Wha?? It is October already??

Oh my gosh, how time flies when you are busy.  Ok, well we are settling in nicely to our new home.  The house is great, the kids are happily ensconced in school and I only have my craft/sewing stuff left to unpack.  So, here is my question everybody.  I need to buy a new sewing machine and I am having a hard time deciding which one.  I mainly sew easy clothes and even easier homeware type stuff like cushions and I will be delving into the area of sewing for dolls soon (my daughter has acquired a passion for American Girl dolls).  Basically, I don't need an industrial type machine anyway.  I want to know what you all use and what you like/don't like about it.  Also, where is a good place to buy them in the US?  Do they sell them at Joann's?  Can you believe I have only visited a Michael's store twice and have never even visited a Joann's since being in the US (we arrived way back in June)??  I haven't dared go near them when I can't actually do anything yet.  What self control!  Ha ha.

Home Sweet Home.....

At last!  We are moving into a house tomorrow (southwest part of Minneapolis).  Anyone have suggestions on which shops would provide the best price/value for things like heavy curtains (blackout ones for the bedrooms)?

I am still around....

Wow, I am quite impressed I still have Followers!  Thank you for your patience everyone.  Things have been a tad hectic, a tad stressful and it isn't over quite yet.  To give you an abbreviated version of what has been happening since we left Uruguay, well, we moved to Boston and were frantically house hunting (this is a full time job in the market here right now - it is brutal!) only to have circumstances change and be told two weeks ago (I think it was then - my memory is blurring now) that we need to relocate to Minnesota instead.  Ugh.  Boston is like my dream location to live so I was pretty upset but, after having the appropriate mourning period, I don't believe in dwelling on that.  So, onwards and upwards to Minnesota!  Lucky we hadn't unpacked our boxes yet.  Anyway, we are heading over there next Tuesday and will be frantically searching for a house.  We will have to find one fast as our shipping container has finally cleared customs and is on it's way!!  Wish me luck!  Boy, do I have some projects planned once my stuff is unpacked....

Meanwhile, we managed a weekend trip to New York last weekend and that was a dream come true for me too so I will leave you with a photo of our weekend in New York.  This is my two kids on Liberty Island with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

No news is good news....

I knew this photo I took of a funny looking little piece of cereal would come in handy.....

'Familiar' book (with activities)

As you know, we are moving this week from Uruguay to the USA.  My children (ages 7 and 4) are not the super relaxed types who don't really care about such things (neither are we so surprise, surprise) so, to help ease the transition, I made each of them these little 'familiar' books.

I had this stack of plastic envelopes (they are approx. 20cm x 16cm) that we had DVD's in.  The kids have 15 sleeves each that I have connected with small rings.  I think they might be curtain rings - they open with a hinge - I can't even remember where I got them.  I designed the front cover and printed out the pattern in the middle of the page (this neatly wrapped around a thick piece of cardboard for stability).

For the first half of the book I added photos (and simple words for reading practice for Lord A) of themselves, family members and familiar items like their beds, toys, etc.  All of the toys and items pictured are things they won't see for 2 months so they love to look at them and anticipate their return.  I did the page layout in Powerpoint.

For the last half of the book, I copied images of mazes and connect the dots off the internet.  In the second photo you can see a small face washer (face cloth, face towel - whatever you call them) inside the front cover.  I had these teeny little face washer's left over from when the kids were babies.  They are much smaller than normal but are the perfect size to use as an eraser with dry erase markers.  This way the kids can do the puzzles over and over if they want.  I have a little drawstring bag full of dry erase markers in different colours for each of the kids to have with their book.

The back cover is the same as the front without the title.  I used a really nice thick cardboard for the covers so they will be sturdy enough to hold and write on if they don't have a table handy.

I am really happy with how these turned out.  Sporty Girl has seen hers and has been carrying it around already but I am waiting to surprise Lord A for a moment when he really needs it (or when I really need him to be occupied! - hello, Customs lines anyone?).  Anyway, my quick break hiding away from the packers is over so I had better get back to it!

Aaarrrgghhh, the removalists are nearly here.....

Well, things are pretty frantic here of course.  The removalists are coming tomorrow morning at 8.30am to commence packing.  Oh, this is so not my favourite part about moving.  I just have to keep in mind that in one week we will be in our new city (and country).

Well, I did complete most of my 'meaning to finish' projects but I don't have time to put them all into a blog post with this very loud clock ticking in my head.  I will leave you with just one.

This is my second little sock owl (number one is up there in my banner right now) which I made for a dear friend who just had a baby.  I changed his eyes a little bit but that is about it.  He is sitting on a little blanket I was going to make but, as I don't have access to the correct needle etc. (and I am scared of sewing interlock), I took the fabric I bought to a 'merceria' (a tailor/haberdashery place) and had them make it up to my measurements etc.  I really love that soft coloured spotty pattern.  I am so happy with how this gift turned out.

Ok, well that is it from me for awhile, I will be busy probably most of this week with packing and relocation stuff.  Wish us luck (and speedy ships to get our stuff to the US)!

'Meaning to Finish' Project Week - day whatever

I barely even know what day it is, let alone keeping up with project days right now!  ha ha.

Ok, well, I am making some progress.  I haven't exactly been powering through mod podge land yet but I have completed a few things to show you.

The kids did more of the Sharpie Softies (Lord A did one too - so cute!) awhile ago and I hadn't finished them off for them so they were happy to cuddle them finally.

I covered a plain little craft box to make a gift box for the girly hair bow for my friend.  My little box went from this:

to this:

I really love that effect of the two different patterns for the box and lid.

Next up is a DIY padded mailing envelope.  I can't buy padded envelopes for posting gifts and so on at the moment (this is a veeeeery long story....) so I made my own using a regular office supply envelope.....

some bubble wrap cut into two rectangles and made into a pocket by using clear packing tape to seal 3 sides....

and then pop them into the envelope and bob's your uncle!

Love it.  Oh, I forgot to take a photo of my snazzy label I made.  I will do that another day with another parcel I have to send.

I also bought one of those plastic organiser boxes (like the ones for beads) to organise my stationery but I am pretty sure you don't want to see a picture of that (although I do have very cute squirrel clips and penguin paperclips!).  Have a good weekend everyone!

Another free printable invitation - Snails and Mushrooms

I actually designed this one before the butterfly one (before I thought to ask what the birthday party theme for my friend's daughter was going to be - d'oh).  I really like this design too.  Enjoy!  Download below:

Pink Snail invitation - A4
Pink Snail invitation - Letter