Here I Am!!

MAN, I didn't mean to stay away from here for so long.  Holidays, and families, and sickness, and craziness, and......life.  It's crazy how time can get away from you so easily.

So instead of doing one of the usual "catch-up" posts, I am just going to say that a lot of crap happened and a lot of said crap was crafty stuff, and just start over with a clean slate for the new year.  But before I go ahead and wipe that slate clean, let's review the goals that I set at the beginning of good ol' 2012 and see how I measured up. And maybe I'll throw in some photos along the way.

Ok!  So here we go.

*I am going to keep being the best mom and wife that I can be.  The kids are still alive, and no matter what my husband says, I haven't poisoned him yet.  So still on the right track with that.

*I would like to try and get out of my comfort zone with my photography.  I don't think that I have really taken steps to be more adventurous with my photography, so I may need to revisit this one.

*Make things for my shop on a more regular basis.  I have to say that I am pretty proud on this one.  I have treated my etsy shop like a normal job and have been trying to keep it steadily stocked.  I recently reached 100 sales!!!  YAY!

*Write my blog posts on a more regular basis also.  heh.  I wasn't as diligent with this as I would have liked to be.  But....It has been over a year since I started this little blog and I definitely plan to keep on going.

*Be better about getting things in the mail on time.  This one comes and goes, but I think I have mostly shaped up on it.

*Try really hard to trust and believe in myself and what I do.  I think that this one will always be a struggle for me.  There were a few times this year when things didn't go exactly how I think they should and I had major doubts and just wanted to call it quits. And if it wasn't for amazing friends to talk me off the ledge, I would have.  (you know who you are, and I heart you)

   BUT on a positive note, I did contribute a tutorial for Sew Mama Sew, so that's something, at least.

*I have at least 1 meet up with an internet friend(s).  This is another one I did really great on!!!  Let's see, in Febuary I had a meet up in Birmingham with some lovely ladies

and also in February I met with Amber from One Shabby Chick when she visited Nashville

Kelly from Kelby Sews moved to the Nashville area so I have had a few visits with her.  Here is a pic from one of our sewing dates we had in July.

And last but most definitely not least, I went to Houston in October to visit my sweet friend, Jacey.  The whole trip was completely amazing and I was sorry when it ended.  It isn't very often that you get to meet a person that you have so much in common with that hanging out with them just feels natural.

Ok, let's see, where does leave us..... oh ya,

*if I happen to lose a few pounds, that would be ok too.  Ummmmm, let's just not talk about this one, ok?

So all-in-all, it was great year!  Lot's of big events happened.  I celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary, and also my 30th birthday, and I went to DRAGON*CON and I got a new puppy!!  (of course now, he is almost a year old)

  All amazing things.  There was lots of crafting in between those things, and I finished up a lot of projects I had lying around.

So now on to the New Year and with that, new list of resolutions.

*Keep on being the best mom and wife I can be.

*Start releasing some of the patterns and tutorials I have been sitting on because I am a chicken shit.

*Visit with more internet friends and try to get over my social anxiety.

*Keep working on my photography.

*Try to stay on task with my blog and actually document all of the projects that I make as I go instead of just "re-capping" them when I fall behind.

*Keep working on my confidence and individuality, and also try to understand that just because my style of things doesn't work for a certain venue, that it isn't because my the things that I make aren't any good.

*Really, really try and lose some weight

As a side note, I am having a sale in my shop to bring in the New Year!  30% off of everything with the coupon code HappyNewYear2013.  It starts now and will end tomorrow at midnight.

Happy New Year Friends!!  Be happy and stay safe.

SGG Seeking LMGG

Stupid Geeky Gal seeking like-minded geeky gal.

So here's the story.  A week or so ago, I received a custom order through the shop for a blue linen Timey Wimey, a natural linen Timey Winey, and a Tardis pouch for some christmas presents for her brother and sister in-law.  Great!  So I ordered the fabric and got to work on them over the weekend when they came in.  Well, being the anal fastidious gal that I am, I erased the convo that said customer sent me.  So when I went back yesterday to send her a message and tell her that they are just about done, I realized the stupid, stupid, stupid thing I had done.  BOOOOOO ON ME!!!!!  Not the smartest thing I have done.

So if you are you that sweet, sweet gal who contacted me would you please be kind enough to overlook my stupidity and contact me again?

In other, non-stupid news.....
I am going on a trip!!!  YAY!  I am going to visit my sweet friend Jacey.  She invited me to come for a visit over the summer and I jumped at the chance to get out of Nashville and go paint the town with her!!!  I am beyond excited.  Especially after missing out on all of the Sewing Summit festivities over this past weekend.

