...Off to explore I go!

Lynn contacted me about personalizing a suitcase she has to be used by a young girl who comes to visit. The suitcase came with curriculum and had screen printing on the front and back (like this, I forgot to take "before" pictures).

There was no way to stitch directly onto the suitcase, so I made two patches that I tacked down in place. Lynn requested a three letter monogram, a red/white/black color scheme, polka dots and ladybugs. This is what I came up with:

The applique letters are from Five Star Font's Hipster Applique Font.

There was another screen-printed logo on the back, so Lynn requested this text for that patch. I used Embird Alphabet #8.


~~~~~
In addition to the suitcase, Lynn also requested embroidered patches to be put on the back of a couple T-shirt quilts for her daughters.

Whoooo's got school spirit?

This week is red ribbon week at Annaliese's school. There have been themes/activities for each day of the week, and Friday is School Spirit Day. This has prompted me to finally stitch a design I've wanted to do since before school started, but just haven't taken the time to do it!

Her school colors are turquoise and white -- found this shirt on clearance for $2!! Their mascot is an owl, and this time I chose the Sly Owl from Tigerlilyhill Embroidery Designs, after being inspired by Cole's numerous projects. Annaliese helped me pick the fabric and thread colors -- we just had to include the super soft white minkee!

Annaliese is super excited to wear it tomorrow. Whoooo's got school spirit? Annaliese does!!!

Baby Girl Gift Set

When Kristen found out her brother and his wife were expecting a baby girl, she requested this set (which got shipped just a couple days before she was born!)

The initial inspiration was a similar set I had stitched earlier for baby Peyton -- since her niece will be called Lily, she wanted to go with a floral motif. I used the Flower Power monogram from Julia's Needle Design. "Lily" was added with the font "Amazone BT" digitized for me by Kathy.

For the bib I stitched her name using the same font, and used the flowers from the monogram.

Kristen also wanted an A-line dress, primarily for the other side (which you'll see in a minute). I knew Hobby Lobby had material that matched this ribbon, so Kathy graciously purchased some for me and mailed it my way (we don't have a Hobby Lobby close by, sniff, sniff). I stitched her name again on the dress, using the same font. It's a tad more subtle than I would have liked, but it's still pretty. It is a Martha Pullen reversible A-line size 1.


Kristen's brother is a huge University of Miami fan, so she wanted a little dress for Lily that would display some team spirit!

The fringe cheerleader on megaphone design is from Nobbie Neez Kids. I added "Daddy's Little Hurricane" with Embird Alphabet #8.

Superboy!

Jason has been on a hunt for a Superboy T-shirt for his son who is about to turn one year old. Having no success, he asked for my help since I've done lots of super hero stuff for their family in the past.

Monogrammed Onesie

Kari and her son are off to pay her mother a visit. This grandma calls Carl "Trio" (since he is a third, named after father and grandfather). Kari wanted to surprise her with this onesie:

Kari supplied the onesie and let me pick the font and thread color. I chose Designers from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Monogrammed Stocking

Last year Bonnie purchased monogrammed stockings for all her grandkids. She was a smart grandma and purchased some extra blank ones in anticipation of future grandchildren. Jack was born recently and needs a stocking with his name on it!
Valerie brought me Kylie's stocking so I could try to match the font and thread color. I have absolutely no idea what font was used on these (no perfect match was given at WhatTheFont.com), so I found as close as a match as I could. Thankfully "Jack" doesn't share a single case-sensitive letter with any of the other grandkids, so I didn't have to worry about it being perfect, just a decent match.

Kathy digitized his name in Avant Garde Book for me:

Update: Here it is hanging with the rest of them!

Matching Pumpkin tops, two years later!

In October 2007 I stitched Annaliese and myself matching pumpkin outfits (dress for her, shirt for me). Two years later the dress still fits Annaliese, but now as a shirt! We didn't get to match last year (I was pregnant and couldn't fit into my shirt), but this year we have a new family member who can match us!

I took the bottom pumpkin from the design (from Pegboard Crafts) and stitched it on a onesie for Dashiell.


I assure you that Dashiell adores both his big sister and mommy, and likes his pumpkin shirt. This expression is because I took him out of a swing to take the picture. :)

In December 2007, I stitched matching Christmas tree outfits. If Annaliese can still wear hers (my concern is the sleeves), I'll probably take the packages off the design and put them on a T-shirt for Dashiell! Stay tuned...

A new bib for D

I've got an upcoming order stitching some monkey designs on baby items. I wanted to be sure the bib could handle the monkey design, so I did one for Dashiell first.

The monkey is from the "c" design of the Monkey Shines Alphabet at OregonPatchWorks. (This is the set I used to make Dashiell's wall hangings.) I added the text with Embird Alphabet #8.

It turned out well, and now I feel confident to proceed with the order! Plus it prompted me to stitch something for my sweet little monkey (who by the way IS a monkey, and it's fortunate for him he is sweet...).

Hooded Towel

Michelle requested a hooded towel to give to Kyleigh on her first birthday:

She picked the Whimsey font from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Modified Publix shopping bag

Look at me, being all economical and environmentally friendly... :)

I got this Publix Shopping Bag for FREE thanks to a coupon -- 2 free bags with purchase of batteries -- batteries that I needed, that were on sale, AND that I had an additional coupon for.

I discovered last week when I got my first free shopping bag that they are fantastic for carrying groceries (yes folks, I'm very late on this one). Plus I won't have a million plastic bags to deal with anymore. I do reuse them, but they are gradually taking over here. You know, you get one with each item you purchase at Walmart.

