Elle Design Cottage

Rawhide

My little sister had her third baby earlier this month, another cute little girl, and she had asked me to make her a blanket.  She'd seen a similar one someone else had and loved it so I attempted to recreate.  I'm not sure how good of a job I did with this one, but I did learn some things making this blanket.

 

Finished size is 48 inches square so she should be able to use it for her for quite a while.  The top is like a minky print and the back is flannel lined satin with a satin ruffle edge. 

What I learned:  I do not like sewing satin!  It is super slippery and required me to pin dang near every half inch.  I'm also pretty sure I took like the hardest approach ever to making a satin ruffle edge, but that's just how I roll.  I think it turned out really cute when it was done, but I sure hope she likes it because I don't think I'm even willing to attempt another blanket like this ever again.  Or until I forget how much of a pain in the a#* it was to sew.  Either or. 

Teacher Appreciation

It's that time of year already!  The last day of school is next week and I can't thank my 1st grader's teacher enough.  She has been so wonderful and has helped L so much this year.  I can't believe he'll be a mighty 2nd grader already!  Crazy how fast he is growing up. 

So, here's what we came up with for his teacher (plus he has informed me we need to go to the store to get her some candy and supplies to add to the basket...he's seriously so thoughtful!) 

 

The inside of the card says this:

This gift basket contains all the supplies for you to record your story.  Simply choose a question strip each day from the jar.  Adhere the question strip to the top of your journal page and use the question as inspiration for your entry that day.  Once completed, you will have recorded the story of your journey as a teacher, what it has taught you and how it has touched you.  We only hope that this special gift and the joy of the process will allow you to see just how special you have been to not only our child, but countless others as well. 

I had this apple fabric in my stash (go figure) and it worked perfectly!  I just made a little slip cover for an inexpensive steno notebook and made a matching liner for a clear paint can and filled the jar with the questions. 

 

 

This idea came from Nichole Heady at Capture the Moment.  Check out her version and If you want to make your own, here's the pdf that includes the inside of the card as well as all the questions for the journal jar:  Download Teachers_journal_jar.

Hopefully you have some wonderful teachers of your own to thank this year! 

Packin' diapers in style

So, I made a few diaper bags for the Tom & Lucy Art Shoppe I did earler this month, and guess what?  I don't have any left.  I was so glad they sold.  And since I have just a little bit of a fabric addiction, I decided I needed to make one for myself.  I kinda like it...

 

 

It has a nice big pocket on the back.

 

And lots of roomy pockets inside for all the baby goodies.  

 

Yep, this one's a keeper! 

Honey Bun Baby Blanky

Here's the second quilt top I mananged to finish for my girls.  This one was another Moda Bake Shop recipe using 1 honey bun.  For this one I used the Patissere line and love the colors! 

 

 

I got the backs pieced too so they are off to be machine quilted!  I'm so excited to see them finished!

For my baby girls

I'm finally finding some time to start making the laundry list of things I want to make for my baby girls coming in August.  This is the first quilt top I've finished.

 

A close up:

 

I used this tutorial from Moda Bake Shop (I love this blog) and Lila Tuller's Woodland Bloom charm pack for the pinwheels.  I really like how this turned out and can already imagine snuggling my sweet little babies in this.  I still need to have it quilted.  Any suggestions?  All I ever do is stipple. 

Boutique'n It

Finally getting around to posting pics of my stuff from the Tom & Lucy Art Shop boutique I did:

 

Best ever baby burpies for boys and girls

 

Snuggle soft baby swaddle sheets and the baby essentials travel case

 

Diva handbags.  I LOVE the size and print of these babies!

 

Scripture totes and or toy totes for boys and girls.  They hold a set of standard size scriptures.

 

Purses for girls

 

Magnetic tic-tac-toe games for girls and boys

And more to come.  I'm overloading Typepad with my pics, so the rest will be in a following post...Oh, and all of what you see here is just part of what didn't sell.  If you're interested in anything you see, just e-mail me.  I hope to have most of this listed in my Etsy store soon!

