Spending money I don't have at DIYpsi -- and a giveaway!

BootsNGus

My Marigold

Sparrownests

I spent part of my Saturday afternoon in Ypsilanti supporting the local handmade community at the DIYpsi indie craft show. I just love these craft shows. There's always something on almost every table that I want to take home. I walk in with the best intentions to buy just one thing, and gah, I walk out with a bunch of cute, locally made items that I apparently can not live without. It happens every time. Maybe it's time to call it what it is -- an addiction.

Let's see what caught my fancy this time.

Aisle 3 Etsy shop

I loved everything on the Aisle 3 table. It was all upcycled goodies made from vintage buttons, curtains, neckties, linens, etc. The artist was very sweet, and is from my almost-home-town, Flint. And I just learned on her blog that her son's name is Milo, which was my favorite name -- alas, not my husband's -- this last pregnancy. JEALOUS!
I guess we have similar taste, because I wound up buying this cute guy....

And when I selected it, she picked up her own identical pouch. It's the one she carries herself.  I feel extra cool now. The pouch is simple in design, but I love the vintage-ness of it and the cheeky animal-cut-into-portions print. The lining is lovely, too. It has a nice sheen. I think I'll use the pouch to carry my essential makeup, since I usually put it on in the car. I'm sick of carting my big travel carrying case around! This size is perfect for my lip-gloss, eye concealer, tweezers and mascara.

I also like her cute tag:

It's the little things, right?

What else?

Etsy shop: cefische.etsy.com

Also loved all of this jewelry. The artist, Courtney, was so sweet and we figured out we live like less than a mile away from one another. She does "vintage inspired jewelry with a natural element." I could see myself wearing almost any of these. What did I pick?

These dangly earrings! Love them. Have worn them twice already.

 Web: amepix.net

I was also quite delighted by these magnet sets.I wound up buying an ABC's in sign language set.

These are cool, don't you think? Now I just need to brush up on my sign langeuge skills, so I can use em correctly. 

I brought many cards home with me. If you're looking for something unique, creative and handmade, here are a few other Michigan-based people to check out.

sparrownests.com

sloeginfizz.etsy.com

bootsngus.etsy.com

miodiocollection.com

tumbledown.etsy.com

chubbylove.etsy.com

bettula.etsy.com

sparklepants.etsy.com

sandwichseat.com

lovenicolet.etsy.com

So, to celebrate my recent milestone of hitting 100 followers, I did a little shopping at the DIY fair for one of you. Tough decisions. I hope you like what I nabbed.

A fun vintage sewing-pattern coaster AND another one of those cute pouches by Aisle 3! (Yup, I bought two, one for me, one for you.) One winner will get both of these prizes. Here's the rules:

-- Leave a comment on this post before noon on Friday, Aug. 19. Tell me what item you saw in this post that you think you'd have wanted to buy.
-- I will use random.org to select one winner. Must be a US shipping address -- sorry!
-- Make sure your address is linked with your account, or leave it in the comment.
-- If you're a follower, you get an extra entry. Just leave a comment telling me how you follow and if you're a new follower. Thanks!

Getting to inspired

Thanks for the kind comments on my last post. I'm still searching for some inspiration, and it is coming, slowly. I thought it might help to share some it with you. These are just projects I am eyeballing, letting them stew. I might actually get a few hours to myself to sew today -- hooray! -- so we will see if any of these have truly taken root.

 I have an idea for an owl pillow. Problem for me is I am terrible at drawing. So while I can picture said owl pillow, I don't think I could draw the owl from my vision. So I looked around for some other owl pillows that have similarly shaped owls. This one is close! Found via Pinterest, original here.

Isn't this travel bag so great? I have a half yard of this fabric. Thinking that wouldn't be enough. It's Jessica Jones fabric from the Outside Oslo line. I have two fat quarter bundles from the line. Did you know that when you order a fat quarter bundle and put "2" in the quantity field, that they don't cut you a half-yard bundle? Instead they send you two identical fat quarter bundles. Live and learn!

The bag is Jessica Jones' herself! She blogs at How About Orange, and her mother sewed this one for her from an Amy Butler pattern.

Another bag made by Jessica Jones, using her Outside Oslo fabric. I am on the hunt for ideas for this fabric, can you tell?

And a patchwork pillow made from the Outside Oslo fabric! I love these bright prints, but I have the blue-yellow-grey colorway. Still would be nice like this, right?

This pillow is sweet. And I bet my friend Kim might like it. She's moving to China soon. WAH! I also need one for me bed. NEED ONE.

We have a terrible habit of collecting huge mounds of mail and paper here. We are so bad at organizing, filing, shredding, etc. Maybe this cute little guy would help? Tutorial via noodle-head.

Speaking of Anna at Noodle-head.... I have been meaning to make the 241 Tote for months now. I have linen. I have some cute Joel Dewberry fabric -- not this print, but two awesome purple ones from the same collection. I also have some new Heather Ross fabric from the Far, Far Away collection that might make a nice 241 Tote. I just need to do this one already! This one found via Pinterest, original here.

I bought the book Sew Liberated and love this project, the camera bag. I found this version via flickr, from the blog Aves Handmade. She did a great job, huh?

