I really have been busy, I promise...

So, since my post last month, I've finished rearranging my dining/craft room. Not only that, but I've started sewing in it. I've only worked on one project so far, but it's coming along nicely. An altered Vogue pattern, lots of piping, and lots of gathering. It's for the AG Playthings Summer Sewing Swap, so I can't show you until I mail it out on the 18th.

Here's my craft room right after I finished it.

Sewing room gets a makeover, again

Okay, so tonight, I turned the dining room table around, extended the leaves, and moved it against the wall. I also finished clearing off my bookshelf (doll display) upstairs and brought it down to the sewing area. The bookshelf is now on one side of my dining room table. The other bookshelf (doll display) needs to cleared off (I need a box or 2, or 3) and then it will come downstairs and go on the other side of the dining room table.
The bookshelf that I moved this evening is the one that is going to house my sewing stuff since I'm evicting my sewing desk until I get a bigger place. I can't bear to get rid of it (since it works perfectly for me) since I know I won't be able to find the same kind for the same price, so it's going to Mom's garage.
Here's how it looks so far (camera phone at night = crappy picture quality):

I took the pantry door off and put it in the storage shed since I never close the door anyways. It's my scrapbooking/cleaning/litter box closet. The rack on the right, with the hangers, will probably go since it doesn't serve the purpose I hoped it would. The mound of fabric in the middle of the table? That's the other half of my living room curtains that needs the blackout lining sewn on. The other half covers the window, but I like a gathered look, so these will go back up,eventually...

I am participating in another AG Playthings sewing swap, so I'm excited to get my space organized so I can get to work. I'm working on a historical outfit, and for some reason the color yellow keeps coming into mind. I guess I should straighten up the fabric closet before I start rummaging around in there looking for just the right fabric.

Until next time...

We have a winner!

So, Sunday night, once the craft fair was over, I had The Mom pull a card out of the jar. Our craft fair will is Denise Kelly. Her orange mu-mu is ready and waiting at Charleston Scrapbooking.

Now, for our online winner...

Melissa W. with Cherished Playtime!


Congrats winners!

Now, this week and next week will be filled with listing the remainder of my inventory on my Etsy shop, and revamping my sewing/dining room again.
Tomorrow, Amber and I are helping Mom revamp her craft space so that it works better for her, and then we are moving on to my place to do the same thing for me.Yes, I said it. My newest set up just isn't working, and right now it's looking like the sewing desk is going to go into storage. Not the sewing machine, just the sewing desk. I've almost cleared off my bookshelves upstairs and pack up most of my doll displays, and I'm playing on bringing the bookshelves downstairs and putting them on either sides of my dining room table after I extend it with the leaves. I'm planning on one shelf for my sewing stuff and one shelf for my scrapbooking stuff. My fabric and notions are still upstairs and will stay there. A lot of my scrapbooking stuff is still in the pantry (right off my my dining room) and it will stay in there, but get reorganized. Fingers are crossed that this idea works!

Day one of the craft fair!

The craft fair has begun!

This is the booth my mom and I are sharing. She is manning it today since I have the kids with me all day, but since my hubby has the day off tomorrow, I'll be able to be up there all day. I'll be up there most (if not all) of the day on Sunday.
As of right now the Clara dress and the hat and muff have sold. If you're in the area, make sure to stop by and put you name in for a chance at the giveaway outfit.

Charleston Scrapbooking
7800 Rovers Ave. Suite 1050
North Charleston, SC

Few days until Craft Fair and one week until contest ends!

The craft starts Friday!
Yes, Friday!
As in a few days from today!
And dang it, now I have that silly Rebecca Black song stuck in my head.

So, yesterday I picked up my inventory from Charleston Scrapbooking, where I have them available for "in person" sale as consignment (the store gets a small percentage of the profit). I like that people have the opportunity to see my creations in person when they buy them. That's the only bad thing about selling mostly online.
Last night I went through all of my creations and put them all on new hangers (that I picked up last weekend at the Flowertown Festival). I'm also going through and redoing my price tags and pricing my newest creations, which is where I'm at today.

I still have a small box that has some creations in it that won't fit on hangers. I have a different display rack that I'm going to use at the craft fair so all of my outfits won't be bunched together like they are right now. I have three more things cut out that I need to get sewn this week too.

