The Spring Collection

We've had one 60 degree day here in Boston, and it was enough to persuade me to start working on my Spring Collection for my darling niece. It's not much, but here's what my little sweetie will be outfitted in so far...ready for Easter and ready for Mother's Day!

And a little Carolina pride just for fun...



The Treasure of all Treasures

In life there are moments. Moments when you laugh, moments when you cry, and moments when you are stopped dead in your tracks in the middle of Party City. For me that moment came this weekend when I found the treasure of all treasures, and the perfect accessory for my car console...a gorgeous, over-the-top glitter microphone!

Add a bow and YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Over the years I've used many things for make-shift microphones, but never again will I find myself scrapping for something to sing into when a Mariah hit comes on.

I'm ready to hit the high notes with Martina and bring the soul to Boyz II Men.

It absolutely made my weekend and dare I say the weekend of everyone I passed on the road...because they were in for a show!!

Celtics Game...VIP Style!

Let's face it, most of my posts are for the ladies. Sewing this, embroidering that...BORING!!! (For the boys that is). Well gentlemen, this post's for you! On early SuperBowl Sunday afternoon, Jarred and I had the pleasure of rolling VIP Style to the Celtics vs. Magic game courtesy of his boss, and ultimate beast, Jim. Every year he gets Celtics tickets for the whole lab, and this year he decided to step it up a bit and rent out an entire suite for us. Chu-ching!! I say "us"...the lab of about 20ish plus 3 lucky lottery ticket spouses. Jim had enough tickets for everyone in lab, and then they had the option of entering their name into a drawing for an extra ticket to bring that special someone. Sweet Jarred talked his way into swaying some extra names in my favor. Several of his friends who didn't actually have someone else to bring put their names in the hat for me. Hooray! It caused a little controversy in the lab, but hey...my man does what he has to do. In the end, Jarred's actual name was picked and I got to come. Yay! Here's some pics:

We got there early so we could enjoy the extra perks of premium ticket holders...aka watching warm-ups courtside!! I can now report firsthand that Dwight Howard's shoulders...really are the size of bowling bowls. He is absolutely not human.

Patrick Ewing, a monster!

JJ Redick...with whom Jarred shared a love/hate relationship at Duke for several years. And I must say, he was much bigger in person than I expected him to be. At Duke, he always seemed so small! Jarred also informed me, for anyone interested, that JJ's warm-up routine is exactly the same as it was in college. 



Free tshirts for all! Thanks Jim!

There's a Boston sports museum around the club level floors. One artifact was a NHL penalty box. Which, of course, I had to sit in.

View from the club level.

Thanks Jim, we had a blast!

Calling all Moms and Coffee Drinkers!

As the snow continues to pile up outside my door, I fill the hours trapped inside by scanning the internet for new things to embroider. My goal is to find fun things that a) look cool, b) can be made consistently well and c) aren't too crazy hard to hoop. It's a quest that is much harder than it seems. Some things I find would be awesome to embroider, but end up being a disaster to line up or hoop. But this time, I've hit the jackpot. Travel Mugs and Sippy Cups with *embroiderable* paper inserts. So fun! And the possibilities for designs and colors are practically endless! Here's what I've made so far:

It's hard to capture them in one snap shot since the writing wraps around the cups, but you get the idea. Cute and personalized sippy cups so the day care workers and church nursery volunteers don't get them mixed up. So far I've found the sippy cups with blue, green, pink, and white tops in these two sizes (5oz and 10oz). They are said to be "Spill proof," but being that I don't have a toddler...I can't be so sure of that. Playtex also sells a sippy cup with a straw that you can put an insert into, but they are about $15...which is a little too pricey for me to be buying and trying just for fun. But if anyone wants me to make a sippy cup insert for their playtex cup, I can do that too. Here's what they look like:

My sister swears by this kind. There are so many possibilities for the embroidery insert, it just makes me want to squeal!

Now on to the grown-up edition, travel mugs! There are several different styles that can be made for different price points. Some have a stainless steel portion of the mug and are therefore a little higher quality, and some are just regular plastic for warm liquid. It's rather tragic that I don't drink coffee, because I'm loving these mugs!!!

Mug with stainless steel:

Without Stainless:

This one was made for Jarred's lab when they had their way-after-Christmas yankee swap game. I tried to make the writing a little boyish since most likely a boy would get it...and I must say, it takes away from the overall attractiveness of the mug...but you gotta do what you gotta do. The actual insert background is gorgeous. 

And in honor of my glory days in college:

Pi or Die!

Ahhh good times. If you'd like your very own sippy cup or travel mug, give me a shout. They are fun and easy to make. The colors and design possibilities are endless! Hip Hip Hooray!

Prices are in the $6-$15 range.

* I'm pretty sure "embroiderable" isn't a real word...but it's sounds so legit!

