Wow, almost 2 months of no posting.

So, I've been a bad blogger. I haven't touched either one of my blogs in almost 2 months. It's not that I haven't had the time, it's just that my time has been constantly interrupted. My landlord has finally decided to start some much needed renovations on my townhouse, and it's been two weeks now, and we still have a ways to go. Starting tomorrow they're are going to be working on the rear wall of my unit, and well, that sucks, since that is where my sewing desk is. The sliding door is going to be replaced (which is right next to my desk) and the sheetrock along the whole wall is going to be redone. Upstairs in the boys' room is probably going to need the same treatment.
Here is the front of the house before they started:

This is from May of last year. Not much changed before then and now, except it's gotten a little worse with all of the rain. Turns out there was a lot of termite damage. So, they had to replace the studs. In taking out the old studs, they tore up the sheetrock, so they had to replace that too. Here's a picture from inside of my living room:

Here it is after they were done for the day. A little more was needed for the windows and the rest of the band across the middle.

And this is how it looks now:

It still needs a little touch ups here and there (including the massive amount of cable wires), and then painted, but this is pretty much it. As for the plywood on the window, well, it's a long story.

In taking out the wall, they also took out my window. When they put it in, they put it in backwards, so they had to take it out and do it again. Then they put it in too close to one edge and too far from the other. **SIGH**  So, after the sheetrock guy came to do the mudding and taping a few days later, he left a mess. I was scraping mud off of my window and the window sill, and cleaning the dirt/dust/whatever out of the tracks of the window so it would slide open and closed. I vacuumed the track while it was closed, then opened the window and showed the contractor what the sheetrock guy had left. While the window was open I vacuumed that part of the track. Once done vacuuming I grabbed the WD-40  to lube the track up (just like I've done to the sliding doors in the rear of the house numerous times). Well, when I went to close the window, it wouldn't shut. Something in the top track was catching it at the last 2 inches. After tugging and pushing, it wouldn't budge. Are you kidding? It's getting ready to rain! Ugh! So, I reach up to the top of the window and kind of knock on it to loosen up whatever it is that is blocking it. Well, it didn't work. Instead the window broke. It looks like somebody punched it. While, yes, I can punch, I can't punch square on that high. Thankfully, the contractors where still packing up, so I asked them for help, and they happened to have a piece of plywood they could put over it as a temporary fix. I then used plastic bags to stuff into the gap it left. The sheetrock guys had left his mesh tape behind, so I used that to tape up the broken window so keep it together until either the landlord replaces it or I replace it.

So, yes, this is what has pretty much kept me from blogging and sewing the last two weeks. The contractors are here from 8am to 4pm during the week, and everyday I have to rearrange some part of my house for them to work. Right now my dining/sewing room has my laundry/storage room stuff in it (except the washer and dryer).
All in all, I will be SO glad when all of these renovations are done!

Now, I have been able to get some sewing done of rainy days, in the evenings, and on the weekends done. Here's what I've done since I've last posted (cell phone inside at night = poor quality):

I am going to be a vendor at Charleston Scrapbooking's Craft Fair April 15th - 17th. I'm so excited! I'm fluffing up my inventory, and hoping that it goes a lot better than the last two times I've tried selling in person. If you're in the neighborhood, stop on by!

Nutcracker costume - Fritz

So, all day Saturday, I worked on the Fritz costume. Sadly, I didn't finish it. What was stopping me? Buttons! Nope, not my button hole function on my sewing machine, but actual buttons. I couldn't decide what buttons I wanted to use on the vest. and well, no buttons means no way to make the correct size button hole. So, I dumped my entire box of buttons onto my table, and went through each and every one. I picked out the ones I like the most, and took pictures of them against the gold fabric of the vest.

All of this work, and I still wasn't happy. I really wanted to like the pearl shank buttons, but they were too white, and just slightly bigger than I'd prefer for this size of a vest.
So, last night the boys and I (hubby had to work) had dinner with my parents at their house. After dessert Mom and I went up to her craft space to look through her stash of buttons to see if I could find 2-3 matching buttons. Well, we didn't find any, but Mom reminded me that I could change the color of buttons using embossing powder that we usually use for scrapbooking. Yes, my mother is a crafty woman. And yes, it does run in the family.
So, we did a test run on some buttons, I liked what I saw, so she sent me home with a new embossing pad to keep and some gold embossing powder to borrow. And here's how I made my own gold buttons.

Left to right: Heat Gun, Embossing ink, test buttons from yesterday, and embossing powder.

"ink" the button with embossing ink.

