Two days in a row. Crazy.

So, my Spotted Box. I love the idea of the Spotted Box. It gets complicated for me as a vendor to contribute, as shipping from Canada is so expensive. Also, the first set of samples I sent, back in 2007, was lost in the postal system for a long time. Fortunately, they were insured, Canada Post paid out my claim, and a month later they did finally show up at their destination. As a vendor who contributes samples above a certain threshold, I received a box of my own. This one was the best yet that I have received. I was really pleased, and most of the items are useful for our family!

Go check out some of these great vendors ....

First up, yesterday I mentioned that the little guy had his own fave -

Play dough from Sewing Alley.

My two faves are:

This note card from DFMI Designs.

And, these earrings from Shine - great prices on Swarovski crystal jewelery.

Other samples included

1. Diaper Doubler from Creativitykes Very useful, as our son is still in diapers, and we use cloth.

2. Mini Wipe from 2by2 Boutique We use this size as 'kleenex' when our son has a cold.

3. Breathe Easy Massage or Bath Oil from Scent-sory Creations I'm hoping this is a more natural version of the Eucalyptus bath gel I've used in the past when I've got a cold.

4. Hair Clippie from Social Butterflies I was going to gift all the hair clips to little girls I know, but this one might make its way into my collection.

5. Bath Salts from Glory Be Herbals, these smell great, a patchouli/orange blend.

6. Seeds from fluffnflowers, I'll pass these on to a friend with a green thumb - I'll get to enjoy them that way - if I keep them, they'll die!

7. Sample Curriculum card from Earth*School I've got a couple of these tucked away already for when the little guy is a just a bit older, great ideas.

8. Peppermint Diaper Pail Freshener from Jenny's Simply Clean, this is always appreciated!

9. Button/Pin from Buttered Parsnips This is going to live on my bulletin board, right next to my Spotted Box pin.

10. Knitting Pattern from Megan McDermott I was kinda bummed to see this is free on her website. I was going to include it with yarn for a knitting friend's birthday gift.

11. Toddler Girl's bracelet from Tiffany's Trinkets This will be gifted to a little girly-girl we know.

12. Bow Clip from I Heart Bowheads This is going to be gifted as well, it's sweet, but we have no little girls in this house, and I think I'm too old to pull of a big bow!

There's about 10 more samples, but this is taking far longer than I'd anticipated! Those will be listed tomorrow :)

Well. That was a bad 'resolution'.

Ok, so you know you don't update (or even look at) your own blog often enough, when you check in and think you've got the wrong blog! I forgot I changed the template. That was silly. Oh well, at least it's not yet been an entire month! So, technically, I am doing 'better'. My son is very funny. That's why I logged on, to let you all know how amusing he can be. At 23mths he's got this crazy vocabulary that surprises us daily. Today, our TV is not working correctly, and he told me 'broken, fix, cu-du (screwdriver), hammer, tool box, help, daddy, door' (Daddy's tools are in a room behind a door). He then headed up the stairs to get Daddy to help fix the TV. I'm pretty certain that no tools are required for this repair - maybe they'll want to smash the silly thing with a hammer though! I also got my Spotted Box today. More about that when I get the pictures off the camera. So far, the little guy is loving the play dough from Sewing Alley, and I can't decide who I should send this great little card to - it's from DFMI designs.

A New Year

Dare I make a 'resolution'. One I'm sure every person with a sort of neglected blog makes. To try and post more often, more regularly. :) We'll see. Enjoy the first day of 2009! We're going for a walk, a hike or an adventure. Maybe to Niagara Falls.

Balloons.

My sister was here for a brief visit (mostly this trip was to visit her in-laws), and she made these fabulous balloons for Finn.

A Challenge Met

I recently participated in a challenge on a sewing forum. Sew a lot, buy no fabric. For one month. There were points awarded for each yard sewn, and points lost for purchasing. I bought no fabric. (I've made up for that in October, and we're only three days in!). Here's a slide show of my projects, about 50 items, nearly 40 yards of fabric sewn.

I also tidied up all my fabric. This is how it looks now. I'll spare you how it looked after a month of sewing & not folding. :) Have a great weekend, I'm off to Marineland tomorrow!

Sewing Giraffes

This is a very popular fabric, and I had just 2 yards of it, one yard of the Ice (blue/brown/yellow) colourway, and one of the Grass (green, light green, brown) colourway. I know that the green is for something for Finn. To match these great giraffe shorts from JJBB.

But, I wanted something more permanent that wouldn't be outgrown as well. The fabric's too thin to be a bib or blanket, and even those would eventually be less used by Finn. So, I made a shirt for me! And, while I was at it, I delved into my collection of cotton/lycra ribknits for a pair of cropped pants with a very relaxed feel.

I love both these pieces, although I'm not certain I'll often wear them together. I did get lazy and not change the thread colour for the top stitching, so the pants have contrast top stitching in pale blue.

Happy Long Weekend to my Canadian Readers :)

Wordle

go play! www.wordle.net

Some finished sewing.

First, finished these for a friend who's baby is due soon. Cushions for her rocking chair, 3 swaddle size blankies, 12 wipes, and 4 travel/mini wipes.

Next, some items to help organize my packing for an 11 day vacation - sharing one large suitcase with a 18mth old is going to require serious organizing! So, we have a packing envelope, to keep shirts nicely folded and wrinkle free, as well as mesh/cotton bags to contain socks, tank tops, small things that get lost in the bottoms of suitcases. These have mesh on one side so it's easy to see what's inside, and pretty cotton to coordinate with the envelope. Finn has a set of bags as well, but I haven't taken a photo of them yet.

