Finalllyyyy, a wedding album!

We got married on 10.10.10.... like over a year ago. We are stillllll waiting on our wedding album. It just so turns out that our photographer, Missy, is sooo extremely popular and hasn't had the chance to work on it yet. She finally contacted me last week starting selecting pictures for the album. Here is her blog, you should check out her photos, she does amazing work!

I have been working diligently for the past week or so, going through hundreds and hundreds of photos, trying to narrow down our list to the select few photos that will make the cut. It is actually so exciting to look at all of the photos again. Anyone who has planned and executed a wedding almost entirely by myself (I lived nowhere near any family or bridal party) knows what its like to be "over it" as soon as it ends. There are so many great photos that capture how special the day was for us and I have been getting warm and tingly all over again reliving the day. 


I thought that I would share some of my favorites with you all:

 (My Older Sissy, me, and my Mom)

(I just absolutely loved my bridal party. This shot is one of my favorites. The colors are just gorgeous.)

 (Hahahaha.... I love this! Totally unplanned, my MOH (my older sis) and our Best Man)

 

 

Not sure why, but our cake pictures were like my two favorite from the wedding. I am always happier with food.

 

I have never been to a wedding with a more crowded dance floor in my life. The fact that we invited about 125 people under the age of 30 helped a lot. We were literally dancing all night long. The woman next to me down there is my mother-in-law. The night was seriously such a blast.

I also just love loved this picture of my brother and my mom. Doesn't my brother look like such a Guido? He looks like he should be fist pumping and GTL'ing.
 

Thought that I'd let you in to my little world over here @ Craft My Life Away. Hope that you enjoyed!

Holler!

Re-org

Have you noticed that EVERYONE around Blog Central is organizing and re-organizing? It has given me a bit of the bug. Well...if we're being honest here... my mom came to visit last weekend and kind of yelled at me for my messy craft room. Little did she know, I cleaned it minutes before she came to make it more presentable. Ahhh oh well. What'reyagonnado? 

Oh, right, you're gonna get organized.

Like I said, it actually wasn't even so bad because I had just "cleaned".

 

My quilting/sewing section needed a total re-org. It was sooo messy. The real problem is that I have soooo much stuff. I know, rough life.

 

 
After streaming 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy (only on season 4, no spoilers please!) on Hulu, this is what we get...

Starting from the top on down ... 

1) All of my special fabric collections. Far Far Away, Soul Blossoms, Echo, discontinued IKEA fabrics I have been hoarding. 

2) Anna.Maria.Horner. 'nuff said. Good Folks. Folksy Flannels. Little Folks. Dobby Dots. Voile. Velveteen. Oh, also, my scrap bin lives here until it gets organized. It is kind of like scrap Purgatory.

3) Actually, even more Anna. These are Innocent Crush and LouLouthi that I set aside for my Farmer's Wife Quilt. Also, my pens and current notepads.

4) All of my sewing accoutrements. Scissors, needles, pins, threads, etc.

5) Scraps and miscellaneous. All of my scraps are now organized.

I decided that I might as well try to organize my knitting too. You can see the disorganization in the first picture above if you look closely to the far right of the photo. Not good. I have lots of stuff going on here, mainly knitting/crocheting in the middle rows there. Finished sewing projects on the bottom two rows, along with some WIPS, like that big yellow quilt down there. 

 

Have you done any major organizing in the new year? Any organizing goals? Tips? Tricks?

Holler!

Confessions of a Knitter

Oghhh I have soooo many unfinished knitting projects. I don't know what it is about knitting. I always create a project to bring with me on a weekend trip, work on it for that weekend, and never finish it again. 

A few friends have been asking me to teach some more knitting classes, so I made a deal with myself that I need to finish up these projects before I venture on and start new ones. It only makes sense, right?

These are all of the projects that I could actually find...

This is the start to some soft knit baskets. I have no idea how, but somehow I am missing 1 page of the instructions and can't go any further. Boo. I need to go re-buy the book. Or find it online somewhere, because I did technically pay for it already. If anyone has this pattern, please please let me know.They are called "Soft Baskets".