Of course, as all Sewing Summit veterans know, traveling handmade is the only way to travel.  After seeing this duffel bag on pinterest, I knew that was exactly what I wanted to make.  So I bought the pattern, did some Horde diving, and here is what I came up with.

I loved the color blocking that LBG studios did on hers, so I kind of did the same on mine.  But I followed the pattern instructions for the handles because I didn't want to cover up any of the buck print.  I also used fusible fleece as the interfacing and a shortened sport zipper.  I wanted a zipper that would be sturdy enough to handle the packing abuse that I will undoubtedly give it.

I am in love with this bag and I am pretty sure that after my trip I am going to find a way to use it on a regular basis.  Also, now that I have used up this fabric I need to hurry and get more before I have an anxiety attack.  It is definitely one of my all time favorites.

I hope your week is going well!

Tricks and Treats

The screen printing is still going strong over here!  Not getting tired of it at all.  I have been working on some new things for the shop and other things and just thought that I would share some of them with you!

I was feeling in a festive mood, for once, and I thought making some trick or treat bags might be fun.  I am pretty happy with the way they turned out.  Not sure how many of these I will make since it is a holiday thing, but they sure were fun!

Down the Rabbit Hole

It happens that every once in a while I fall down a rabbit hole.  Down, down, down I go.  This mostly happens with books, tv shows on Netflix, or in this case a new craft or technique.  More specifically, screen printing.  Words cannot express how deeply I have fallen for this newly learned craft.  I love that I can use it in conjunction with my sewing.  I love for my projects to tell a story, and before I had done this with embroidery.  Whether it be a favorite quote or nursery rhyme, or just simple thoughts in my head.  I love adding them to my projects to create something one of a kind and more "me".

A few weeks ago I came across a pin that lead me to this post on How About Orange.  I really really loved the idea of the bag, but I had worked with the iron-on transfers before and hadn't really had good luck with them.  Also I didn't want to use just a generic canvas bag that you can pick up at your local craft supply.  I new that I could upgrade the bag myself just by sewing up a simple interfaced linen tote and adding a fun lining to it.  But figuring out how to get the words on there was a little more challenging.  So I did a little more research and found this tutorial and thought that maybe it could work.  I enlisted the help of some friends for the graphics and I set out on a mission to try something new.  And here are the results.

I knew I wanted to make them geeky, of course. So I relayed my ideas to my counterparts and they generously contributed their artwork.  I try not to make anything I wouldn't use myself so I pulled my inspiration from some of my favorite geeky things.

I am SO thrilled the results!!!  And since I have started, the flood gates have been opened and ideas keep popping into my head.  So you can expect to see a lot more screen printed projects here.  I am working on some new screens this weekend and I seem to have ordered my weight in essex linen.  So hopefully next week will bring some fun things!

If you are interested in making one of my bags your own, I have some listed in the shop.

The Truth about Dragon*Con

Ya......
So, promptly after writing my last post, the plague broke out at my house.  Ugh.  So frustrating when the same illness just keeps circulating through the household over and over.  We are all on the mend now, mostly.  So now I can give you all the nitty, gritty details on Dragon*Con!

Two words my friends, HOLY COW!  This event was unbelievable!  Never have I seen so many weird, crazy, awesome, and questionable things in one place before.  It was really all overwhelming to say the least.  There is NO way that I could go over everything that we did, or that I even remember everything that we did for that matter.  But I thought I would go over the highlights.

Friday was the first day and we, or at least I, was not expecting the sheer amount of people and events to choose from.  Yes, I had the paper schedule, and yes I had things all planned out on my Dragon*Con app, but it still got me.  I admit I had a bit of a panic attack.  So we spent most of Friday wandering around aimlessly, trying to get our bearings and figure out exactly where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do.  The next two days were better, I think because we knew what to expect and we were getting the hang of things.

We ended up taking all sorts of photos of other Dragon*con attendees who we dressed up in cosplay and boy did we have some explaining to do to the girls with some of those get ups.  As far as they were concerned, walking around in public in your underwear is a no-no.

Unfortunately, my photo skills are a bit lacking so most of the pics came out burry, but I chose the best from the bunch just so you can see some of the cool things that were there.

I knew that I definitely needed to go to the The Guild panel.  No way was I missing that one.  And then after that we went the signing session so I could meet them and get their autographs!

I totally geeked out on Felica Day, but I'm ok with that.  And look!!!  I got a picture!

