I heart fabric :)

Fabric obsession comes with the territory with sewing and they were having a sale at Paula's Fabrics so I went today. I wanted to get a pattern so I would actually have a purpose behind the fabric and not just go nuts. Hubby still wasnt too happy when I got home, haha! I actually did pretty good!

Good Times...Good Times...

We had a really fun weekend. We went out to the airshow to see the Blue Angels which is always amazing. Leonard didn't have as much fun as we thought he would since he is OBSESSED with planes, the noise was a bit much for him. He was incredibly pleased with the awesome Blue Angels plane we got him. He has slept with it every night since :) My hubby got some great shots. Seeing those planes makes me feel very patriotic for some reason and very proud of all of our armed forces!


Monday was a good day too! We frequent the Y quite a bit and they had a Halloween party for the kids and they went trick or treating around the Y. They got to wear their costumes, which was good because I need to make a few alterations to Bela's. Bela is obviously Tinkerbell and Leonard is Ironman. Can't really get him to wear the mask but hey, he knows he Ironman.


I hope to get better pics of their costumes for Halloween, they were so not being cooperative.

Today was a fun day too (but no pics sorry). I finally managed to have a very dear old friend, Joy, over and two of her four adorable kids. The kids got along famously and we had a great time chatting and reconnecting. I think we have known each other since before we knew we knew each other (make sense), we hadn't seen each other in a long time but it was like we picked up where we left off :) I love friends like that. We took the kids to the park and it was ridiculously HOT! The poor kids were so sweaty and dirty after all that running and having fun!

And no post would be complete without my latest crafty ventures. I got crazy with Mod Podge and covered a crappy white binder with this FAB Anthology fabric :) I used Prudent Baby's makeup bag tutorial and modified it to make a fun pencil bag. I am totally in love with this red floral fabric. It is Amy Butler and I have literally used every last scrap! I need more!!!!Feel the fabric love...

Pretty Inside Too!

I have been having loads of fun with this little wallet tutorial my friend Christina did. I think we have similar taste in fabric (which is obviously good taste!).

I've made a couple more...it's been really good practice for me :)

I've been wanting to make some of these baby tights headbands but never remember to pick up the tights. I used this tutorial its super easy and a great alternative to the crochet style headbands because they are so soft and comfy. These will be added to my Etsy soon :)

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

Tinkerbell Costume

I have the main part of Bela's costume finished. All I have to do is put some elastic in the tutu part, but I thought I would go ahead and post some pics of the overlay part. I need to get better at taking pics of my stuff because it looks way cuter in person, at least to me :)

The back. I realized after taking these that I need to add another grommet because there is way too much space between the 2nd and 3rd. I don't mind :) Grommet attaching is FUN!

And it's really not crooked like it looks in this photo. My picture taking skills stink. But you get the idea. This was really easy so if you get a wild hair to make one as well, it takes no time at all.

Tutu Much!

I had one more tutu to finish, and ended up going to Hobby Lobby at 7:30 at night for an emergency tulle run...not fun...apparently Hobby Lobby is the only place in town that has the rolls of tulle...anyways its done...I think I'm done with tutus...at least for this week.

After making the tutu I wanted to do something fun so I made the totally cute fabric flowers from Eva's blog post. Oh they turned out so cute, I picked up a headband on one of my many trips to Hobby Lobby to put them on. Oh and Eva had commented about ripping the strips and I did it by cutting a 1 inch notch in the fabric and just pulling apart like the Hulk on a bad day. It you think its getting to narrow, stop and cut another notch and keep going. The strips turn out surprisingly straight.

I'm totally in love with this yellow color! My sisters will probably have one of these coming their way :)

Halloween is just around the corner and as always it is a week before Halloween and my kids are costume-less. Leonard is going to be Iron-Man so that's an easy trip to Walmart or anywhere in town for that matter, but for Isabela I got a wild hair to make her costume...so we are giving this costume a try. It looks simple enough and I figure I know I can at least make the tutu...I'm gonna get started on it today so...there will be an update later :)

My adorable babies! Gosh they are getting so big!!!

My First Paying Job and other Fun Projects

I had randomly posted my Etsy information and advertised my tutu skills on Craigslist several weeks ago. Well a few days ago I got an email requesting two tutus for some teeny twin girls. I was STOKED! I've never been paid to make something :)

They turned out really cute!
And for more fall fun...me and my friends are quite crafty and we have such a fun time getting together when we can to make something. They are some ridiculously talented girls! Vanessa hosted playgroup at her place and boy, we have A LOT of kids when you get us all in one place.
We decorated these shirts using potato stamps and they came out soooo cute!

For Lenny

For Bela

I also made this fun little bag the other day and I had to share because the fabric is ba-na-nas! Sooo gorgeous! Get the pattern for this bag here.

Crafting Snaffus and Triumphs

I think that everyone, from the most experienced sewer (sp?) to the beginner, there are bound to be snaffus (this word's for you Vanessa) along the way. I have had many.

Most have involved sewing the wrong sides facing, sewing half of the bottom of a dress into an armhole, cutting a pattern wrong, etc...(and its only been two weeks, haha!)

The other day really took the cake though. I had accomplished a pillowcase dress so I thought I'd move on to the Snappy Toddler Dress on Prudent Baby.

The project was doomed right from the get-go. The pattern is basically the top portion and you just make it as long as you want, well I got cutting and cut cut around the whole thing essentially cutting off the entire bottom of the dress. Determined to use the fabric I turned to my genius (apparently not that genius) and thought, "hey, if I use the contrasting fabric to make a band around the waist, I can use the band to attach the top and bottom together!" I was so stoked that I had made my snaffu a creative opportunity...or so I thought.