Oh, YUM!

I am all of a sudden very hungry for potatoes. Not just any spuds, but these. Don't they look lovely? I guess that solves the ever present dilemma of what to eat for dinner tomorrow.

Orchid Place Anniversary

I've been sewing quite a bit lately, but these are the only things I've taken photos of - 12 bibs. How thrilling. They are for the Anniversary sale at Orchid Place on July 22.

I'll try to get photos of the rest of the sewing later - new shorts for Finn and more.

Kawawaymog, Amable Du Fond & North Tea

We arrived home last night from our Algonquin park trip for this summer. It was a relatively easy trip - except for the paddle home across Kawawaymog (or Round) Lake - Dave ended up walking in the shallows, pulling the canoe while I held Finn as he napped. The wind & waves were just too much for our paddling talents.

It was a good trip, we saw one moose, one deer, several loons, the usual seagulls, a few herons, and I spotted a duck with ducklings along the marsh. We all saw another duck with older ducklings on a dock. The only other 'wildlife' we encountered were the mosquitoes. Not too bad, though we all have bites, the wind Saturday & Sunday kept the bulk of them away.

We camped at a site about 2/3 of the way down the West arm of North Tea Lake, on the North side. We were pleased to see we had our own private beach when we arrived, nice gradual sand entry to the water. The wind on Saturday gradually pushed the waves up the sand until the beach was gone, and on Sunday there was no sign of it at all, the water was right up to the plants & fallen log.

Three hours of rain on Saturday evening caused us to get very cozy in our little tent ... I think 'two man' is right! Two adults plus toddler is quite cramped for anything other than sleeping. But, we survived, Finn thought it was fun to climb on everyone and everything, and did a great job playing with the very few toys we'd brought.

In case we ever forget ... someone remind us ... NO MORE east to west paddles across big lakes. There's always too much wind, it's never a good time, and we always forget by the time we plan the next trip!

Smokey Bear for Finn & I

I drafted my shirt start to finish last night, and hemmed Finn's this morning ... three whole days before we leave for our first camping trip of 2008.

Sun Protection for the littlest one of us

We're planning a 3 day trip, to visit with my parents during their week long camping trip, as well as our own 3 day canoe trip, and I thought that Finn needed some sun protection, we got him a great hat at MEC, but solar weave clothing is far to expensive for a little guy who's going to outgrow it very quickly.

So, I ordered some Solar Weave (UPF 50 or so), for 9.49$, and made him a pair of pants & long sleeve shirt.

I'm very happy with how the pockets turned out, they're hard to see in the above photo, so for your viewing enjoyment, here's a close up.

My good friend Stephanie, kindly squeezed me into her customs list, and these are on the way for Finn.

I also made a diaper cover for Finn, but it's in the laundry already, not photographed. It's red for Canada Day - July 1st.

Lots of sewing

Three baby gifts, a sewn card and a pair of pants for me. I am very pleased with these pants ... I followed all the directions. The pants have 4 pockets, and a real fly with zipper and button. They weren't as hard as I thought they'd be, but I'd have been lost without the illustrated instructions from Ottobre to install the zip and fly. You can see in the detail photo of the blue/green carrier - my new tags!

Ruler Folded

All my fabric (well, not the fleece, but everything else).

Doesn't it look lovely?

Now, when I'm ready to sew, it's quick and easy to view and select fabric. The real trick will be putting it back the same way, when I'm finished cutting out new projects.

Inspired by this blog, and the many Sewing Mamas with incredible, organized, stashes.

Another Shirt for me ....

A forum I'm part of is having a challenge in June/July to sew for yourself ... I can't seem to wait till June! I made another shirt for myself last night.

This pattern is great, goes together quickly and logically, and fits well. The fabric is a very soft brown bamboo/lycra blend.

Today we're off to celebrate my mom & my brother-in-law's birthday, and Finn needs to shop for a gift for Mémé -- we'll actually need to tackle shops on a weekend, something I really try to avoid.

Other Sewn Things ....

It was brought to my attention that I don't update often, so I'm going to review my recent sewing for you .... (you lucky readers). Self-drafted Dress

Self-drafted skirt

Reconstructed T-shirt pants

Some Girly Sewing (gift for a friend's daughter)

Apron for a swap

Shirt & Bib for Finn

That's one of my favorite bibs ... I should make more in that style ...

Run, Ro, Run ....

In my lovely new running gear ... which I stayed up too late to finish! But, I wore it for my run this morning, and I'm very happy with it, a couple little tweaks to the pattern for the next set and it'll be perfect.

Why do laundry ... ?

When you can just sew more bibs? I hate the velcro bib chains that come out of the dryer, so I'm making new bibs, and getting rid of all the ones that have hook/loop closures.

These are all simple, serged 2 layers, with snap. And a couple matching wipees w/ the scraps.

And, my newest bag, this one is mine. All mine. I'm not parting with it. It's the perfect size, holds my wallet, phone, camera, dayplanner, note pad, pen and a couple snacks.

It's very soft dark brown corduroy that doesn't photograph very well, with fishy coords.

Outer:

Showing Lining & Inner pocket:

Party Preparations

Our little guy is going to be ONE on Friday!

I've been sewing like crazy to get ready for his party. A few months ago I got this great custom shirt from BTRT. I then got wool longies to match, and a diaper from JJBB.

Once I had a theme narrowed down, I bought several different fabrics to go with the theme. And started sewing ...

There'll be more photos of the party decorating next week.