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!


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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!

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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...




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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!



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Friday Feature: craftgossip.com

Hi everyone,

Today's feature is going to be brief as Feature Friday has turned into Flu Friday at our house :(

I wanted to share with you the website craftgossip.com...

This is a site that has AMAZING ideas and links to tutorials for tons of crafts (sewing/knitting/glass/stamping/you name it!)... So, if you're crafty at all, you should definitely check it out... Also, if you like them on Facebook, they are running a contest right now - when they get to 10 000 fans, they will give away an Amazon Kindle 3G + Wireless, so if you like what you see, you might as well like them on FB too...

Thanks for reading!

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

In the works...

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine (who also happens to be my BIL's girlfriend!) was over and pulled out her laptop... I took one look at her sad, sad carrying case (sorry Chels!) and thought to myself 'I can totally make a new one for her birthday!'... Then she stopped in last week and said she had something to show me - it was a brand new laptop case (insert tears here)! When I told her that I had planned on making one, she said she would think of something else I can make a case for, and has now requested a custom Bible/Journal carrying case - super exciting and practical...

For now, I'm just in the planning stage, but here's what I have so far...

Our design (originally sketched on a napkin, which was likely thrown away in my efficient cleaning efforts ;) Please excuse my sad drawing skills):

Inspired by the sleeves they bought here:

  



Colca Sac



The outside fabric (100% cotton quilting weight - from my stash):

 

Tonic Living



The lining (plush white minky at $4.99 a yard - AWESOME deal!):

  



Wazoodle



  

And a cute pearl snap (like these) to hold stuff in the pen pouch on the front...

I'll keep you posted on how this pans out - and if you have suggestions, please let me know...

On a sidenote, I replaced my Valentine's Subway Art with this one (Be Thankful), and it is definitely serving as a great reminder (especially on days when I am spit up on all day long, my independent toddler spills milk all over the kitchen, and we have a leak in the middle of the JUST finished basement floor!)...

Thanks for reading!

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