Here's my new shopping bag:

I embellished the bag to provide myself some free advertising, and I did so with virtually no effort! Before Kathy made my Stitched by Janay bag, she did a test stitch of the design on a scrap piece of fabric. Not wanting to waste that, I used it today. I trimmed the fabric down to the size I wanted (plus an extra 1/2 inch seam allowance). I stitched it down over the Publix logo. Since it was a nice woven fabric, I decided to fray the edges. Cute huh? Don't ya love how the green stitching matches the bag perfectly??

The other free bag I got today is black. Trying to decide what cute thing to do on it. I'll let you know as soon as it's done.

Monogrammed Shirt

Valerie found this cute skirt for Kylie and asked if I could come up with some design to put on a white t-shirt to coordinate. When I saw the floral pattern, I immediately thought of Lynnie Pinnie's Applique Flower Font.

The "K" is from Frenchie Font at 8 Claws and a Paw.

What a fun, personalized outfit that even little sister Kenzie will get to enjoy someday!

Ebay listings!

About two years ago I did quite a bit of stitching in preparation for a couple opportunities to set up a craft table.

As part of that I stitched several crayon rolls in assorted materials. I received several orders for personalized crayon rolls, plus a huge order from a church, but ended up having most of my original inventory left over. They got packed away, and kind of forgotten.

Today as Carlin was listing a couple of his eBay auctions, he asked if I had anything I wanted to sell. So I dug out the crayon rolls, and he did all the rest of the work to get them listed! Feel free to take a peek: Stitched by Janay's Ebay Auctions I'll let you know in a month how things have gone.



Oh, I still have two of those rag quilts and some of Amy's headbands left, if anyone is interested. :)

Keychains

Poor Chase... another kid at school has mistakenly taken his backpack! In an effort to prevent that from happening again, Aunt Michelle requested a key chain to attach to his backpack. I used Embird Alphabet #30.

A little something for me...

I'm slowly getting onto the couponing bandwagon. This week I was able to purchase two boxes of Cheez-Its that were B1G1 free and used a $1.50 off coupon and a coupon for a free Publix shopping bag. It will be a while before I'm up to the level of my friends Valerie and Jenny, but I hope to get there within a month or so...

Anyway, I decided to personalize my new shopping bag. Before:

And After!

The applique flower is from Lynnie Pinnie. I swapped out the "J" it came with for this one, Action font from 8 Paws and a Claw.

My plan is to collect several of these bags (for free!) over time, and monogram them with a variety of my favorite monograms. It will be like walking advertising in the checkout line! :)

My Little Pumpkins

Happy Fall Y'all! Here are my two little pumpkins all ready for the harvest season:

These outfits have a bit of a story. Kathy ordered the a-line dress and jon-jon online. I'm not going to share her source because receiving the items was a nightmare. Her money was quickly accepted :) but she didn't hear back from the seller for a long time. It was looking like she'd never get the order, nor her money back. She did eventually get them, but not in the color she ordered (orange instead of red gingham). Upon receiving them (like 2 months later) she wasn't sure how they were going to fit the kids, so instead of embellishing them herself, she sent them to me.

If we still lived in IL, orange outfits would be a no-brainer -- GO ILLINI!! I was tempted to do something orange and blue. BUT we live in FL, and I certainly don't want people to see my kids and think we are Gator fans, especially now that Carlin is officially a Seminole. So I opted to go with a fall theme.

The applique design is from Designs by Juju's Harvest Patchwork Applique set. I love her stuff! It's especially helpful that her designs usually come in both 4x4 and 5x7 sizes because I had a small one for Dashiell and a large one for Annaliese. I added their names with the Bingham font from 8 Claws and a Paw. It resized well for Annaliese, and stitched beautifully (as usual).


The A-line was just a bit too short for my taste, so to lengthen it a bit I added a ruffle. This was my very first ruffle. I did quite a bit of brainstorming with both Kathy and my mom. In the end, I went with Mom's suggestion of making a totally finished loop of material, gathering it 1/2" down from the top, and top-stitching it to the dress. I'm pretty pleased with the results. It adds about 2 inches to the dress, and the weight of it keeps the dress down. Plus Annaliese loves it.

I'm so glad the outfits turned out cute, especially after all the trouble Kathy had. Thanks for persevering!! I think it was worth it. I'm sure they will wear these several Sundays in October and November, and today was Dashiell's first trip to the pumpkin patch. Here are a few more pictures:




(Stay tuned... Dashiell is now big enough for the Martha Pullen reversible JonJon, so I'm anxious to make D and A matching Christmas outfits!!!)

The Fruit of the Spirit's not a Watermelon

The fruit of the Spirit's not a watermelon!
Whatcha yellin'??
The fruit of the Spirit's not a watermelon!
Whatcha yellin'??
If you want to be a watermelon, you might as well hear it,
you can't be a fruit of the Spirit!
'Cause the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Several years ago my mom bought this fabric to make a costume for a Fruit of the Spirit themed VBS. She recently discovered her leftovers and made Annaliese a skirt out of it. Without knowing it, I had already purchased a blank shirt that matches it perfectly! I found fabrics in my stash and stitched this design for Annaliese:

The watermelon was a freebie from Lynnie Pinnie (it is available on SWAK Embroidery). I added the text with Embird Alphabet #22.

I think the set turned out cute. It's too bad we didn't have it done in July, our VBS theme this past year was the Fruit of the Spirit. Oh well!

So as I was stitching this design my machine started sounding funny and the hoop wasn't moving quite right. I immediately stopped and discovered I had a huge thread nest. I had to take my hoop off the machine, flip it over, cut away all the extra thread, yada yada yada. Bonus points if you can guess at what point it happened...