten many orders! They are so sweet, and really "spread" the word of my creations. I made a quilt for a baby boy a while back that they gave as a shower gift. The grandmother of said baby loved it so much, that she promptly put in an order for her other grandson. Here is his quilt:


Because of all of the wonderfully talented quilters I follow, Amy, Marguerite and Allie to name a few, I have been trying to make more of an effort to actually LINE up my squares!! I think I am getting a tiny bit better at it!! I did the middle applique a little different this time, going down instead of across.


Here is a picture of the back, as you can see, I don't actually "quilt" my quilts. I know it is hard to see in my pictures. I will try to work on getting better photos. It is pretty sad since I have a really good camera and use Photoshop! My friend Melanie gives a good explanation on how to get "good" pictures. And she makes AWESOME Polymer Clay creations. I am going to be getting something that my Momma is going to FLIP over this Christmas....ssshhhh Daddy, it is a surprise!! Anyway, I like a more "comforter" type quilt, so that is how I started making my quilts. Maybe one day I will venture into the actual free motion aspect of quilting.
Well, I'm back to sewing....until my LIST is cleared, I will be a busy girl!! I did, however, finish my girls' jammies for Sew Mama Sew's September sew-along, and check out WHO they featured.....some of my Sweeties!! Way to go, girls!! I am just waiting for Ms. Priss to get home from school to try hers on! I'll post soon!! Until later.....