Market Basket Monstrosity

I was all set to name this post "Marvelous Market Baskets" or "Market Basket Miracle"...but then disaster struck...as usual. Now I'm left with "Market Basket Monstrosity" because the word monstrosity can be defined as "an excessively bad or shocking example," and unfortunately, that's how one of my little treasures turned out. First, you should know that although they include these in the "market basket" category, they are really more of a hybrid between a picnic basket and a cooler. They're completely collapsible when not in use and are perfect for tailgating and summertime in the mountains. So here's your first look:

As you'll see later, the inside is completely insulated. This caused a small problem when trying to hoop the top, but I was able to troubleshoot (after about an hour, that is) by cutting slits in the insulation where the hoops needed to go. Although this one looks pretty and I am excited about it, after doing the embroidery, I went to gently iron out the hoop marks and my annoying iron put some small black marks on it. I was devastated! I had worked so hard to make it perfect...and then in a split second, tarnished. Oh well...it's still a success, and I feel good about making these in the future. The actual stitching came out beautifully.

And now for the monstrosity.

Doesn't look too bad from a distance. But up close...

Gross. The "Go Tigers" was stitched first, and at this point, my post was still going to be "Market Basket Miracle," because I was able to troubleshoot the insulation problem and all the letters were coming out so nicely. But the tiger paw...oh the tiger paw. What have I done to make you rebel against me??

I mean really, what the world kind of screwed up tiger paw is this??

This is a shot from the back. A giant wad of thread. I've never seen anything like it. *tear* A monstrosity.

Overall, I'm still very excited about my new ability to embroider these. I think they make great gifts and are pretty high quality little coolers. Here's a few more shots to give you an idea for sizing. The small basket could easily hold about 8 can drinks. I ran out of Cokes, so the picture shows 5 drink cans plus some green beans and soup, but you get the idea. They come in red, orange, hot pink, lime green, camo (for all those hunters out there we know and love), black and white houndstooth, zebra print, black and white damask, burgundy, navy, and plain black. Most colors come in both large and small, but not all. Holla if you're interested!

For all you Die-Hard Fans

If you or your loved one is a Die-Hard fan of a college football team, then I can call you friend. We speak the same language and share a common love for sport. No matter your team of choice, I respect your decision to follow your boys with reckless abandon...in good times and in bad (and if you're from the state of South Carolina, you have a lot of practice with the bad...perhaps it's how God has taught us patience, perseverance and loyalty). If you find that you love a University with the passion of a million burning suns, and you live and breathe their athletic programs...I have a recommendation for you. Although I received a lot of amazing Christmas gifts, this was one of the most unexpected...and I must admit, one of my favorites: a book entitled Daily Devotions for Die-Hard Fans: Clemson Tigers edition by Ed McMinn.

Each day has a Bible passage to read and then a story from the history of the athletics program that the author relates to the overall Biblical principal for the day. Although some days seem like a bit of a stretch, others are fabulous. Either way it gets you reading from the Word and also teaches you fun things you never knew about the athletics program. Stories of the great legends of the University and tidbits of knowledge that only strengthen your love of God and Clemson Tiger sports. A beautiful thing. I googled it, and there are also books for Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Duke, etc. I think he even managed to pull some good from The University of South Carolina, amazing, I know. Kidding...sort of.

If you know a Die-Hard fan like me that loves the Lord...or maybe someone who doesn't...but loves their sports, this is the perfect gift. It could definitely be used as a tool to minister to some sports fans who have yet to enter into a relationship with the One who paid it all for them! Think about it.

Busy Day of Applique

Today was a Saturday full of fun projects! The first is a birthday present for one of my former students. She was sweet enough to invite me to her upcoming birthday party, and I'm super excited. It's going to be at a giant trampoline park that looks incredibly awesome. Although there are sure to be other adults present, I may be the only one participating. But clearly, I can't let an opportunity like this pass me by! Here's a visual:

Umm, yeah. It's going to be awesome! Back to her present though. This little cutie happens to love baking with her parents. So after much brainstorming, I decided to make her a special apron and give her a complete baking themed gift. I found a red kid-sized apron, sewed some ribbon on the top and bottom, embroidered her name, and viola, I hope she'll love it!

I also bought a few smaller aprons for kids 2-6ish. I wanted to practice my applique skills and create a little boys grilling/cooking/art apron. A sweet friend from Walhalla has ordered a few tutus from me, so I decided to throw an extra little surprise into her order:

Like most of my things, it's not perfect, but hopefully Max will enjoy it!

A few weeks ago I bought two size 18 months shirts from Target, but I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to do with them. Tonight I put out a open call for inspiration on facebook and the first two responses (with size 18 months babies right now) were cuties named Ziva and Savannah. So here's what I made:

I'm really enjoying getting my feet wet with applique! It's so fun and allows for so much creativity. I hope those of you who've been considering getting machines will do it. You won't regret it!