Time Sure Flies!!

...when you have small kids! How did it get to be mid June already?

I have been crafting of course, still mostly cards and some scrapbook layouts to show in this post, but I have also been working on ballet legwarmers, my crazy Beowulf socks, some more Block Lotto blocks and have even completed a baby quilt for no specific baby! My first quilt top finished with no destination...I feel so productive! Now if I can just get some more movement on the Rouenneries quilt top or the Ocean Waves quilting....

Here are the Block Lotto blocks I've done:

May Blocks: Pineapple Blossom

June Blocks: Simple Rectangle with focus on color...

I like the simplicity of the rectangle blocks and decided to do a baby quilt size quilt in gender neutral colors...here is how it turned out!

Now for the slightly insane amount of card making going on since the last time!

Here are some communion cards...

A collage of a bunch of Father's Day cards, teachers thank yous and birthdays...

Some thank you cards for Aine's Communion gifts with a photo of her stuck to a magnet backing for everyone to put on their fridge if they want...

She was so beautiful on the day...it inspired me to make my first scrapbook layout of my favorite photo!

And I also had to do a scrapbook layout for Aisling!

So I have been working away and we have been busy getting ready for Aine's First Communion and little party afterwards... Next week we have visitors from the States for the week and lots of sightseeing, and the day after they leave we have Aisling's birthday party! No rest for the wicked, but I go at my own pace and we still manage to get it done.

Tagged!

I have really gotten into making tags, though I have still only completed 3 so far, each time I have a little more stash to use and have fun with! Keep going after the tags for some more quilting and knitting bits!

This is the second tag I did

I used my distress inks and the new homemade glimmer mists I concocted! I sprayed my lace a combination of a broken china/perfect pearl mist and peeled paint/gold glimmer mist and love the effect! I have a lock and key set of brads, some paper flowers (Graphic 45 stock kraft flowers), some fun fibers, a few charms from jewelry I bought hung on a garment pin... There are some new stamps used...I love the clock and ruler ones!

This is my most recent tag...

This one is using even more new stash: distress inks and glimmer mists again...Tim Holtz stamps, gorgeous black lace, a sticker from Tim Holtz Crowded Attic set, more jewelry charms and tons of fibers...there is some Basic Grey bling on it too... I am not sure what to do with these other than clip them up and look at them, lol, but I love them!

I have also done a ton of Communion invites as well...

A birthday card...

A few more birthday tshirts were made!

And to prove I still do quilt, here are some 16 patch blocks I am doing of the Rouenneries line...love this fabric... I will quilt each square one at a time and join them together...good way to practice my machine quilting without wrestling a huge quilt through...and can do different patterns on each square...

I am also producing more pairs of ballerina legwarmers...

And a friend of ours taught the girls and I to do some felted covered soaps! And they also got in on the card making excitement last week...

Somehow I also made a little doll for Aisling from a kit we bought last week too...

No rest for the weary here...getting last minute things organized for the Communion next Sunday...the girls are also doing their ballet performance for the year in the local university theatre the day before...nothing like a busy weekend! Hope to do some more papercrafting this weekend, and some knitting! Catch up with you again soon, I hope, and say hello when you can!

My first vintage tag ever!

I am still learning, but am having fun! Would love to hear what you think of it, but be kind!

I am really getting into the papercrafting and have been buying a bit too much ink and stamps and other goodies...a whole new craft to collect supplies for!! I have also been organizing them into my crafting space.

This is my homemade version of this expensive Clip it Up! It uses things we already had here, so it was free: an IKEA towel rail and some curtain clips to hang my stamps and goodies with! We have sloping ceilings in that room, so it makes good use of the space.

Here are the set of yummy inks I invested in...it was cheaper to buy the set, I swear!!

I used my Silhouette to print out the names of the inks and to cut around them...I also used a Xyron sticker maker to make them into label stickers...then I inked each label to show me the colors of the ink pads from the side!

Here are a few more bits I have gotten... I have been buying other things here and there but small things...so forgot to photograph them! Here are some gorgeous Tim Holtz stamps...

Here are some Tim Holtz stickers (can you tell I like this guy's design range!??) and a bunch of tags...all the bits to get started!

I need to do some more communion cards soon, and some more birthday cards...but going to give a go at making a few more tags too...need to get some of those glimmery shimmery sprays I keep reading about next...sooo many things to buy...just need to win the lottery!

Moving Along...

My new hobby has me starting from scratch buying gorgeous supplies and I am going to go broke quickly if I don't calm down! I am budgeting myself a certain amount monthly for new yummy goodies for my papercrafting obsession... And I am thinking about seeing if anyone is interested in trading some scrapbooking goodies for some indie dyed sock wool...I have so much in my stash that I will never be able to finish knitting with! I will probably see if I can sell some on Ebay or Ravelry...I really see so many things I'd love to get, but would need thousands of euros to get all the things I am coveting! Gotta start doing it little by little, but I will sure have fun doing it!

I have been buying more than making in the last weeks, though I did manage to get a few Easter cards done...

Another set of ballet legwarmers started...

And a pillow for our cute little 3 year old neighbor, Lucy!

We went over to a friends house and did some not so wonderfully felted covered soaps, they were a lot of fun...You wash your hands with the soap and continue the felting and when the soap is gone you can make a little something with the felted fabric left behind! Thanks Jessica for having us over and teaching us some wet felting!

I have also started back to doing a bit of quilting on my frame...got one celtic knot motif done on my ocean waves quilt...

And also started a new quilt for our bed (still haven't finished a quilt for our own bed!!) It is going to be a simple squares quilt again...out of my favorite fabric line, Rouenneries! I am loving simple after doing the Dear Jane! I will be doing this one in quilt as you go method with 16 patches and scraps of batting...batting costs a lot here and I am frugal! I will also try to use the smaller quilting areas to practice some other types of machine quilting other than meandering...any suggestions for an improving machine quilter to try next after meandering?

I am walking without a crutch, but I am still sore at the end of the day, but improving each day! Stay tuned for an insane blog post next with lots of shopping goodies which I hope to see start arriving next week!

Tshirts and cards!

Up to my usual tshirt making for birthday presents and for friends!

Finally got some great packages from my mom with some card making supplies, so tried out some embossing and made some of the cards without the Silhouette...

 Two simple cards using embossing on the sentiments...fun!

 This Hello Friend card is all digital, the paper and the sentiment are printed out...then I used a corner rounder and sewed around the edges...I like the way it looks, will do some more digital cards soon!

Another kids birthday card using the Silhouette...

Got a few more blocks done for some swaps... Here are some block lotto blocks and a lady of the lake block for Katy... She was lucky enough to win the red and white blocks this month!

Here are this months block lotto blocks I have done, Modern Clover blocks designed by the above mentioned Katy!

Our quilt group made dozens of quilts on our charity day, and I quilted about half of them and bound about 4...here is one of them ready for hand finishing...

I just finished a baby quilt for our neighbor and hope to work on a quilt for my own bed this week...will hopefully come back with more updates on those in the next week or so...

Aisling has hurt her knee landing badly on a trampoline, so it is off to the doctor today we go...have a feeling we'll have to trek to town for xrays later...what a limpy pair we'll be today, but I am moving around much better now, and DRIVING woo hoo! More soon...