My recent obsession with covering buttons with fabric was about to get the best of me. I decided to use the dress material to cover the buttons...I had a small pile of the fabric and what did I grab....the DRESS. I didn't even figure it out until AFTER I had spent 20 minutes making the strap parts...I go to sew up the dress and HORROR!

Yep...I cut it out of the TOP of the dress...oh no, not the bottom which could have easily been remedied by making a micro mini dress for my one yr old...nope...the top.

Defeated I went to Walmart to pick up some double bias tape for another project and while I was there I happened across some not horrid fabric and was like hey, I can make another go at this, it won't be so bad if I ruin $5 worth of fabric. So today I made another one and it turned out quite nicely, even though the front bib is completely pitiful, I can't sew straight to save my life apparent, but the hem came out quite nice!

Look at those teeth!!!

Slightly dazed and confused...but ya gotta get the full effect...kinda long...but she'll grow...right :)

Yep, that's a chocolate handprint on my door...don't judge!

Crafty Blogs and a Day at the Park

My friend Eva Scott is celebrating the one year anniversary of her blog by having guest crafters featured all day! I will be at 9:30 am and there will be great projects posted all day long by some really talented people. Make sure you check it out.

We are so fortunate to live near a great park. My kids love going to see the ducks and this weekend Leonard REALLY wanted to go so my awesome hubby took them while I got some housecleaning done :) He always gets such great pics of the kids so I had to share, there is even a duck or two!

Sick Babies and Craftiness

Both Leonard and Isabela have been under the weather, but Isabela took the cake yesterday with a super high fever and boy was she CRANKY. Our visit to the pediatrician today revealed an ear infection and Hand, Foot, Mouth grossness. She has little sores in her throat, poor baby! She was so crabby I didn't get anything done yesterday so when hubby got home I went into craft mode determined to finish my pillowcase dress.

I had to start over because my other one was so terrible...so I made a pattern and this one turned out much better! I even made a fun matching flower bow. Tutorials for both are at Prudentbaby.com, my new fave site!

Didn't get many good pics of the bow, but its SUPER cute!

The dress :) My first (well technically second) attempt at something a real person wears :) Its really long, but it will fit for a long time :)

And just cause he is so cute...Leonard :)

First Sewing Projects

My sewing machine came in a day earlier than expected so I was really excited to get started. It was really easy to get the bobbin going and threading is a breeze so this is a really great machine for beginner peeps like me! I got started on a pillowcase dress...that isn't quite finished and is really not turning out well....so we'll see about that!

I did do Prudent Baby's Quick and Pretty Makeup bag. Mine didnt turn out as big because I had a smaller zipper and I cut one side a little short, but it actually turned out pretty cute. I used some fabric I got for cheap at Hobby Lobby and I think Im confident enough to try it with some of my more pricey fabric. Here's the link to make your own! http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/03/quick-pretty-makeup-bag.html


I also made some cloth wipes. I cloth diaper and using cloth wipes is so much easier since I can throw it all in my diaper pail. This way no sposie wipes end up in the wash. I have a bunch that I bought but I found some cute monkey flannel and made these super soft wipes. They also work really nice for after-breakfast cleanups with a little hiney-wash:)
And just because she is so cute...Isabela wearing her new jeans :) Babies are so cute in jeans when they can walk :)

So much to share!

Ive been a bad blogger and no excuse AT ALL. Except maybe being a mom, full time class load, doing field experience hours, blah blah blah...

Wow, my kids are growing up soooo fast. My Isabela just turned ONE (yes ONE!) and Leonard is turning into a little boy, it's official, he is no longer a baby :(
We've been busy bees in the Russell house, finishing up (finally) painting and smoothing out the walls in our living and dining room. Lots of trim work left, but hey, its all one color. Pictures to follow when my living and dining room is clean...oh wait, that will be never so "sorta clean".

Me and the kids really enjoy spending time at the park near our house and our stroller was totally on the fritz. Those wheels were so whobbly I am surprised none of the kids are suffering from Shaken Baby Syndrome. So after debating for over a month we got a new stroller and wow I love any excuse to take this bad boy for a spin (am I the only one who gets stoked over new baby gear?) Definitely recommend to any moms with two in a stroller. Folds super easy and rides nice and smooth :) Anyways here are my phat new wheels (hehe)

So since sewing is all the rage right now, I went ahead and bought a sewing machine which will be here in just a few days. I took my mommy time today to get some fabric. Apparently everyone had my genius idea to go to Joann today. All the world was there buying fabric...I had two bolts and went to grab my number...number 85 and they were on 58...uh yeah right considering someone before me had an entire cart FULL of bolts...so using my handy iphone I sent the word out on Facebook for fabric store ideas and was sent to Paula's Fine Fabrics which OMG they have some great stuff I could seriously spend the G's there...got some fab stuff to do my first few projects.

These are a couple fat quarters from Paula's, the four on the right are a few cute ones I was able to salvage in Joann's 99 cent fat quarter sale. Probably gonna use for flower clips or something.

Wow this picture kinda blows but you can tell its cute. Mostly Michael Miller but the stuff on the far right is new Anthology that they just got in...im in LOVE, I think I am going to have to go back and get the rest!

So just in time for my newfound love of prints, my fave diaper company, Bumgenius just came out with their new prints. They have never done prints before and WOW they are cute, but apparently I'm the only person on my cloth diapering board who thinks so, no one else likes them so let me know what you think....

http://www.kellyscloset.com/PRE-ORDER--bumGenius-40-One-Size-Stay-Dry-Cloth-diaper--Artist-Series_p_4128.html