{paddy the penguin, softie, stuffed animal}

Meet little Paddy.  

Isn't he the most adorable penguin you've ever seen?  

I just finished sewing him up today.  

This was a pattern I was testing for Sweet Briar Sisters. 

This is what he looks like without his scarf.

Paddy is approximately 5" tall and 3.5" wide (not including his wing span, so if you include his wings sticking he's closer to 5.5" wide).

This sweet little stuffed penguin is available in my Etsy shop, however if you'd like to order a penguin with different colors head over to my shop and request a custom order. I will try to find colors as close to what you request as possible. Please note that I cannot guarantee that I can find exactly what you would like, but I will do my best. 

I'm linking up to some of these parties! 

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{a custom homemade bow tie}

I just finished this fun bow tie for a friend's son, for his homecoming this weekend.  I had my son model for me.  Mr. C is 9 years old and the tie fits him perfectly on the tightest loop.

 You can see from these 2 photos (above and below) the loops and hook to adjust the size.  I don't like the loops (but this is what the pattern called for).  I've got to come up with a better idea for those before I make more of these, which will be soon because my boys want some for Christmas. 

 

 My friend chose the fabric based that she wanted for her son, based on the color that her son's date wanted him to get.  

You can order a custom made tie by visiting my Etsy shop and placing a custom order.

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{homemade wallets}

  Here are 4 new wallets that I've made a few weeks ago.  These first three are up in my Etsy shop, and the last one was a gift for my daughter's friend.   

These wallets are so fun because you can customize them in many different ways, as you can see I have one that has the front main piece gathered, another that has a gathered accent piece and another that is just a fun chevron with no other accents.

Here are some more wallets that I've made:   

Floral 

Chocolate  

Polka Dots 

cash envelope wallet   

gray & red cities 

teal butterflies 

korryne's wallet  

coral & saffron bow wallet

If you would like to purchase a wallet like this come visit my Etsy shop and you can look through the wallets I have available there or you place a custom order, where you can choose the style colors/prints/fabrics and I will try to find fabric as close to what you request as possible. 

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{the healing powers of honey}

I decided I wanted to share something a little different today. Back in May 2009 I wrecked on my bike. I was trying to avoid hitting a big rock and when I swerved around it I almost hit my son, who was riding next to me, so I swerved again and hit the curb just right and wrecked. I got this nasty scrape on the top of my ankle (along with other injuries) and this is what it looked like after 2 days (pic above). It was starting to get infected. If you look carefully you can see th the redness around the scrape was spreading out. I showed this to a friend of mine and she told me to put honey on a piece of gauze, let it soak in and loosely tape it over the scrape, making sure not to cover it with a sock or anything else. She said the honey needs air to help it heal. 

This 2nd picture is what it looked like after only 2 days with the honey on it. It was almost completely healed and didn't hurt at all. I did take the bandage off occasionally during those two days to let it dry out and I then would re-apply the gauze with more honey on it.

This is what it looks like 4 years later, of course there's some scaring because it was a pretty deep scrape, but it's almost the same color as my skin and barely noticeable.  I just found this blog post about many other great uses for honey, go take a look.

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{guest blogging}

I am guest blogging over at Serenity You today.  I'm featuring some new wallets that I've made recently.  I'm very honored that Natasha has asked me to guest post on her blog. Head over there to see what I have to show you today!

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{chris's custom wallet}

Don't you just LOVE these fabrics? 
I love the combination of these colors. This is a custom wallet that I made for my dear friend Chris.  

Have you seen a color combo recently that you think would work great for a wallet like this?  How about different prints?  Stripes, polka dots, gingham, characters, floral, chevron, etc.  

Leave a comment and give me some ideas of what you think would look great together.

If you'd like to order a wallet similar to this head over to my shop and place a custom order. You can choose the colors/prints/fabrics and I will try to find fabric as close to what you request as possible.   

Please note that I cannot guarantee that I can find exactly what you would like, but I will do my best. 

Come visit me on:

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{pattern testing}

I'm so excited to be chosen as a pattern tester for Sweet Briar Sisters!  I just found their site a few days ago and fell in love with their adorable little stuffed animals.  I almost immediately applied to become a pattern tester and today I found out that I was chosen to test a new pattern they have coming out soon, of an adorable stuffed penguin.  So be watching very soon to see what I come up with!

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{first maxi skirt}

I've finally decided that it's time to start teaching my girls to sew.  Miranda (my 15 year old) is always wanting me to make things for her, so I decided it's time for her to learn to sew for herself.  So, she wanted to make a maxi skirt, so I measured it around her & cut it out and then showed her how to sew it and this is what she came up with. 

. 

I think she did a great job!  I told her to make sure to keep the stripes lined up down the seam and she did a very good job with that too.

  

Skirts with elastic make a great beginning project for anyone wanting to learn to sew.  And speaking of that, I am putting together a Beginning Sewing Class  for those that are here local, near Gilbert AZ.  I am going to attempt something a little new to me and  make tutorials for the simple projects that we will be making in this class.

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{an angry softie}

 

Happy Labor Day (for my American friends) & Happy Monday to everyone else.   

Back a few months ago my youngest son, who is 9 years old, was looking at all of the felt dolls I've made and then proceeded to draw out this angry bird and then asked me to make one out of felt, "like my dolls".  He's an artist as well.  He didn't trace the picture, he looked at a picture of it on the computer and drew it.  

Then I made a pattern from his picture and this cute little felt softie is what came out of it.  He then decided that I need to make all of the angry birds for him, so he drew all of them.  Those will be coming later, as I decided to make them for him for Christmas.

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