Fixin's... (& opinions needed!)

I've got lots of fixin's around here these days.... so many little piles of fabric and patterns ever-so-patiently waiting... *sigh*

What's been new here? Take a gander...

This is the view from my front porch. Every day when the kids go down, I do snow duty for a bit - just to keep in good favor with the UPS and USPS guys :)


I'm feeling a bit caged in... When it's not ~ 5 degrees out, it's snowing or icing. The kids have been champs though, and are loving the endless pajama days, snuggle time and crazy games that we have to come up with to keep entertained.

But... I finished up a big re-stocking effort of wetbags for Erin at Diaper Daisy:


and hope to get the little shop downtown re-stocked with belts and headbands.

Also finished up some baby goodies for friends: (I love this fleece from Joanne's!)


Next on the list is the Pleated Bag from Amy Karol's book. I'd really love some opinions on this project - I've narrowed it down to 2 different themes: (A) GNOMES and (B) PIGS. What do you think?

(A) GNOMES, DOTS and LINEN

(B) PIGS, DOTS and LINEN

~~~~~ Happy Heart Day!!! ~~~~~

** FABRIC SALE!**

Quick post to let you know that I've listed a bunch of fabric on sale in my EBAY store - need to make room for some new arrivals!

A bunch are ending tonight (several Nigella prints and one Temple Flowers print), but I've got a few others ending throughout the week, including some Amy Butler Ginger Bliss, Charm, and Sunbloom fabrics! Happy bidding!

PS: If any of you have any tips on how to get a 3 1/2 month old to sleep through the night, please do share... I let him try and cry it out from 12:30 - 2:30 this morning and it didn't work. He screamed for 2 hours...

Some Tidbits

Please... don't ask... I haven't started the bag (Pleated Tote from Bend the Rules Sewing)yet :( I'm up to my eyeballs in baby gifts and wetbag orders lately, but hopefully I'll make some free time this weekend to cut it out. I am torn between 2 different ideas - I've got some scraps of the adorable Heather Ross Gnome material that I think would be perfect for this project (along with some of the fun coordinating dot fabric and some of Joel Dewberry's gorgeous orange fabrics). And then there's still the idea of the spring colors with embroidered flowers with yo-yo's. Hmmm....

Anyways, I didn't forget Adrienne-thanks for tagging me! This kind of stuff is fun :)
So... here's 7 things that you (probably) don't know about me...

1) I *LOVE* Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond - Mom used to listen to them all the time while I was growing up and I think that they are permanently embedded in my DNA.

2) I am somewhat of a recycling freak. When I lived in the dorms at UNC-Chapel Hill, they didn't recycle plastic containers at the time (they did do cans, glass and paper though) so I'd ask everyone on the floor to leave their plastic containers with me and I had my parents bring bags and bags of garbage back home to NJ to recycle. Mom and Dad were such sports!

3) When I was in high school, I kept an "outfit journal" so I knew what I wore, when. I was generally on a 2 week cycle and never wore the same outfit in a week. Now, I'll wear the same thing 3 days in a row, or at least until I get spit-up or food on it :)

4) I was Drum Major in high school and voted most musical for Senior award night. I feel badly about that last part b/c I'm really not very musical... I just loved being Drum Major and I think people voted for me based on that.

This was my outfit for football games and competitions... seriously...

(I did mention that I grew up in NJ, right? COOOOOOOOLD!!!!!)

5) I went to my senior high school prom with 2 girlfriends. We weren't planning on going at all (I didn't have a boyfriend and there wasn't anyone I wanted to go with - ditto for my pals), and instead were going to head to the shore early to start the festivities. The weather turned out to be rainy and cold, so we decided to go - we went to the mall, bought $40 dresses and showed up on time. We didn't have tickets, so administration thought we were crashing the prom - everyone knew we were "in trouble" before we did... too funny! (that's me on the right - back in the days when I had crazy natural curls... where did those days go?!)



6) I'm one of those "cold spot" on the pillow people. Gotta have it, or I can't fall asleep too easily. Sue (sis-in-law) bought me this neat product for my birthday last year - it's called THE CHILLOW and I LOVE IT! And yes, it does work !