 

A scarf.... I think that I started this one last year. This color is soooo pretty. I really should finish it. It's just a simple mistake stitch ribbed scarf. Easy Peasy.

A shawl. I think that it is called Ishbel and it is possible that I got the pattern from ravelry.com. I cannot confirm that though, considering I cannot find the pattern anywhere! Maybe if I check out my ravelry purchases it will be there. It really is so pretty, and I got soooo far! I predict that I messed up somewhere and couldn't figure out where. I probably took the same row out 4 or 5 times and finally gave up. Maybe I'll rip out the lacework and start over at the last stockinette stitch row.

Another scarf. This one is called a waffle stitch scarf in an amazing wooly wool. I started this little number last year. I think that I may have stopped knitting this one because I was at the point of joining in a second skein and I couldn't decide if I should add another one or not. Well, I am going to add another one. I just decided that.

I really don't know what this is. I have no recollection of this project. The yarn is dark dark charcoal, almost black, with yellow flecks in it. It is supppperrrrrrr soft though. 

I knew exactly what to do with this project. Do you blame me? I think the yarn will make for a great men's scarf.

That's actually not so bad. I need to finish the two scarves and that shawl soon. I have goals. lol.  My girlfriends really want me to teach them to knit a project that isn't a scarf (i.e. socks, gloves, mittens). Little do they know HOW EASY those projects are! I am trying to think of something that I want to make for myself, maybe some more fingerless mittens? I gave my only pair away in the giveaway I hosted a few months ago. They are easy enough because they have no fingers. They can likely be whipped up in an afternoon of chatting with girlfriends, drinking wine, and watching Bridesmaids in the background.

Ok. Must get knitting.

Holler!

Two-pocket Purse Portfolio? Pocketed Purse Organizer?

Not sure what exactly this will be called. Maybe I like the Pocketed Purse Organized better. Not that it realllyyy matters. 

I started outlining this project in an earlier post,and started working on the pattern. I followed all of my outlined instructions as seen at the previous post. 

Cut the Fabrics and Batting:  

Quilted the outer fabric,the orange-y print to the batting. 

Trimmed all those threads:

When I got to the step of sewing the two pieces of fabric, right sides together, I realized that my orange-y outer fabric shrunk a little bit, with all of the quilting. Maybe next time I would make the piece I'm going to quilt bigger, and then trim to size?

Sew the liner fabric to the orange-y quilted outer fabric with the right sides together. Noting that I left a 3-4 inch opening for turning my work right-side-out.

Ironed the edges flat after turning:

Did some topstitching:

Sewed around the whole thing to make the pockets and do the topstitching at the same time:

Finished product!

Compared to the original!

What do you think? I think that the copy cat is pretty close to the original version. I didn't include the string because I am pretty sure that was probably used for a bookmark in a notebook or something. I would consider adding a toggle or some type of other closure. ALSO... I would consider using a  1/4 seam allowance for topstitching as opposed to the 1/8 seam allowance that I did use. My machine did have some trouble going through all the fabric, even with the walking foot. Any topstitching suggestions for a smoother ride next time?

What have you copy-catted? Anything? Clothes? Other little sewed goods? Anything from Pottery Barn??

This knocks another item off my bucket list. If you are new to my blog, check out this page for more info on my bucket list, and this page for all of my finished projects! Be sure to check out my flickr page for other finished projects!

HOLLER!

Copy-Cat

I'm not one of those Vera Bradley "people". I don't have a collection of her bags, I don't have  6 or 7 patterns that I am obsessed with, nothing like that. I did however buy this little diddy.

I was definitely first attracted to the pattern. I LOVE LOVE LOVE poppies! And... I had a giftcard, so I thought, what the hey! I am not really sure what exactly it was supposed to be, but I knew what I was going to use it for. 

See those two pockets in the photo above? I use the one on the left for coupons and I use the one on the right for other important documents that I need in my purse.

I keep this in my purse at all times. It is nice and slim, so it doesn't take up too much room. There is just enough space to put all of those Bed Bath and Beyond coupons in nicely. I wouldn't know what to do with all of that stuff without this thing. 