Fancy Nancy Diaper Bag

O.k., seriously, there are some cute diaper bags out there.  But, HELLO, do you have $169 to pay for a Petunia Pickelbottom bag?  No me.  Not in this economy, no sir!  I new I could make a more economical version, so I did.  And of course, it was a gift for someone else having a baby boy, and of course I forgot to take any pictures of it before I gave it away.  So, here's is the only picture I have of the bag being held my the new mama:

 

I'm calling it the Fancy Nancy diaper bag because I can only come up with lame names for things.  But, aside from a dorky name for the bag, it is fabulous!  The fabric is much heavier than cotton, so it seriously stands on its own.  I padded the handle heavily so hopefully it will hold up much longer and so will mama's shoulder.  It has a large exterior pocket on the back, a bottle pocket on either end and the inside has 4 additonal pockets to hold all the necessary baby gear.  Love it! 

**Note to self--remember to take pictures of things BEFORE giving it away!

Stitchin' up a storm

Don't ask me what I was thinking when I decided to do this while 20-24 wks pregnant with twins:

 

Tom & Lucy's Art Shoppe is fun new shoppe put together by two crafty women in my neighborhood.  They next show is April 30, May 1 and 2nd in Lehi, Utah at the Ivory Ridge Country Club.  So, while I can still sit close enough to my sewing machine to sew, I'm stitchin' up a storm getting things ready for my booth.  It's been a couple of years since I've done a boutique, but I'm very hopeful that this will be a good one!  I'll be posting pictures of the different items I'll be offering soon.  I hope to get some feedback from the five of you that read my blog about what you like/don't like, what you think will sell and/or what you would buy if you had $50 to blow at my shoppe!

Stay tuned!

Still kickin' and a shiny new page

Just checking in to let you all know we're still kickin'.  The holidays were fantastical and it was nice to get a little bitty break from wood & vinyl!  Work on the new kits has begun, but in typical Elle fashion, everything needs a little spit polish before I can put it up on the EDC Craft Kit page.  They're coming soon...I promise!  Thanks to everyone for hangin' in there with me!  They will not disappoint!

There is also a shiny new page up there in the right hand corner of the ol' blog...My Primary Stuff.  I've spent much of December doing stuff for my ward's primary so I figured I'd share my stuff.  Hopefully someone will find it useful. 

Here's how I spent the rest of December:

Of course, there was some sewing gong on.  This was for L.'s teacher.  We asked her if there was anything she needed for her classroom.  She gave us a few suggestions, so when I had L write out her Christmas card, he said, "Dear teacher, We are giving you all the stuff you wanted.  Merry Crismiss."  It made me laugh.  Hopefully it made her laugh too.  This was just a simple tote bag filled with her goodies.  How perfect is that fabric for a teacher? 

 

She asked for a "cute" doorstop to hold her classroom door open.  Here's what we came up with:

 

I used this tutorial from Oh, Fransson to make the doorstop.  It's filled with about 5 lbs of beans and the bottom unzips so she can empty and wash it when needed.  This project was pretty dang fun to make. 

And of course more purses.  Except I gave most of them away without taking pictures.  Darn...

   I also made some new labels to sew into my stuff.  Can you see it?  I'm a sucky photographer. 

Then, I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with these awesome people. 

Don't they all look soooo freakin' happy?  I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!

A pile of pretty purses

Christmas is only a few weeks away, so with my wood working tools packed away for a while, I'm breaking out the sewing machine for Christmas!  Oh, how I love to sew.  I'm super good at starting projects...not so good about finishing them.  So when I actually see something through to completion, I have to share.  Some of these will be for my nieces, others for secret Santa...some I don't think I'll be able to part with.

   

I used the Pixie Bag pattern from Keyka Lou.  This is the one I don't think I can give away...

 

I la..la..la..love it!  The main fabric was a find at Hobby Lobby!  I tell ya, they always have treasures like this print that you just don't find anywhere else.  Each purse has a magnetic snap closure and an awesome little hidden pocket.  You almost don't know it's even there. 

 

And the rest of them.

     

I whipped up 8 of these little babies, two of each fabric combo.  I learned a few new things making this purse.  Like I want to make more.  How may purses is too many for one woman to have?