That's it! A lot though, right? Thank God for Pinterest and all the amazing people who share their work via blogs and flickr. It certainly does help when inspiration is lacking.

Now.... where to start?

Things I dig Friday: Embroidery fever

Can I show you what I stole borrowed from my Mom last weekend?

Isn't it pretty?

I can remember thinking my Mom was so annoying for dragging me as a whiny pre-teen to the embroidery store to buy these pretty colors.

Now all I can say is, high-five Mom! Thanks for letting me play with these! And for storing them away for so long.

I'm going to need them, too. Because I enrolled in the Wild Olive embroidery class, All in the Details. I can't wait to get started. I've got the embroidery fever! You can join the class, too. It's five weeks of embroidery-tastic instruction with 15 projects to work through. All on a private blog that'll be live for some time after class ends, meaning you can truly take it at your own pace. Well worth $35 I think. I can't wait to see what I'll learn. Class starts Monday, June 20!

In the meantime, I am getting inspired via the beautiful embroidery on Pinterest. Here's what I've pinned so far.

From the blog, Freckled Nest.

From the Etsy shop Three Red Apples.

From the blog Cookie Mondays.

From the flickr account Yarnattacks. (And really, maybe this isn't embroidery at all, but just yarn through a doily. I don't know, but I love it still.)

From the blog Blessed Little Nest.

From the blog Kyla Roma.

From the Etsy shop LilacSaloon. 

From the flickr account nanaCompany.

Is that enough eye candy for you? I can't wait to get started on some of my own.

Oh, and my third dress for The Summer of No Pants is so very close to being finished. I love it, and I'll share it with you in a snippity snap, as soon as the last bit is finished. My son Jack is being dedicated this weekend and we're having a party, so I have been in a bit of a cleaning and preparing frenzy!

Oh oh and last thing. Did you see the quilt Anna at Noodlehead posted this week? It is so beautiful, and I'm so delighted that she says I helped push her to complete it. That is just... cool. :) In her post, Anna says she wishes everyone would just try that thing, that new thing that is scaring them. Take on the project that they've been thinking about making, but haven't. Or maybe it's not a project, but simply taking the time to try to create something, anything at all. You've wanted to learn to sew or knit or embroider, but haven't. She wishes people would just stop waiting, stop being scared, stop worrying you'll fail... and just try.

I couldn't agree more. :)

Things I dig Friday: Thunder thighs and sewing inspiration

I promise there will be sewing related links coming in this edition of Things I Dig Friday. But first a few things I dig here on the home-front. And one anti-dig.

I snapped these photos of J.J's baby legs just kick kick kicking. Don't you just want to bite them?

We took the boys to the zoo on Thursday morning and had a fabulous time. I dressed them in their matching "Big Bro," "Little Bro" shirts, all excited to get some great pictures of them with ferocious animals in the background. And then left my camera in the car. Bummer! So I had to have a little photo shoot with them when we got home. Getting a good picture of both boys is so so difficult. One of them is always moving. Luke makes funny faces and puts his hands in front of his eyes. Jack slumps and gets very wide-eyed, like he is totally alarmed. But I did manage to get a few decent shots and wanted to share them. I am having so many days right now where all day long I think, Today is a very good day. This truly is the happiest time of my life. I know this blog is about sewing, and that has a lot to do with my current contentedness. But those too little firecrackers do, too. And so I just have to include some photos of them. It makes me even more happy to share. :)

And now, onto this:

This is my anti-dig. Luke got five stitches in the bottom of his foot on Tuesday. Quite the drama. He stepped on a piece of broken plate that had traveled from our kitchen down our basement stairs without us noticing. Seriously, the boy has had open-heart surgery, and I'm pretty sure these stitches will be remembered as far more traumatic for him! He was a screaming, thrashing, moaning, sweating mess. It broke my heart. And now he is hobbling around on his tip-toes. Ouch. Don't you feel bad for my little guy?

OK, so that's my life this week. And here is what I have been digging out in blog-land.

Seriously obsessed is how I would describe myself. I stumbled onto the blog The Sew Weekly a few weeks ago. It is fantastic. Mena has challenged herself to sew all of her own clothes. She recently made eight dresses in seven days. And they are all to-die-for cute. They're amazing. Go check out her blog and see all of her creations and tell me you aren't inspired to try to make a dress yourself.

Over on the blog Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! there has been a great series of posts about making skirts and dresses with tutorials galore. It's all part of something called The Summer of No Pants, in which participants sew four skirts or dress through the four weeks beginning Monday. I am about 99% sure I'm taking part! (The other 1% is the commitment-phobe part of me.) Scroll through the posts and I'm sure you'll find something you want to make. She also has discount codes listed for buying patterns and fabric. Isn't this fun?

I just found this blog called Wild Olive and have been learning quite a bit about embroidery. She's doing a series right now called Embroidery 101, and it is really helpful for someone like me who knows NOTHING about embroidery. I was inspired to learn after Prudent Baby announced an embroidery contest. It's really not about the contest, but that sparked me to think about what I would want to enter. And that led me to an idea I really want to turn into reality. And soon. So I'm trying to learn as much as I can, and this blog is helping big time!