Yadda  Yadda Yadda... I want to make some! I haven't tried to replicate anything yet, so I tried to draw out every element of the pattern and figure out all of my measurements and seam allowances, etc. before hand.

I think that I am going to use the following fabric below. Have I told you that I am totally over winter? I am not even sewing for it. I don't care, really. REALLY. It is tax season, so I won't even be outside for the next 4 months anyway, so I might as well just skip it. Given that consideration, I am moving onward and upward to sewing with spring/summer prints. 

Stay tuned for the finished product!

Holler!

See ya 2011!

Happy New Year, Happy Holidays, Happy Everything that I have missed over the past 2 months. I have been so wonderfully busy and caught up in the Holidays and everything that they entail. I've hosted dinner parties, knit-ins, present wrapping parties, brunches with girlfriends, birthday parties with family and friends, and the Holidays were all capped off with an amazing New Years Eve party with some of our closest friends. I couldn't have asked for a better holiday season.

I must say that I am so excited for 2012! 

2011 was a great year for my real life and my crafting/blogging life. To properly benchmark my progress over the past year, I would like to remind you of my hopes and dreams for 2011 I posted last year: 

1) Craft Craft Craft 
2) Knock quite a few items off the bucket list!  
3) Get really good at taking pictures
4) Hopefully have more than 50 comments or I will cry
5) Open up my Etsy shop!  
6) Sell items at a craft fair

Let's see how I did.

1) I did Craft Craft Craft. Maybe I should be more specific with my goals for 2012?
2) I DID knock a bunch of items off my bucket list. I think that I knocked around 15 items off. Wooohooo.
3) I did get better at taking pictures. I learned that I shouldn't use the flash, that I should definitely take pictures in the mornings because the light is fantastic, I learned to use different angles and lots of other tips and tricks.
4) I did have more comments! I had around 130 comments. A big improvement from last year.
5) Umm. I didn't open up an Etsy shop. Well... I have it reserved and I am permanently on vacation until I get it sorted out. Bahhhh. 
6) Another fail. I am working on this.

Overall... I would grade myself with a B-. That's ok, this was a busy year! I did do other things... 

1) Bought a house
2) Started to decorate that house by taking on some home decor projects
3) Created a wicked extensive monthly household budget that allows me to be ridiculously OCD but I love it.
4) Completed several quilts, enough that I actually consider myself a quilter!
5) Taught my mom how to send and receive e-mail. That was a real accomplishment.
6) Paid off some student loans! Woooo. 
7) Finished the hexagon throw that I worked on for years. Cuddled up with it right now actually.
8) Designed my own quilt pattern and it worked out perfectly. Check out my Plum Blossoms Quilt.  
9) I've also obtained a second job at a local sewing shop. I am their bookkeeping and business consultant. I spent my entire vacation this year working at the shop. I help customers, help sell machines, take inventory, and all of the bookkeeping. I have sooooo enjoyed it. It actually makes my hate my job and wish I could own a sew shop full time. However, that is not my reality.

What is in the cards for 2012??? Obviously I can't predict everything, but there are the things I am focusing on:
1) Making our house more homey. I will definitely have many posts on projects for our new home, including some room transformations.
2) A few more quilts. I really need to get my binding technique down, as I struggle with that a lot. 
3) I would like to participate in a quilt-swap.
4) I am desperate for some more knitting. The problem is that I hate hate hate sitting, so the idea of coming home and sitting to knit just doesn't appeal to me lately.
5) Use up my Anna Maria Horner Cotton Voile fabrics. I need to use these babies. They are so soft and pretty and luxurious and I neeeeeddddd sew with them!
6) Get some more followers. I am not sure how I am going to accomplish this. Maybe some more giveaways? 
7) Sell SOMETHING. Whether Etsy or Craft Fair, just sell something! 
8) Learn how to read/use patterns. 

I think that is it. I hope everyone's year starts off right, happy and healthy. Stay tuned for a year full of crafting!

Holler!