Gift for Geek-to-be

Oh hello internet, this is your pal Carlin Trammel, Janay's husband, here writing this blog entry.

I tell you...what a strange world we live in now. In some ways, it's disheartening to see that the pervasiveness of the internet has caused society to be much more guarded against personal contact. Because of technology, we no longer need to interact with other people to do many of the things that required personal assistance not too long ago. The internet is also causing people to be more brash because of anonymity or defunct in their interpersonal skills because of a lack of practice.

[Hey, what does all this have to do with sewing cute pictures of deer or bees onto bibs or blankies?]

Well, every so often, the value of human interaction transcends convenience. What makes the internet worth having isn't the ability to settle arguments instantly with a trip to Google or being able to bank while sitting in my pajamas. Those things are nice, but what actually makes the internet worth having is that rare occurrence when you are able to meet and connect with someone who you never would have met otherwise.

Within the last year, my use of Twitter has grown. While I have enjoyed making jokes and reading links, it's the new friendships I have made on there that have made it the most fun. One such Twitter friend of mine lives up in Oakville, Ontario. While it's possible we attended the same comic book convention at some point in our history, our paths would never have crossed without Twitter. And without Twitter, Christian Nielsen's new baby wouldn't be getting a couple of pretty cool things.

First up, because Christian is a member of The Atomic Geeks podcast,

Janay and I came up with this "ATOMIC GEEK IN TRAINING" design with a pseudo-mushroom cloud in the background. The mushroom cloud is actually a chef's hat, but it works great for this design.

And to complete this set, since Christian likes comics, the new baby will also have this "This is not a bib, they put my cape on backwards" Superman bib. We don't know if this new child is a boy or a girl, so it's actually possible this is a Supergirl bib.

So there you go my internet friend. Enjoy these items, but more importantly enjoy your new family addition.

Our Little Sparkler and Firecracker

When I made Amy's Fourth of July place mat, I knew at that point I was going to use Lynnie Pinnie's applique firecracker on shirts for the kids -- it stitched quick and is really cute.
Well, before I could get them made, I was shopping in the baby dept at Walmart with the kids. Annaliese saw an adorable baby girl outfit that said "Daddy's Little Sparkler" and thought it was precious. Believing I can replicate anything (insert rolling eyes), she asked for one. I was pretty sure Lynnie Pinnie had a similar design, so I said I would give it a try:

Sigh... the things we do for our kids. Dashiell's shirt took all of 15 minutes to stitch; Annaliese's took about an hour. But it was all worth it -- her reaction when she saw it was priceless. She loves it and said it was even cuter than the one in the store! :)
I used LP's Applique Patriotic Sparkler Girl, and added the "Daddy's Little Sparkler" with Whimsey from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Dashiell's was much less complicated, but I love it! I used LP's applique firecracker. Daddy thought the Whimsey font was a bit to girly, so I used Embird Alphabet #14 for adding "Mommy's Little Firecracker".

Have a Happy Independence Day!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!

The past two Fridays were very exciting days for me! All of this blogging has paid off in a new way!
First, Lyndsie of Lynnie Pinnie asked on Facebook if anyone was interested in being a tester for her applique designs. Thankfully I happened to be on Facebook at that time and was able to respond -- and I was selected! This means I get a sneak peek at upcoming designs and have the opportunity to stitch them out for free, in return for nice photographs of my work. (That's no problem since I'm obviously already in the habit of that!) I was giddy as I could be! I have tested designs already (more on that in a sec).

Then a couple days ago Julie of 8 Claws and a Paw contacted me personally about doing test stitching for her as well! I was blown away! If you've read any of my blog posts, you know that I use 8CAP's fonts on virtually all of my projects. In return for testing her designs and providing photos, she's giving me a free subscription to her Claws and Paws Font Club! As if I don't have enough font options already, now I have access to over 350 fonts! I know it's crazy, but each week she releases something new that is just adorable, so I'm very excited. :) I received my first set of designs to test this morning and will work on that this week.

The designs I tested for Lyndsie are now available on her site for purchase, so I can share pictures of them with you now. First I tested this applique grill. I put it on a towel and plan to send it to my dad. I had fun picking fabrics for this -- love the marble gray/black on the inside of the grill and the brown swirls for the burgers.

The other design I tested last week was LP's American Cutie Applique (it's a freebie so go grab it!) I already had plans for Annaliese's Fourth of July shirt (that will be another blog post tomorrow), so I stitched this on a onesie. I do not have a recipient in mind for it -- that may be a first for me! So I have this 3-6 month onesie available if anyone wants it. :)



So there you have it, my news! I've been on cloud nine and I'm glad I finally took the time to share it with you. :)

Special Deliveries

I think I've stitched five Special Delivery onesies in the last two months that I haven't posted. I'll highlight this first one and then just show close-up images of the rest.
...So my favorite pink and blue onesies that I use to stitch this design on have been discontinued. Actually they were discontinued quite a while back. I've purchased as many as I can find on ebay, and I am just about out. This has stressed me a bit, because the other options available online are much more expensive and I'd have to deal with shipping. But last week I discovered a possible new replacement. Before going hog wild and buying a ton of onesies, I decided to purchase one and put it to the test. I stitched Annaliese's birth information on one, then ran it through the washer/drier. It worked beautifully! I'm so relieved!! Now I need to stock up before they are gone. :)

I really like the scalloped neckline and lettuce-edge sleeves. Nice and girly. :)
The original design is from Sew Terific Designs; I customized the design with baby's birthplace, birth date, time, weight and full name.

Here are the other four I haven't posted yet.
Paige ordered this for a family member:

My brother ordered this for a co-worker:

Susan ordered this for a co-worker:

Michelle ordered this one for a mutual friend of ours--it was my 50th Special Delivery Design!!

Shower gift

Michelle and I gave this set as a gift at a baby shower tonight. The monogram is Vintage Chloe alphabet from Embroidery Boutique.

Baby Girl Gift Set

Melissa ordered this bib/burp cloth set for our mutual friend Glenda who recently had a baby girl. I used the Empire font from Embroidery Arts:

Ready for the Pool!

Last week I found towels (only $4 at Walmart) that match my kids' swimsuits perfectly! Annaliese picked the thread colors and font (Action from 8 Claws and a Paw), I did the stitching.



I surprised Annaliese by embellishing a pair of her flip flops with these monogrammed flowers:

The idea came from Embroidery Garden. You can download a free pdf with directions there. If you join her AD list yahoo group, you can also download the embroidery files for the fringe covered buttons!

Poppy's Pit Crew/Daddy's Angels

Danielle asked me to make shirts for her dad and her husband for Father's Day.

"Poppy" is really into cars, so we opted for the text "Poppy's Pit Crew". I used Embird Alphabet #8 for the text. The faces are from Embroidery Library's Stick Figure Faces.

She selected "Daddy's Little Angels" for her husband. Same faces as Poppy's, I just added little halos above the faces.

Shirts for Sisters-to-be

After seeing Emeline and Nolan's sibling shirts, Melissa asked me to make a set for her family. She is expecting a baby girl in September, making Quinn a big sister! Since they are both girls she requested pink shirts, and we kept the pink/green color scheme.

The BIG SIS/LIL SIS designs are from Five Star Fonts. I added their names using the Montana font from 8 Claws and a Paw.