Next week is Spring Break for my kids. I'm going to be listing anything left form the craft fair into my Etsy shop and starting on some more creations (like Harry Potter robes since the second part of the final movie comes out this Summer).

Until next time...
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Friday! One week into the April giveaway!

It's Friday again! One week until the Craft Fair at Charleston Scrapbooking. Yay!
I've been working hard on getting some more outfits done. This weekend I'm concentrating on some basic button up shirts to go with the pleated wrap skirts I have already made. I'm trying a princess seamed shirt this time. Fingers crossed it comes out as cute as I hope.
In other sewing, I've been working on upcycling some PJ pants into doll clothes. I just love the prints! There are a lot of plaids, and one even has hibiscus flowers (going to make a Hawaiian shirt for Kanani with this one). I've already upcycled part of one pair into a pair of PJ pants (they came out too snug in the hips, so they are more suited for an OG doll rather than an AG doll) and a school jumper for Molly. The blouse is regular broadcloth and will get buttons down the front before next weekend.

And here are some outfits I've worked on since my last picture post.

Okay, I guess outfit. I thought I had sewn more than that. I guess with all of the craziness it just seems like I've been sewing a lot when in truth it's been a little bit a few days a week. Hmph. I work well under deadline, and my husband is going to help me cut stuff out (I trace it and he cuts it). I would like to get another historical outfit done before the craft fair too. I'm thinking a short sleeved version of Kirsten's school dress since it will work for Kirsten and Addy. 

It looks like this:

This is the long sleeve (aka original) version:

So, that's what I've done, and that's what I have planned for the next seven days. Remember to get your comments in before the contest ends! Enter here and/or here.

Until next time...

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Happy April 1st!

Hopefully you've all had your prank for today. Well, if you haven't had your prank yet, keep an eye out for one since you won't find one here.
Today is a special announcement!

In celebration of the upcoming craft fair at Charleston Scrapbooking, I'm holding a contest. And not just any contest, but a double contest. I'm holding one online and one in person. The one online starts today and the one in person starts the first day of the craft fair which is April 15th (tax day and the one year milestone since my surgery).

First, the prize!

One dress is the online prize, and the other dress is for the in person prize.

Now, for the different ways you can earn tickets for the contest:

Online, April 1st - April 17th:

• Comment on this post with your name and e-mail address (info will be hidden)
• Become a follower (current followers are automatically entered)
• Post this on your blog and comment here with the link to your post
• Make a comment on the contest announcement on my Facebook fan page
• Submit a drawing of an outfit
• Make a purchase (I do not have a lot listed right now, but if you see something I've made recently and haven't listed, just ask since I'm not listing anything until after the craft fair)

In person at the Craft Fair, April 15th - April 17th:

• Fill out a raffle ticket (name with either phone number or e-mail address)
• Submit a drawing of an outfit (I will supply paper and colored pencils)
• Tell me you heard about the contest online
• Make a purchase

Holy cow! That's 10 ways to enter! I will draw the winner of the Craft Fair dress at the end of the craft fair on Sunday April 17th, and the winner of the online dress after Midnight that night. 

Now for some rules:

• You must be 18 or older to enter. If you are under 18, please have a parent/guardian enter for you.
• You can enter both contests, but you will only be able to win one. If your name is drawn for both, the second one is void and another name will be drawn. 
• All pictures submitted become my property, and if I make an outfit based on the picture, you will get credit for designing it (so make sure your name is attached to it somehow)

If there are any questions, let me know!

Until next time...

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I caved

So today, I caved in. The contractors have been gone all week, and I have heard nothing from my landlord about the rest of the work.
So, today, I got frustrated enough to unpack my sewing room from the closet, move the cat box into the closet where is belongs, and I set my sewing/dining room up the way it was before the renovations started.
And to top it off, I actually got some sewing done. The first thing I did was a secret sewing project with one of my boys. We made a set of pillows that are going to be a gift. They are soooooo cool! He helped by stuffing them. Well, he picked out the fabric and the project too. I can't post pictures yet, but once the recipient gets them, I'll post pictures. Here's a hint, I used my Cricut to cut out the image I appliquéd onto the front. Cricut + Heat & Bond = Awesome! So awesome in fact that I'm working on an idea to teach a class on it.
Once the pillows were done, I finished cutting out the last pieces for a 30's romper and started sewing it. It's around halfway done right now, and I hope to finish it tomorrow. Only 3 weeks until the craft fair! EEEK!