So exciting!!!  They all seemed super nice and it made me happy that I watch their show.

There was a parade,

and light saber training,

and most importantly......
shopping!!!

So the truth about Dragon*Con, is that it is completely amazing!  and I can;t wait until next year.  I fully intend on participating in the cosplay this time.  But not in my undies.  The world isn;t ready for that yet.  :)

Here I am!!

So with the hustle and bustle of the kids going back to school, things have been a bit nutso lately.  But rest assured, there has been a bunch of sewing going on.  First and foremost is this,

My very first tutorial is up on Sew Mama Sew!!!  I am so excited!  So head on over there and check it out along with all of the other awesome tutorials they have over there.

I have been going back and forth with the idea of releasing a pattern/tutorial here on the blog.  I have been playing around with this idea for a while and a couple of weeks ago I finally was able to take the idea from paper and apply it to fabric.

What do you think of my Yeti Iceberg Ombre tote bag?!  Would you be interested in a pattern for this?  

So we went out of town for Labor Day, down to Atlanta for, wait for it.......
Dragon*Con!!!!  My very first con ever and I had a blast.  I plan on doing a full write up on it tomorrow, so check back with me.

I hope your Labor Day weekend was as great as mine was, Happy Tuesday!

Mab Graves

So last week, while I was having one of my 2 am insomniac Ipad etsy shopping adventures, I decided to check in on one of my favorite shops, MabGraves, and I came across this necklace.  And then my brainy wheels got to turning.  I have custom ordered from Mab before.  Last year before Christmas she did one of her portrait cameo necklaces of my girls for me.

And I cried for days over the pure perfection of it.

So anyways, sorry got sidetracked there, I decided to ask her if she wouldn't mind doing another necklace, similar to the freak one, but something more my style.  Being the sweet gal that she is, she said yes and had it done in a couple of days!

I am absolutely in love with.  It will be perfect to wear DragonCon while I'm geeking out over Felicia Day at the end of the month. (don't judge)

Things have been a bit busy here with all the back to school hubbub.  But we are settling back into the school year routine and I will be back to working on projects in the next week or so.

p.s. This new Echino deer in glasses fabric makes me so happy, 

I want to buy yards and yards of it and make ALL THE THINGS with it!!!!!  :)

Field Journal

Sometimes, while wasting countless hours in cyber space, I come across something that totally inspires me.  Usually because, a) I can't justify spending the money on it OR b)I want it to be prettier/nicer/cooler/more "me", I get the idea that I should try making one for myself.

About 6 months ago, I came across a field journal and I had never seen one quite like this.  I LOVED what he was using it for and the things that he kept in it, and I thought that it would be the perfect gift for a doodle-loving, picture-taking, pen obsessed friend.  So what do I do?  I add it my goals board on Pinterest and let the idea fester marinate in my brain until I can't stand it anymore.  So I sketched it out and gave myself a little encouragement.

Because sometimes these things go really well for me and come exactly the way I planned them to.  Exhibit A

OR they go very horribly wrong....
Exhibit B

And the project is still sitting in the "box of shame" in the back of the closet.....a year and a half later.

So I was a little apprehensive, and transferring the idea from paper to to fabric was a little challenging.  But I am happy with my efforts so far.  

I started out with one version of it and it just didn't work out.  So I adjusted the idea I had in my head and made it work for what I wanted to achieve. The most fun part about this project was filling up with goodies.

I found these calendar pockets a few months back and thought they would be perfect for this so I grabbed them.

As well as these cool business card sleeves that fit the pictures that print out of the PoGo printer and instax mini camera perfectly.

I also put in various types of paper.  Including gridded, watercolor, tracing, and several different colors of card stock, just to jazz it up a bit.

I put some sharpie pens in the pen slots that I made, just to show where they were, but these aren't the pens that will be staying in it.  I am going to put an order in at JetPens.  There is also a hole punch, a watercolor pen, a corner rounder (not shown), and a travel watercolor set (also not shown) that will all fit in this handy dandy notebook-thing.

I wanted to personalize it a bit for her so I contacted Jill over at TabSlot to see if she could help me out with something, and she totally knocked it out of the park!  So thrilled.

To make make the outside, I used some canvas fabric that I hand-dyed myself and the back of the field journal has a zippered pocket to stow away various things that you may wish to carry.

So I am pretty pleased.  There a still a few things that I am going to change for next time, so I am not sure if this is the one that will be sent or the next version, but I just wanted to do a bit of show and tell so you can see what I have been working on.

You guys have a great Friday!!!!