train board

The other day my little buddy was playing trains with a friend. We have a little train track, but it was clearly not big enough for the two of them to both have long trains on it. I started thinking, especially because we have carpet instead of wood floors, that a board could be a pretty good surface to play on. I came up with this. It's a 2 foot square 1/8" thick particle board that I simply drew some tracks on with a black sharpie, modge-podged a few stations, some trees, a water filling station, and coal mine onto. Oh, and don't forget the helicopter landing pad. I tried to use scrapbook paper (versus cardstock) as much as possible because it will be harder for it to come dislodged. I think he may still be a little young for it, but we'll see. He doesn't really like that the "tracks" don't have a groove for his wheels to go in. Maybe it will become my train track . . .

a few gifts

I am in love with Amy Butler's book, Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. If only my little buddy were a little smaller . . . lucky for me I have 3 sisters and a good friend who are pregnant right now. I've already tried out the little booties. Other than some tight corners they were fairly easy to do, if you try them remember when they say use a medium to light weight fabric they mean it. Flannel is a little thick.





I've also been playing around with lace up cards. This is a set I made as a present for some good friends. The clothes are designed to be laced up with the doll so they have changeable clothes. I've been thinking about selling them in my etsy shop . . .

Halloween Costumes

I love to create Halloween costumes . . . We make a family theme of it every year. I'm afraid this year may be the last year though. Our little buddy may have his own ideas next year. That will be fun too. But can you guess what it will be this year. . . I've been making hats!


2008 Mulan, a Hun, & Mushu


2007 Superman & his parents (ignore my scary smile)


2006 Kronk & Isma (from The Emperor's New Groove)

a book for grandma

I had a friend ask me to bind a book for her to give to her friend who is a new grandma. (are you confused yet?) So I designed the inside "art", cut down some paper, printed the lines on the pages, and the inside info, folded, punched holes, sewed, glued, glued some more, and some more, lots of pressing, and more cutting and gluing and wala. . . a "Grandma's Memories of Your First Year" Book is complete. Total time: a few hours each day for three days. I haven't bound a flat back book since I took bookbinding at BYU three years ago. It was fun.

bright center piece

My kitchen has a distinctly lemon theme running through it, and so I thought I would add this little piece to the assortment. I originally thought about doing a round quilt block. But after looking around I found myself bored. So, without too much thought I started cutting out scraps of fabric at random angles. I stuck with three fabrics to keep it from getting too wild, a light green may have been a nice touch. . .but you get what you get right? I sewed all the pieces together before I cut it into a circle. Anyway, it will do for now.

post modern frame

I cut this frame out of plywood with a jigsaw several months ago. I had grand ideas of making lots of them. But I think I will leave that to the pro's. Anyway, I finally got around to sanding and painting it this weekend. To turn it into a frame I simply hot glued a thin 8x10 frame to the back of it. I think it worked out pretty okay. I'd thought about doing a light green paint, but I think the white will be more classic . . . I don't know what do you think?

welcome october

In my attempts to be a bit more organized, I finally made myself a calendar. Yes, I know we only have three months left in 2009. But I've got some ideas for a 2010 calendar. . . maybe it will become a printable for my shop. We'll see. I've been spending a lot of time playing trains lately. My little buddy has decided it's not fun by himself anymore. I don't blame him. I have however, just finished two printable Halloween invitations that will be finding their way to my shop soon.

I also just have to show you these ramekins I got from Target today. $2.50 for four. I was pretty stoked. And red and yellow, what's more festive than that? I found them in that dollar section when you first walk in. I didn't expect them to be that great as a result, but when I got home I found that they are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe. So . . . we'll see how they work!