How cute is this dress? I found this blog called Sew Sweetness through The Summer of No Pants. I am now hooked. I love finding blogs that are exactly what I want to read. This fits the bill for me. She reviews patterns and makes adorable stuff. I'm pretty reading her site was the final straw to convince me that I should attempt to sew myself a dress. Yup, I think it's coming.

That's it for this Things I Dig Friday! Looking forward to a weekend that is scheduled to include sunshine, warm temperatures, a night out with the girls, flower planting, a visit from my parents, my husband's first softball games and a cookout. Hopefully, I can sneak a little sewing in there, too. What's on your schedule for this weekend?

Things I dig Friday: Summer stripes

Blogger had a bad day on Thursday, and so this post is a little bit delayed. I typically use nap time to write my post for the next day, and yesterday at that time, the site was down. And it continued to be down all morning. And then at today's nap time, which is just wrapping up, my three-month old was waah-waah-waahing and would not let me put him down. Is he teething already? Crimey! I don't know. But alas, both kids are, for this very brief moment, asleep. So here's an abbreviated version of Things I Dig Friday, which is where I point out some things around blog land that I think are lovely or wonderful or funny or some other positive emotion. Because maybe you'll like them, too.

Today's very loose theme: Summer stripes.

 Is this bag not adorable? I love the stripes and the small ruffle. It's from the Etsy shop "The Winding Road," and all of the proceeds (this bag is $30) in her shop go to charity. ALL the proceeds! Isn't that incredibly generous? Her charity of choice is in Haiti, and we all know how much help those people need. And you need to be cute. So it's a win-win. Awesome.

So comfy. Love the bright stripes. And this shirt is supposedly so easy to make, the tutorial from Craft Gossip reports that it can be done in about 30 minutes. I'd jump right on it, but she uses a rayon/jersey knit blend, and that's where I start to get intimidated. I know how to sew with cotton. And fleece. And hmmm... linen? Felt. But not anything that is truly stretchy. I am betting it is really not all that complicated and I should just get over it and go for it. So I can have simple, stylish yet wearable shirts like this.

(And this is where the "stripes" theme of this week's roundup comes to a screeching halt.)

If you're a new sewer, like me, perhaps you are slowly catching on to the "names." The brand names, the big-shot fabric designers, the modern pattern makers, etc. A year ago, none of these folks were "famous" to me. Now, I'm learning who's who and why I should care. I love learning about my new hobby, and I love interviews, and so this interview at Hello Craft with Children's designer Liesl Gibson of the Oliver + S line was great reading. I really want her new book. It's on my list.

Anna from Noodle-head is one of my favorite bloggers. Her projects always turn out so lovely. I love the way she mixes fabrics and solids. She often uses neutral linens and patchwork. It's funny, because I am always drawn to pattern and color. But the way she mixes those neutrals with more colorful fabrics makes them shine even more. It's made me think about what I use in my own projects. Anyway, this is her newest project, an apron she made for her mother. Isn't it pretty? In love!

OK, that's it for this week. I have some sewing to finish for a friend's birthday present. I'll share it with you next week. Tonight, some girls are going out to help her celebrate, and I'm crossing my fingers that the wee one will settle down by then so I can get out for a few hours. Tomorrow, I have a thrift-shopping date with another friend, and Sunday it is a friend of Luke's birthday party.

Busy weekend! It really feels like summer now -- sunshine, humidity and a packed schedule. What are you up to this weekend? Any sewing or crafting to finish?

Thing I dig Friday: necklaces

Two cool things happened in the last week that have inspired a necklace-themed Things I Dig Friday. So off we go.

First, I won a contest. This never happens to me. I won the cute necklace on the right, made by Stay at Home Artist. Can't wait to get it in the mail. 

Then, I left a blogger a comment about a cute crocheted necklace. She emailed me and offered to sell it to me and mail it immediately. For less than $10. Um, yes please. It arrived in the mail today, and I love it! I am also having her crochet me a yellow flower that I can attach for a few more dollars. It's cute either way, but can't wait to get my little flower in the mail. She has an Etsy shop, too, called Curtsay Designs.

I also commented on this necklace at Angela's Pretty Little Things, who then emailed me explaining how she made it (hint: felt and hot glue). This is why the internet rocks. Now I know how to make this necklace, which has a lot going on, yes. But I think with a simple T and jeans, it would be adorbs.

OK, and now a couple of non-necklacey things that I want to point out.

I found this great explanation of fabric grain, why it matters, how to get your fabric "on grain," etc. This is one of those sewing issues I don't really understand, so I just pretend it must not matter. It's from the blog See Kate Sew.

If you live in Metro Detroit, this weekend is the grand opening of the Rustbelt Market in Ferndale. It's an "Artist, Designer and Vintage" marketplace that will be open every weekend. I am hoping to go tomorrow morning on opening day! Their tagline on the Web site says, "Ever wish Etsy existed offline?" Yes, please! I can't wait to see what kind of stuff is up for grabs there.

OK, that's it for today! If I featured you, you are more than welcome to grab my pretty little button from the sidebar.