Until next time...
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Boy Stuff Swap on AGPlaythings

So, before renovations began on my townhouse, I signed up for the Boy Stuff Swap on the AGPlaythings forum. I went back and forth about it since I haven't developed the character of my only boy doll, Jack. Jack is an Our Generation doll by Battat. The quality is no where near American Girl, but hey, Battat was smart enough to make boy dolls (well, at least for a little while). I purchased Jack the day I found out from my ultrasound that I was having a boy, back in 2002. We had gone shopping for baby stuff at Target, and we just so happened to walk by the dolls, and I had to take a look. At the time I had two AG dolls (Molly and Felicity), but they were at my mom's house a few states away. We joked and said it would be funny if our son came out with blonde hair and blue eyes since that is what Jack has. Well, my son has blonde hair and blue eyes. :)
This picture of Jack has him in his full meet outfit:

This picture was taken in 2006.

Jack doesn't get as much attention from me as my other dolls do, but boy, when my kids and their friends play with my dolls, Jack is one of the first ones chosen.

So, since this is a swap, I'll show you what I received since it arrived before I shipped my box: On my Facebook fan page

Now, while I didn't get pictures of all of the cool little stuff I sent out, I did get pictures of the items I made.

Shortalls (I remembered why I hadn't used this pattern in 10 years, I really wanted overalls)

Football PJ pants upcycled from my husband's old PJ pants

In my other crafty endeavors since my last post, my mother and I paired up to make an Angry Birds themed party for my youngest son.

She made the king pig cake my son requested.

And the birds as cupcakes (the one at the bottom of the picture is green like the pig)

And I had the task of making and filling the piñata

I took it from this...

to this. He wanted a king pig with a mustache, even though it's only one or the other in the game. And this was one tough pig. We had to start off with a kids' baseball bat, and it still took a lot for this pig to fork over the plastic eggs and candy. 

I wish the renovations were done on my house. They are for the most part, but there still needs a few things done before it's finished. My sliding glass door needs the trim and shoe molding put on, and the wall that it is on needs repaired from where they were working on the other side of it and cut through. And my living room needs painted. 

I came close to a tempter tantrum yesterday since I have so much that I need to get done both in my house and in my sewing area, that it just infuriates me that I can't put my house back together until they get done. And well, they left early on Friday, and I haven't heard anything from them or my landlord since. **sigh**

Redesigned the blog again!

So, the polka dots just aren't cutting it for me anymore. I looked through what Blogger had to offer, and after narrowing it down to a few background images, I settled on this floral print. The first thing that caught my attention was the color. Another thing that I love is that it is simple and elegant.

So, nothing new in sewing today. I packed up my sewing room when I got back from taking the kids to school. Everything is now in my pantry/storage closet, except my table, chairs, and desk. The white shelf is from my laundry/storage room outside that is still being worked on.

**super sad face**

So, last night while I was clearing off my desk and table I set aside my current projects (patterns and fabrics) and packed up all of creations for next month's Craft Fair. This morning as I packed everything into my my little pantry/sewing room I left my projects and my sewing machine towards the front. Why? Because tomorrow I'm heading to Charleston Scrapbooking to hang out with the ladies there and get some sewing done while the contractors are working my house.
Wednesday is my Momma's birthday, and we have a lunch date (she has a cake decorating class that evening). I'm not going to say how old she is, but what I will tell you is that she doesn't act or look her age.
Speaking of birthday's, my youngest son's birthday is Sunday. We are celebrating on Saturday with an Angry Birds theme. My little monster is quite addicted to this game, and hey, it's educational since it teaches about angles and such. Yeah, we'll go with that. He'll have a green pig cake (3D pig) accompanied by "bird" decorated cupcakes. We are planning on using a green ball pinata and decorating it as a pig, and then filling it with Easter eggs full of candy. Game concept: Pigs steal bird eggs, birds get angry, and birds launch themselves at pigs. If you aren't familiar with this addictive little game, search on Google, and you'll be hooked.
If I haven't said it yet, I'll say it now: I AM SO READY FOR THESE RENOVATIONS TO BE DONE!!!