7) I love all "mini" food. I cut my sandwiches into 4 triangles, eat my yogurt with a condiment spoon, cut my brownies into ~ 1 1/2" squares, etc. I am especially fond of the Reese's mini Peanut Butter cups - the *perfect* chocolate to peanut butter ratio :) I don't tend to buy many pre-packaged mini foods though b/c the packaging waste bugs me.

As for who I am tagging..... it's JOY! Joy's blog is one of my latest fun reads - she too is into naturafying (just made that word up... another weird thing I do all the time) her family, and we have similar tastes in fabrics and projects. She inspired me to get some of this fabric to make a quilt and hopefully some placemats - thanks again Joy!

***Hope everyone's having a great week! ~ Kris

We're back!

We're back from our travels! The kids and I spent the bulk of the week in PA with my brother and sister-in-law and their 2 kids. Had a fantastic time and was happy to see that their house is just as chaotic as ours :) We finished the week at my parents house in NJ and then made a trip to NYC to see some high school friends on our way back north. It was a busy week, but fun!

Thanks again Sue & Ken for having us!

(Me & Sue after a fun morning with the kiddos at Jungle Jerry's)

The reason for our trip was two-fold: (1) the kids and I really needed to see my family and (2) we couldn't be home while the construction workers were removing the wall downstairs between the kitchen and the living room. Hubby had to stay home to work and tend to the dogs - not the ideal set-up, but it had to happen. I'll post pics of the downstairs once they are actually finished with everything. I thought it would all be done by the time we came back, but they still have to install the propane stove and wrap the new beam with pine. Then we have to get the walls and ceilings painted. I didn't realize that this was going to be so involved...

Anyways, while we were down there we finally got to exchange x-mas gifts! I'll post pics of some of the handmade goodies that I received once I get my camera back (I left it at my friend's place in NYC - URGH!). Here's pics of 2 gifts that I had made (for Sue and my dad, respectively).

Nappy Bag, using Etsuko Furuya ECHINO Dangling Spider Scene

Cell Phone Pouch

Dangling Spider

... and some matching key fobs

Dad loves squirrels, so this little bag was perfect!

And from the looks of the answers to my last post, I'll be making the Pleated Tote this month! I was kind of hoping that y'all would pick that one :) The winner of the drawing is...

Lynn C. from Saratoga, CA

Congratulations Lynn! I don't know how many of you have checked out her blog - Lynn knits the most amazing things, and made this drool-worthy bag (which is *still* on my to-do-list...hmmm... maybe it'll make the project list for next month!).

Please email me your address when you have a chance (kristen@monkeyfootdesigns.com) and the new Amy Butler Kimberly Bag pattern is yours!

While away, I was tagged by Adrienne to tell you 7 things that you don't know about me...stay tuned! ~ Kris

Wow - it's January 11th already! Sorry for the lack of posts - Christmas seems like it was just yesterday. It's been busier than usual around here as Syd is wavering on the line of nap/no nap (which in mommy terms really means "me time/no me time") and Ben, well, he hasn't quite figured out what to do with himself. One day he's a rock star and the next he's all over the place. Poor guy.

New Year's has come and gone and I really don't have a ton of new resolutions / "things that I'd like to improve on". We all have the same ones: sleep more, eat better, try to keep your cool around the kids even when they are dropping Goldfish (or groceries or themselves) from the cart at the store, blah, blah, blah. One thing that I've resolved to try to do is to make at least one new project a month from the myriad craft books that I've accumulated.

This is where you come in :)

I'll post 3 potential projects and have you all vote on which one I should make. I'll then pull one lucky answerer as the recipient of that months' giveaway. It might be a pattern (I'll check to see if you have it already), or some fat quarters, or something that I've made. Sound good? Let's start!