Dip into embossing powder. (make sure tweezers don't go all the way through the button holes or else you'll emboss those too)

Heat it up with heat gun until all embossing powder is melted.

Allow to dry.

New button next to original.

Now to do the back of the button.

Oops, my tweezers damaged the front. Note to self, start with back first.

Better way to dry to avoid smudges.

Perfect match! I'm in love!

Yeah, I was feeling pretty awesome this morning. And here is how the whole outfit turned out.

Kit as Fritz:

With jabot tucked in to show off pretty "new" buttons

With the lace trimmed jabot out.

There will be no sewing today since someone is buying my dining room table (AKA my cutting table) tonight, so I had to clear it off. I'll be picking up my smaller dining room table and chairs tomorrow while the kids are at school. I'm sew excited!!!

Until next time...

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Nutcracker Ballet - Outfit #1 - Godfather

As promised, here are the pictures of the first outfit in my series of costumes from The Nutcracker Ballet.
This is my Our Generation Jack dressed as Marie/Clara's Godfather.

Blouse with jabot (neck tie, ascot, scarf, etc.) and fully functional buttons. Lined vest with fully functional buttons. Lined jacket with lapels and coat tails. Lined cape with tie. Eye patch with tie.
Bigger pictures on my Picasa Albums. Don't forget to check out my Facebook Fan Page.

Next on the cutting table is either Fritz's vest and breeches (I made that shirt when I made Godfather's shirt) or Marie/Clara's dress (I've already made her petticoat and pantalettes).

Yep, I've been a busy little sewing bee this month. I sure hope this sewing motivation keeps up.
Until next time...
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Holy cow, it's been forever!

Happy new year! I can't believe I haven't posted since November 22nd. Good grief!
Well, let's see, the holidays were hectic, as usual, and I didn't get any sewing done. :( On the upside, I made three new year's resolutions, one of which is to sew every other day. I've done pretty well with it this month. I've given myself a sewing goal of doing a Nutcracker Ballet outfit a month. Well, I finished one tonight, and have pieces of two more done. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty awesome. I'll post pictures tomorrow when I can use some natural sunlight.
Speaking of completed outfits, I finally got a chance to work on the outfits from the September Giveaway. One shipped out earlier this week, and the other one shipped out today. Oh, I guess I should show some pictures: Check out my Facebook Fan Page.
I promise to update this more often.

Until next time...
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Live from Denver, Colorado!

Hi guys!

Mini Molly and I made a cross country road trip with my sister and her two little dogs. We left Charleston, South Carolina Friday morning, took a break in Little Nashville, Illinois, and then arrived in Denver, Colorado Saturday night.
There were a lot of neat little places along the way, but with the dogs and wanting to get to Denver as soon as possible, we didn't stop. I made the mistake of not charging my camera before we left, so I missed a few pictures along the way since I had to change my camera batteries four times. Once we arrived in Denver I stopped to pick up rechargable batteries and a charger. I still have pictures to take, including Thanksgiving with the family, and I won't be able to get my charger until I get home on Wednesday night.

It's beautiful here! Cold, but beautiful. I can see why my sister loves it here, and I think she will fit in nicely in her new city.

My sister and I went by the American Girl store yesterday. The last time I went to an American Girl store was 3 years ago when I went to see my sister when she lived in Atlanta and we were celebrating our birthdays. The store was nice, and only after we left did I notice it was only a boutique and not a bistro too. Made me a little sad, but on the upside, they has a lot more room for displays and merchandise, so it evened out. I picked up a few store exclusives and some new glasses, and stayed under budget. I only chose to put one thing back that I picked up, and that was Kit's Nighttime Accessories. They are really cute, but the set put me over my budget and it was too bulky to fit into my already full bookbag that I am taking on the plane with me. My whole time there and I got two pictures: one on the way in, and one on the way out.

This one was taken with my phone, and the other was taken with my camera. I'm able to upload pics straight from my phone, but since I won't have internet on my laptop until tonight (I'm using my sister's right now), I'll have to wait on those.
Here's a link to the pictures I've uploaded so far, and I'll upload more pics to the album once I get my internet up and running: Picasa Road Trip From SC To Colorado

I've been looking at the fashion here to, and loking at how it differs from the fashion of the Southeast. I found a great outfit at Urban Outfitters, and I plan to make a doll sized version of it. I'll post a pic of that too when I get my laptop connected to the net.

Until next time....
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(yellow lines in the middle of the road)

More logo design ideas

So, I went from 3 posts in one week to not posting at all for 2 weeks. I haven't been feeling well these past two weeks, but am working on getting better. I definitely have better things to do than be sick.
So, what have I been up to since my last post? Well, I finally finished the blue and orange PDR Round 4 dress, however I do not have any pictures of it completed yet. Once I finished it, I decided it needed a crop jacket, so that is in the works (along with several other projects).
I also finished the Halloween treat houses for my kids' teachers.

