Would You Like Some Wine With That?

To reinforce what I said in my last post- I love novelty prints. So I was especially excited when I asked my good friend Sarah what she was looking to add to her wardrobe and she said novelty prints! I had been stumped on what to make her for her birthday and this made it all clear. 

I liked this wine/chalkboard print because the colors struck me as very her (well so does the wine for that matter) and I really appreciated that it was a print you could wear during pretty much any season. Sarah has a pretty big wardrobe so you have to work at finding the missing pieces to add. I love that with this skirt you could add sandals, a simple white tank, and a floppy straw hat for summer, or black boots, tights, and a mustard sweater for winter. Either was it looked like it would be fun to wear. 

I kept the silhouette simple and classic, nice clean pleats and a midi length and added pockets for practicality. Not enough women's clothing has pockets in it. 

And last, the skirt is equipped with size adjusters in the waistband, so it fits exactly the way she wants it too every time. 

Darling Orange and Blue Baby Dress

This past month, or so, I have been doing a lot of "gift sewing"- which I love. I really enjoy giving gifts- as I have said before! I love thinking them up and I love seeing if what I thought up was really something they love. This dress was a little harder to come up with because it was a baby shower gift for someone I don't know very well- but I think it turned out great- and they seemed to like it a lot!

Orange and aqua are by far one of my favorite color combos- I just love to contrast! I mean, come on- look at that piping pop! Anyways, this dress is made from a quilting cotton from Joann's- I had it in my stash just waiting to be sewn up (In fact I think I might have to sew up some more for the etsy shop). I was excited to have the perfect colored buttons on hand, and I think the aqua stitching on them added to the whole look.

Geeky, Nerdy, Cool

I am much better at having best friends than having lots of friends, I'm a little awkward in groups which makes it hard to get to know people. However, I'll take best friends over anything any day of the week. One of my longest friendships (13 years and counting) is with the most awesome of guys a gal could know (Well except for my hubby- because, well, I'm married to him). Patrick has a really bright and lively personality and he is one of those people that everyone loves. Patrick has a ton of interests- and his enthusiasm is really contagious. 

While I was brainstorming ideas for birthday presents (in the fabric store of course) I walked past this great monochromatic, woven cotton, Star Wars fabric and I knew it had to be something for Patrick- it was just too perfect to leave. 

 

In the end I made him this great infinity scarf- paring the Star Wars print with a nice navy chevron flannel, and in an ode to Brini Maxwell (another of Patrick's obsessions) ball fringe. I went back and forth on the color of the trim- between keeping it all navy and adding color, and in the end I decided on the pop of color because I just love navy and apple green together. I'm pretty lucky too because even though I got this to him months late- it's still cold enough for him to wear it. I guess there are some good things that come with this crazy weather! 

  

A Little Bit of Christmas Wood Burning

This year for Christmas Brendon and I didn't have a whole lot of money floating around and we wanted to share something that took more time and love, and less cash! So we came up with the idea of wood burning signs for our friends and family. Brendon had wood burned a clock at one point years ago and I did some signs for my friend's wedding, so we were familiar with the process, but these signs were a much bigger project.

A big project, but a fun project too. It was neat to take one idea- and specialize it for the personality of the person receiving it! Brendon sanded down the surface of each pre cut wood plaque, and I hand  drew out all the designs, and we worked together to burn all of the signs.

This one was for my In laws and my father in law thought it was so neat he got up and hung it on the wall right then!

This one was actually the hardest because I wanted it to look as close as possible to the illustrations in the book "The Giving Tree" and so I worried the whole time about making a wrong move with the wood burner!

I couldn't help adding some color to these two- and I think it would be hard to not add color to future signs I make because, I am in love.