When you post your response, please start with your first name, the first initial of your last name and where you're from. Sounds a bit much, but I had 4 "Kate" responses to my last give-away and there was no way of telling who was who (so they all got free patterns!). I can't do that again, hence the guidelines. Thanks :)

Please post your response by Sat. January 19 to be included in the drawing.

This month I've chosen three projects from Amy Karol's fun book Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew. Haven't checked it out yet? You need to. And no, I don't get anything for telling you that :) Check out her Flickr group too!


First up is the fabulous Children's Smock: (maybe with some fun Wizard of Oz canvas fabric in white?):


Second is this darling pleated tote (would definitely use some linen, blues and pinks, and maybe even hand-embroider some flowers):


And Third is this cutie-pie Turtle Stuffie (the scanner blurred the photo for some reason):

Can't wait to see what you all pick!

As for the title of this post, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to answer some questions posted in responses. Blogger doesn't give me your email addresses, so there's no way to respond.

Courtney (aka Court): You can find the key fob hardware at Crafters Vision thru this link. I also use a crimping tool that I bought at a hardware store to pinch the clasps closed tightly. Works like a charm. Just be sure to glue some foam on the metal crimpers, or cover the key fob metal with cloth to prevent marking. I usually use webbing under the ribbon or fabric strip, but sometimes just make it with Peltex (thick interfacing you can find at Joanne's).

Knitting: A few people have asked how it's going and well... it's slow! I taught myself last year about this time and had wanted to make hats and sweaters and all sorts of fun goodies by this time this year. I'm still on scarves :) Not for lack of starting (I have actually made some slippers, started a hat and started a sweater)... come the end of the day I'm whooped and often can't fathom grasping a new skill. I'd rather go to my comfort zone and continue to outfit friends and family with scarves. My favorite one to make is the keyhole one - it's not super long and requires that you know some basics (knit, purl, casting on/off). I do hope to finish Syd's sweater before she turns 3.... (it's a size 2).

I'm off to print up a slew of labels - the Amy Butler Kimberly Bag and Anna Tunic Patterns came today, so if you ordered one they are shipping out tomorrow! Have a great weekend everyone! I'm off to NJ, PA and NYC tomorrow to spend a week visiting with family and friends - should be fun!

'Tis the Season!

I have to start off this post by saying how much I love this little blog world :) Check out the goodies that Krista Walker sent last week! She was one of the winners of the Japanese Fat Quarters set that I had in last month's give-away and loved them so much that she sent a little "thank you" package chock-full of fun (mini purse, business card holder, coffee cozy and dipes/wipes holder)! I think that Sydney will be fighting me to use the mini purse (on the left) - it matches her pants!

Before I forget, Happy Holidays everyone! And for everyone who celebrated Christmas last week, I hope you had a fun day filled with carols, cookies and friends / family :) We spent Christmas Eve day with my in-laws in Boston and had such a fun time - a big part of the day's success was that the kids were incredible! Sydney was a champ and gobbled up all of the attention (I finished the skirt!)

... and Ben was in bliss being held all day by everyone. Definitely a ladies man! Christmas wasn't really as fun - hubby was on call at the hospital and spent most of the afternoon there. Sydney was cranky from not napping the day before and generally being off schedule, and Ben decided to start an eating marathon at 2 am (and didn't stop until ~ 10 that night). We did have fun opening gifts and hanging out all day - just wish we were all well-rested!

I didn't get to make as many hand-made gifts this year as I'd have liked to, but there's always next year :) One of my favorite gifts are these fun coasters (from this book):

I love them! The perfect little something for anyone! I used 2 layers of batting and added a layer of PROCARE (the stuff that I use as the inner liner of my wetbags) to help make them waterproof. They aren't flimsy at all - I definitely recommend making them! I also made a matching bird. I tried to be true to the bluebird and give him a tan chest and white lower body... kind of silly, but my Dad is nuts over bluebirds and he'd be disappointed if he saw that I gave him a white chest :)