The one that is the second from the left is the one I did in a class. The others I worked on at home. There is a 5th one, but my husband has it at his desk at work.

I am absolutely loving the pattern for the treat houses, so last night, while cropping at my LSS, I was inspired by my Stampin' Up Wash Day rolling stamp, so I made some New Mom treat boxes (to be filled with chocolate).

The outfits on the Wash Day border are colored in with Stampin' Up markers and the socks, bunny, butterflies, and ducks on the bibs are topped with Ranger's Glossy Accents. The Black and white outfit popped up on the side is a $1 stamp I cut out (the red heart is colored with Stampin' Up marker and topped with Ranger's Glossy Accents). The striped paper at the top is embossed (the brown on the boy one is the reverse side), and was cut using the Marvy Scallop cutting blade. I didn't get to finish them, but what I want to add to them is "Welcome home" on the front, and "baby boy/girl" on the back using my Cricut markers and the Cricut Don Juan cartridge.

Now, onto the main subject, new logo deign ideas.

So, let em know which one you like the most. Also, let me know your likes and dislikes about all of them.

Until next time...

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Three posts this week!

Three posts in one week! Wow! Now, don't get too used to it.
Today's post is about the things I made at a 60 hour Save The Ta-Ta's Crop at my LSS (local scrapbook store). I worked the 9pm-9am shifts Friday and Saturday nights. The first night this is what I what I got done:

My first thing for myself, an apron (yeah, I'm rocking an apron and arthritis gloves)

I made this using a pattern I picked up over the summer. As with most patterns I try for the first time, I followed the directions and all the while I was making mental notes (and verbal ones too) that this pattern was over complicating itself and I'm going to revamp it.

The second night was still productive, but in a different way. I labeled/priced/merchandised my doll clothes for consignment at the store:

My sign now hangs above it (and hopefully the rack is a little emptier)

Once that was done, I worked on a layout of my step-son. His grandmother had posted these pictures on Facebook a month or so after it happened, and I debated scrapbooking it since it was pictures of an open wound, but since it's now his "Harry Potter Scar", I did it anyways, and the close up pictures are tucked away in the green pockets and have big bandage pulls tabs with "Warning: Close up!"

"My Harry Potter Scar" - "November 2009 - Christian had to get stitches after getting hit by a rock when he surprised his cousin."

As of the moment, my sewing desk is cleared off in it's newest spot in the dining room, and I'm ready to get to sewing. No fabric tonight since I'm working on a scrapbook layout for work. 

Off to the sewing/scrapbooking desk....

Until next time...

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It's beginning to look a lot like a logo...

As technically gifted as my sweet husband is, he is not gifted with artsy creativity. Therefore, after several attempts of making a me a logo for my Gomunk Creations, he seeked the assistance of a logo company. Here's the first 6 ideas they came back with.

So, what do you think? Which is your favorite? Which things do you like? Any suggestions?

They'll be a round two soon.

Until next time.......

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New, at a store near you

If you are in the Charleston, SC area, make sure to stop by Charleston Scrapbooking. As of yesterday, my doll clothes are available for sale there as well as the other places I sell online (my website, Facebook, Etsy, AG Fans, and AG Playthings). So, stop on by to see The Mom and check out my inventory. Now that my inventory box at home is empty, and my sewing/dining room is rearranged (yet again), I hope to get back into my sewing groove soon.
Here's the display so far, it's just waiting on me to put a sign on it too. I'm thinking of using the one I used at National Scrapbooking Day Weekend.

(Taken with my 2mp cell phone)

(Made from 2 pieces of 12x12 cardstock spit and sewn together. font is from Cricut's Robitz cartridge)

I'm excited!

And we have a winner!

Yes, I know it's a couple of days late, but we've selected a winner. To make up for being late, we're selecting two winners. One from the blog and one from our Facebook fan page.
Blog winner: Laura (Sophie Amelie)
Facebook Winner: Patricia P.

Now, the outfits are not complete yet, and as it nears Halloween I've got a special order I need to finish first, but I can give you a sneak peek of the outfits since they are already cut out.

Yep, straight from the cutting board. The outfit on the left is a print dress, solid jacket, reversible hat, and solid bag with print accent. The outfit on the right is a solid dress, print jacket, reversible hat, and print bag with solid accent.

Congrats to the winners! For those who didn't win, have no worries, I am planning another giveaway for Spring.

Until next time...