putting my stamp on it.

i have been trying to figure out what to use for a tag for the things i'm selling. i ordered this stamp about a week ago and it came the other day. it's a bit smaller that i thought, but it will work and it's adorable! i looked at hobby lobby for a certain kind of "tape" but they didn't have it. i need something that doesn't fray, this wide ribbon looks pretty good. also, hobby lobby didn't have the right ink pad for fabric, so i bought a marker, which i hated. it just didn't work right. i had tried just paint with the fabric medium-too goopy. so....i painted a square of paint on this card and used it as a stamp pad and it worked great! i really impress myself sometimes!

testing.

i made a few while i was at it.
 my new mat worked awesome to measure how far apart to stamp.

roy g biv

here is the dress. mid-stencil. i thought it needed a little something. i was going to try a dog stencil, but then i remembered i made these cloud stencils for another project. i just have some acrylic paint and fabric medium that i mix in. i have red, yellow, blue, black and white and i mix whatever color i want! i cut up a sponge and just pat it on. the stencils i cut with a tiny utility knife using a magazine underneath. it works great!

cute pink seersucker!

we're in business!

i have been working on my first order!! a crown, dress and bloomers. they are for my friend julie's niece in colorado. her first birthday is coming up! :) i'm really excited about these projects. they are so cute!

i like cutting out these little pieces and arranging them just so.
it's oddly calming.

finished crown.

the chicks have arrived!!!

these are our long-awaited chicks! they don't have names yet. just rhode island red and california white. the red will lay brown eggs and the white, white eggs. yesterday, we bought the light, light bulb, feed, pine shavings and feeder bottoms. we had some mason jars that screwed right into them. we also had the aquarium. all together we spent about $35. now to build a coop for them! we have been looking online at ideas and there are some really cool chicken coops out there. :)

all warm and cozy. they love their new home.

you can see their coloring better in this photo. mine's the red and george's, the white.
it has to be 85 to 100 degrees for these little guys.

little feeder and waterer.

the law for keeping chickens in the city is that one can have two without a permit, and up to 20 with a permit. 20?? no thanks! we do want to get a couple more this summer though. there is a breed that lays blue-green eggs that are supposed to be delish. we actually bought some green eggs from open harvest yesterday, but have yet to try them.

what nice teeth you have....

adella has two teeth! they are the bottom middle two.

she is proud of her teeth.

no chicks!! :(

george with the light.

i have been waiting to post because i have been taking a little break from sewing. last night, i was sewing a dress, and everything was going wrong. i needed a day off. also, i was waiting for chicks! we've decided to raise chickens for fresh eggs. we have been to orscheln's twice and no chicks. yesterday they said today, and today they said tomorrow! today we bought all the gear and their new home is ready!

we have this great back porch/mudroom that until recently had the dryer and washing machine jammed in. tight fit. we moved the dryer and there's much more room. when the washer is moved, we can keep all kinds of gardening and outdoor things here for summer!

looks cozy.

exploring.....

checking out some dry, crispy leaves.

what's in there?

on the prowl.

hi.

good morning.

fried egg. 

my friend shannon's son, asher (that i made the crown for,) is allergic to eggs, dairy, all nuts. yikes, poor guy. she has wanted food to teach him what he can't have. so i made an egg this morning! 

taco "kit"

i came up with this taco idea tonight when i was trying my new rotary cutter. i cut a bunch of green strips and they looked like lettuce. i thought, i could make tacos! i ended up making lettuce leaves instead of "shredded" lettuce, because i wanted it to be simple. i think these are chicken fillet tacos? i put chip bag pieces in the lettuce to make it crinkley, i have done this before, but it doesn't seem to work as well as i hoped. cheeseburger next? i think so.

bueno.

perfect avocado from open harvest.

grass project.

owen and i planted some wheat grass. then i'll take some pictures as it grows.

"getting the dirt ready."

i really didn't have to help much. :)

we put a big layer of seeds and then soaked it pretty good. 

george covered it with a wet paper towel. it should sprout soon!

thanks, grandma!

my grandma came over today and brought me some presents. a rotary cutter, mat
 and ruler!! i have been wanting and needing these for a long time!

cool rotary cutter!!

great grandma bernice and adella.

petal skirt and king owen!

i started making this petal skirt yesterday and finished today. it was fun! a matching crown or garland is in the works. the felt is really not washable, so i'm exploring some other options in my "test kitchen."

petal skirt!

i made it a little big, so she can wear it for a long time.  i'm going to put an elastic waist band on the next one.

my nephew owen came over to visit with grandma janet. he loves baby adella!

king owen crowning adella.

owen did an art project while he was over.

hurry up!

the camera battery is charging. i can't wait to post new pictures from today! arggghhhh.

clapping!!!!!!!

she learned to clap!

she thinks it's pretty cool.
and it is!

red dress.

it turned out pretty good....i decided i DON'T like the bias tape and am going to make my own  for these.
it was stiff and made this fabric pucker.

you can see the pattern better here. and my test tag!
i just ordered a rubber stamp online to stamp a tag for my stuff!

crown gear.

lots of colors! this is gonna be fun....

bloomies, buttons, bias tape.

i made another pair of bloomers. this time, i followed the directions, and they came out great. :) sure shows me. i did pull a dumb-bell move and sew the bias tape on the wrong way. twice. it's like the bloomers have it out for me. i bought some bias tape last night, but either i should try a different size, or stick to making my own. at least for the dresses and bloomers, it looks nice. i also made this pair larger, although it's still a little shy of covering adella's big cloth diaper.

i started this dress last night. got some cute buttons and red bias tape to match. thanks to angel for the pretty red fabric! there are a few other prints that came with this. turns out fat quarters (a certain "cut" of fabric) are the perfect size for this dress pattern.

asher's crown.

i am making a crown for a little 2 year old boy named asher. he loves adella.

he's going to love this crown!

i used some foam letters to stamp out his name on the felt pieces.

naked crown. i made a template for future crowns!

i used pinking shears to cut out the letters and then sewed them on using a zigzag stitch.

added buttons and bits of felt for decoration!

stitched around the top and bottom....

.....and viola!! 

a neat crown! it didn't take too long to make and it was fun designing it!

yes, your majesty.

queen adella.

i've been thinking about making these for a while....they turned out awesome!

this one is for my nephew, owen.

all i used for these was 2 sheets of felt, felt scraps, buttons, ribbon and little bells. they were easy! you could use all kinds of odds and ends. adella's is simply felt scraps sewn on, very baby friendly. fun!