I'm not crazy about how he turned out - I haven't sewn a ton of "little" things like this before, so I found the smallness of it a little hard to manage. It is an adorable pattern though, so I'll definitely try it again. This gift set went to Auntie Re, one of Frank's Aunts who now lives in the nicest assisted living facility I have honestly ever seen (and I've seen a ton!).

I did finally finish Auntie Lou's scarf - I flipped out though one night when I lost one of my knitting sticks... I had a couple inches left to go! Luckily I found it under the sofa:). It has a keyhole opening at the end so you can stick the other end through it and keep it snug against you.

Hubby loved the scarf so much that he wants a "really long one" for himself. I've got about 10 inches done so far and a loooooooong way to go!

I do have a few other gifts to share, but I have to wait until they've been gifted (I'll be seeing my family in NJ/PA in the new year - can't wait!)

Didn't know if you all had checked out Amy Butler's Free Patterns lately, but she's got some FABULOUS things posted there!

Off to bed now... sweet dreams everyone! We'll be getting lots more of this stuff tonight...

The Mark of a New England Mom

I was at the dentist earlier today, looked down at my legs and saw this:



Hmm... Couldn't quite figure it out, but then it dawned on me - that's just the level that the running board hits my legs when I reach into the back to get the kids in and out of their carseats. I am so done with winter already and it's only December.

I've finally shipped out the last of my wholesale and large custom orders and have started to work on Christmas gifts. Auntie's scarf is 2/3 the way done (I've figured out how to knit while nursing!). Hoping to also get a few cute things made from this book and this book.

Last night I thought that I'd be able to finish up this twirl skirt for Sydney...




...but ran out of the cute snowball trim. URGH!!!! Luckily there is a Joanne's near the dentist, so I was able to pop in there with Ben after my appointment. I needed a little retail therapy after that visit... he cried for most of the time (I was having the prep work done for a crown, so we were there for a while). The women at the office were incredible though, and held /walked him the entire time that I was there. Made their days to have a baby around - and I think they also like seeing who was the best at settling him down :)

Before I sign off, I have to share a new pattern line that Adrienne recently introduced me to: Montessori By Hand. I love the Reading Pillow idea - quite clever. Meg, the designer, will be releasing a cute new apron pattern as well in Jan - looks quite femmy, yet functional!

All prizes have been accounted for, so it's safe to resume to posting again :) That was so much fun that I think I'll start hosting monthly give-aways. Stay tuned!

As most of you know, we have a relatively new baby here at home with us (2 month old Ben). I'd be lost without my baby carriers (Baby Bjorn Active and my sling) - he spends most of the day being carried and he (and I) love it! I made a sling last week for a buddy up here and really like how it turned out. It has a padded shoulder, regular tail, velcro pocket on the tail (for keys/cellphone), and sling rings. Pretty simple design, but comfy and fashionable.

I'm thinking of carrying them on my website next year -

thoughts?

Crafting news? Check out these adorable elephants by Ljungbergs:




And.... the Kimberly Bag Pattern by Amy Butler should be available in a week or so -finally another bag pattern with a zipper!

And the winners are.....

Thanks everyone who entered the drawing - I loved reading your comments and checking out your blogs!

The process: I entered everyone into a WORD document (one person emailed to be added so I added her comment at the time she wrote), assigned a number to everyone and then used the random number picker to select the winners of the drawing (I was going to cut out everyone's entries and have Sydney pick them, but that seemed a bit labor intensive and not too environmentally friendly - besides, I think that you all wanted to find out before the end of the year who won!)

The 3 winners of the Apron Pattern are:
1) Kate (#1)
2) Shannon (#2)
