Bubble Buckies for the Birthday Girl

My niece turned two last week. When I asked if there was any special theme for her celebration, her mommy said that Gabriella really liked Bubble Guppies. It's amazing how fast you can get out of the realm of toddler shows because I know nothing about Bubble Guppies, ha! But I had a cute mermaid design in my stash, so I put together this for her to wear. Once completed, when Gabriella saw it she exclaimed "Bubble Buckies!" so apparently it was a win!

The applique 2 is from Happytown's Swanky Numbers Applique set. The mermaid cutie was from The Applique Club, and I added her name with DBJJ's Ruby font. Using Embrilliance Essentials it was so easy to remove hidden stitches from the overlapped appliques and curve the text around the 2.

C is for Cherri!

This week was teacher appreciation week at our preschool, and as our gift to Ms Cherri I appliqued one more apron! We had done a sock monkey with a pumpkin for fall, and then a sock monkey with a snowman for winter, so this time I made a general one that could be worn the rest of the school year: C is for Cherri!

I like how this turned out! The C applique is from DBJJ's Sock Monkey Alphabet and I added the text with their newest font, Ruby.

Baby Gifts

Here are a few baby gifts I haven't shared yet. First a set for baby Kylie:

 

Her grandma ordered this set requesting elephants and purple/aqua/gray color theme. Both elephants are from DBJJ's Roly Poly Elephant set.

For the hooded towel I used 8CP's Dancer to add her name. Her crib bedding has gray chevron so I was excited to find this ribbon!

and for the burp cloth I used EB's Chevron Circle Monogram, I thought it was a perfect pairing with the ribbon.

Here's burp cloth for Cruz:

I used I2S's Dino and Oscar font. I love this little wavy striped fabric :)

 And this burp cloth for Molly:

I used I2S's Jeremiah 29:11 add a name design, I added her name with Inspiration.

Winter Apron

I've already shared the fall apron I made for our beloved Ms Cherri -- a sock monkey with a pumpkin. For winter I wanted to do a sock monkey with a snowman. Even though I literally have over 100 applique sock monkeys from DBJJ, none of them are with a snowman. So I had to get my merge on again. I am quite proud of how this turned out!! It just might be my favorite merge job ever!

The sock monkey is from the Christmas Sock Monkeys Applique Set. I picked one that was wearing a scarf and stocking cap. Then I searched through all of DBJJ's designs that had a snowman, and settled on the snowman that was part of a Sunbonnet Sam design. Because of course I couldn't just use a snowman that was it's own design, but found a cute one I had to pluck away from another design. ;) That's easier said than done. I had to strategically place him so the monkey's scarf covered the missing stitches that were covered by Sam's hand. And then I removed the monkey's left hand that would be behind the snowman. And rearranged the stitch order on some of it. And did some creative trimming in the hoop! It turned out great!!! But I'd never want anyone to view my cobbled together design in software. ;)

I hope by picking pink and lime instead of red and green this will work beyond Christmas and into January. Because you know we get so much snow here in Florida! Ha!

Maclain is two!

My little friend Maclain turned 2 and had her party a Chic-fil-A, so as any good chicken-eating girl would do, she wore a cow themed outfit! :) Her mommy made her adorable ruffle pants out of cow print fabric, and I supplied the shirt:

This sweet design is from DBJJ's Cupcake Critters set. Using a pale gray to outline the cow really helped make a white cow on a white shirt visible. :) I added her name with I2S's Jack and Jill.

And here's the birthday girl herself. Don't you just love the scrunchy-faced grins of new two year olds?!

More fall designs...

I've shared some scarecrows and pumpkins already; here are a couple more fall projects before I move into turkeys :)
Dashiell's beloved preschool teacher loves sock monkeys. I have a few aprons for her that I'm going to do seasonal sock monkey designs on, and first up, one for fall!

I had to get my merge on for this project. Even though DBJJ has a harvest themed sock monkey set, it's not yet available in applique form. So I made up my own! I used a girl from the original Sock Monkey set and merged it on top of a pumpkin from the Harvest Patchwork set. I did quite a bit of editing to simplify (one fabric instead of five, delete some interior satin stitches and let the tackdowns provide detail) and remove the pumpkin stitches under the monkey. I love how this turned out!

I ordered a long sleeved brown shirt for Annaliese earlier in the year, and as long as we live in FL I don't think I'll do that again! By the time it got "cold" enough to wear long sleeves, most of fall is over! I'm hoping a sunflower can endure through the next few months better than wearing a pumpkin or turkey in January. ;)

The sunflower applique is from the Itch 2 Stitch, and I added her monogram with Natural Circle.
I really like this design. Only 2 fabrics, but the petals are outlined with two different colors so it adds a bit of variety, but not a nightmare to trim. :)

Shirts for the Gulfarium

Last Sunday we took the kids to the Gulfarium in Fort Walton Beach. It was a beautiful day and a fun end to a busy weekend at Destin.

It also was a great excuse to make a shirt for my son that he had requested a while ago! When I received my copy of the "I Want It ALL!" CD from Designs by JuJu, he saw the shark design on the cover and asked for a shark shirt. I didn't do it right away... but at 10pm the night before we left for Destin. Ha!

He and Annaliese collaborated on this, picking the black/gray TaDot fabric since Annaliese's dolphin shirt used a TaDot print, as well. Without really noticing until I was done, the shark and dolphin are in basically the same position! Crazy, huh?

They had lots of fun and really enjoyed the dolphin show.

