Friday Feature: Some local love...

On Wednesday night, I made a new friend named Jen... She and her husband (Matt) have come up with a great idea that I'd like to share with you... The company is called love.MADE and is located in Waterloo, ON... The concept is "a space in Kitchener-Waterloo where arts, crafts and creativity happen. We eventually see a place where handmade goods are sold, workshops are held, groups meet and coffee is sipped at tables." For now, they are starting small with a knitting workshop running Tuesday nights (starts April 12th), but they plan to expand over the next little while... If you know me, you know that I love local small business, so when you combine it with all things handmade, I think it's a winner!

Jen & Matt are having a launch party on Saturday March 26 from 1-4pm at  Maxwell’s Music House, where you can meet them and some artists who will be running the workshops, make buttons, have a unique portrait done, and some other neat things...

Jen has also expressed interest in some of my handmade goods (yay!), so I'm going to be working on a few new items for them to have on display (and for sale!)... I may even end up running a workshop or two!

So, check out their website (lovemade.ca) and look for them on Facebook - I know Jen & Matt would appreciate your support!!

Thanks for reading!


If you are receiving this through email, please go to umi designs to visit the blog.

Looking sharp...

So, our household has been sick for the past week and a half (sadly, I've had it the longest), but I was still itching to do something creative (and quick)... I saw this adorable tutorial a while ago and decided to give it a try... Here's the result:

I think I might have him wear this for his dedication (when we schedule it!) :)

Thanks for reading!

If you are receiving this through email, please go to umi designs to visit the blog.

Friday Feature: Freezer Paper Stenciling

This one is for my non-sewing friends who read through my last post thinking "sewing machines have feet?" ;)

The other day I stumbled upon this video tutorial for freezer paper stenciling and I was amazed!! Apparently, you can use freezer paper (which I will be looking for the next time we head to WalMart) to create a stencil to paint designs onto fabric...

So, being a computer teacher (and NOT an artist), I put together a few simple designs using Picnik (awesome FREE photo editing site) that I think would be fun to use on onesies or t-shirts for my kids (or maybe your kids!)... Here they are:

If you're feeling inspired, head over to Picnik and have some fun... And if you'd like to tackle this project with me - let me know! :)

Thanks for reading...




If you are receiving this through email, please go to umi designs to visit the blog.

Sewing School (kind of)...

Last year, for my birthday (in June), the entire family chipped in for me to buy myself a sewing machine - SUPER amazing because I had only ever used mom's, grandma's, and Mark's grandma's machines in the past (thanks wonderful ladies!)... So, I headed over to an adorable sewing shop at Fredrick Mall (I know, right? think bowling and mini movie theatre) called KW Sewing Machines and I walked out with a Janome that does 'more than just straight and zig zag stitches' ;)

It's not anything super fancy, but it's a great match for everything I work on these days... The awesome thing is that when you buy a machine from them, they tell you to go home and use it, and then come back so that they can show you (again) what all the stitches are and what the feet do... Now, I have been making lots of things, but not using much of the fancier stuff (mostly because I was pregnant when I bought it, and thus baby brain made it difficult to remember anything she showed me that day!)...

Tonight, I FINALLY made it over to the store for my sewing 'class' with Kim (she was SO great!)... Not only did I get an evening out ALL BY MYSELF, but I also got to sew!! She showed me all kinds of great things that I can do with my machine, and I could almost feel the wheels in my head turning... She answered all of my questions (even though I had a lot), and now I am ready to test out some new stitches and feet...

And, of course, I didn't make it out of the store empty-handed ;) I picked up some new bobbins, white and blue tailor's chalk, and a button foot!

Then, to top it off, I stopped at Starbuck's on the way home (just to stretch out my freedom a little more)... After I ordered, I had to wait a couple of minutes because their computer had just rebooted... The nice ladies decided that I had waited too long, so I got my two drinks free (I couldn't leave Mark out!), and got a coupon for a free one next time! All in all - a pretty great night...

Thanks for reading!



If you are receiving this through email, please go to umi designs to visit the blog.