3) Michelle P (#3)

The 2 winners of the Japanese fabric fat quarters are:
1) Krista Walker (#44)
2) Melody (jefalody) (#15)

and the winner of the SIMPLE GIFTS TO STITCH BOOK is...

Kath (#38)

Please email your mailing addresses to kristen@monkeyfootdesigns.com and I'll get your goodies out to you this week :)


I'm starting to think that life is starting to return to normal (whatever that is...). Ben is sleeping well and Sydney has taken to being a big sister like a champ. Some days are rougher than others, but we're getting by pretty well and have some kind of vague schedule that we follow day-to-day. I'm really fine as long as I get to do some "stuff" during nap time- get orders together and in the mail, sew, email, etc. Hate to say it, but I often don't even pick up the phone during nap...

Anyways, this past weekend we got into the swing of things and had a belated Turkey Day feast with hubby's sis (we had to cancel our plans due to a nasty cold that Syd and I got the night before we were supposed to leave) and cut down our Christmas tree. It was a balmy 10 degrees here (probably less than 0 with the wind chill), so we basically chopped down the first respectable looking tree we saw.



Trimming the tree this year took no time at all b/c (1) it is a pretty small tree - it looked much bigger in the field... and (2) I had to keep the lower third void of any breakables b/c of our little elf who likes to hug and dance with the tree every morning when she gets up...

I don' t know about you all, but one of my favorite parts of Christmas is pulling out all of the old decorations and goodies that have been collected over the years. Ornaments are the most special to me - here are a couple of gems that need to be shared :)

I grew up in a blue bi-level home that was built in the 70's and one year a grade school art project was to make a pressed tin (?) ornament of your home. I probably colored it with Sharpies (I doubt those fruity smelly ones would have such staying power) and I love it. Not sure why, but I do. Probably b/c I was lucky in that this was the only house I ever lived in until I went to college... and my parents sill live there! The color has since changed, but it's still home.


This next one just cracks me up. It's supposed to be a self-portrait stuffy (I think I actually sewed it by hand?)... Scary... The sad thing is that I can't draw much better than this now!

My third favorites are yearly ornaments that mom makes - there is a cranberry and pink one in the first ornament pic and a green and yellow one in the pic above. For some reason I have 2 "1997" ones. Don't tell her...!

I just realized that I haven't shared any pictures of the "new" back room! The long and the short of it is that the room was poorly built, so we had it gutted and rebuilt it from the studs out. Also added a room underneath it, so we have storage next to the garage (yipppee!!). We LOVE this room and it's finished at just the right time (we got 2 feet of snow today!). We still need to hang some pictures, and I'd like to make some quick x-mas pillow covers, but so far we're happy with it. The guys are still working on the new back deck - pics to come!

Here's the view from standing in the kitchen, looking out to the left:

And to the right...:

And from sitting on the sofas in the last picture:

On the craft front, I've been trying to get some wholesale orders finished up so I can get to the fun stuff - Christmas gifts! I have started working on a scarf for Frank's Aunt, and I can't say enough fantastic things about the BABY ALPACA GRANDE yarn from Plymouth that I'm using. I scored this yummy yarn on EBAY about a month ago and am in love with it... Luckily Christmas is a few weeks away b/c it's taking me a while to get this one done. I've tried knitting while nursing Ben and it wasn't pretty. I can do a lot while nursing, but knitting is tough...

If you've been wondering about Amy Butler's new SWEET LIFE BAGS, I'll tell you from first hand experience that they are wonderful! The one shown above is the ASHBURY in Pewter and it's a fantastic knitting bag. Tons of pockets inside and tons of room - check it out!


Speaking of Amy Butler, I just added the fantastic LOTUS TUNIC and CAMI pattern to my EBAY store!!!



and restocked the new Sophia Bag Pattern (oh how I just want to have a day to myself to make this!):

I've got to scoot - it's almost midnight... Have a great night everyone! :) Kris