Burp Cloth Cuteness

Here are a few recent burp cloths I've made...
Isn't this a cute design? Michelle requested it from my design stash. The puppy is from DBJJ's Round Up the Critters set, and I used 8CP's Cherry to add his name. I had fun on the letter placement :)

She also picked the following two designs for her new granddaughter. I used I2S's Bunny Box Girl Face and added Reesa's name with 8CP's Janessa.

This is I2S's Monogram Owl with the smallest size of their Fancy Circle Monogram. This bright color scheme is unusual for me, but I really like how it turned out!

Remember that cheetah shirt I made Lomond? Well I also wanted to test a version with the spots, so I put it on a burp cloth for Kaz. Baby Cheetah design is from Lynnie Pinnie, and I added his name with 8CP's Misfit.

Michelle picked this design for a burp cloth, which is just perfect since Kaz's daddy competes in strongman competitions. The Tough Like My Daddy design is from All Things Appliqué.

Celebrating Gymnastics Style!

My little friend Maddie turned three and is celebrating with a gymnastics theme. Her mommy bought this cute leotard, showed me the customized party decor she ordered from Etsy, and I got to work putting together a coordinating design!

The applique M is from EB's Swirly Applique. The little girl is from DBJJ's Cute Gymnasts. I added the "3" using an Embird Alphabet. It was a subtle way to add her age, and I love how it turned out!

Cute crab!

When Designs by JuJu shared this crab applique last week I wanted to use it right away. I decided to put it on something for myself -- my cover-up! I love aqua and red together...

This cute crab has been around for years as a part of DBJJ's Critters of the Sea set. What's new though is that it is all applique (legs aren't filled), and it's a freebie on DBJJ's Facebook page! I picked the zig zag version with eyelashes, isn't she cute! Oh, and I finally cut into my RB tone-on-tone dots. They are so pretty and have just been sitting there decorating my shelf. :)

I added my monogram with 8CP's Monogram Three. My close-up of it didn't turn out well. You know me and red...  I'll try again another time. It's pretty though!

Baby boy gift set

Martha and Maggie also requested items for a relative who just had a baby boy! It's been a while since I've done a larger gift set, this was fun to do!

For the burp cloths they requested a couple with a wild animal theme and one with honey bees. The lion is from DBJJ's Noah and Friends set. I added Mark's name with 8CP's Faron.

 

The monkey is also from that DBJJ set. I added his name with 8CP's Dora's Boots.

The Behive alphabet is from East Coast Applique. I did some design editing and just used one big piece of fabric instead of doing the raggy stripes as it's designed (you can see my other project with the font here, it's cute both ways!) I couldn't find that same set of scraps in my stash, and frankly I was pressed for time. :) I love how this fabric worked for the beehive though! Added his name with Jolson's Hand Lettered Floss Stitch font.

They had also purchased a sweet little outfit (which I failed to get a picture of in it's entirety) that I monogrammed with Embroidery Arts' Circle 3:

And this blanket, with my favorite, 8CP's Whoa Nelly. I hope I never fall out of love with this font!

A little Ark for Noah

Friends of ours at church have a new grandson named Noah, so I decided to go with the OBVIOUS for this burp cloth :)

The ark applique is from DBJJ's Noah and Friends Set and I used 8CP's Cherry font to add his name. I have had this cute ribbon in my stash for a long time and was determined to use it! I ended up putting a small piece in the applique so it looks like animals are on the ark:

My Monkey is Four!

Yesterday was my son's birthday!  Even though I had made his 4lash shirt last week, I really wanted to use this design, too:

When Designs by JuJu posted a preview of her sock monkey alphabet on Facebook, I asked about numbers, specifically thinking of Dashiell! The sock monkey number set was released in time for me to grab it during her awesome Black Friday sale, but I didn't make time to stitch it until this week!! December is crazy...

 Yesterday was also Dashiell's last day of preschool before winter break, and hence a Christmas program and party. So I used red and green in the design to make it a 2-for-1 special! Dashiell picked the striped fabric out of four choices--this won because his favorite color is dark brown. Weird, right? I'm pleased with it, and it doesn't scream Christmas, so hopefully he will continue to wear it over the next few months.
Birthdays aren't usually celebrated with quite so much food at preschool :)

 And Santa stopped by for a visit! What a special day!

Oh, before I sign off, I want to give a quick shout out to excellent digitizing. Look at how the 4 is tacked down:

I love this!! Sometimes when you buy alphabet or number sets the complete letter is sewn down and the extra designs are slapped on top. Not so here!! And I'm thankful. Otherwise there would be stripes showing through the monkey's hand instead of it being the crisp ivory color that it is. Thanks DBJJ for setting me up for success!!

Big Sister to be

I was recently asked to make a shirt for a little girl to wear while visiting extended family to announce some big news... she's going to be a big sister!

When the mom mentioned her daughter was really into elephants, I knew exactly which design to use, the elephant pair in Designs by JuJu's Roly Poly Elephants set. I used Embird Alphabet #7 for the first line, and 8CP's Dancer for Big Sister.

UPDATED 1/20/13:
Concurrent to the above project, another friend asked for a Big Sister reveal shirt. BUT my poor friend Brittany has been so sick that there was no way they could keep the pregnancy a secret to reveal at Thanksgiving and the news got out. We lost the urgency and making a "big sis to be" shirt got pushed to the back burner. That turned out to be ok because last weekend they found out the baby is a boy, so I was able to make the little elephant blue on Kendal's shirt! :) Same design, different color scheme, so cute!