for a birthday present

for a birthday present, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Meet Dalton, the spaceboy. He's a birthday gift for a party we're going to this weekend. Hillary has designed a fantastic pattern, it was easy to follow and I love the end result!!! What a sweet face on that spaceboy!

In the mail . . .

In the mail . . ., originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

More gnomes . . .
it's getting harder and harder to find these little guys, so when I saw that Crafty Planet had them, I ordered 3 yards and Meg's bag pattern to go with it.

Linen pleated handbag

Linen pleated handbag, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

This was the end result. Lonely thrifted pants, made into something usable and beautiful for me!

Thrifted linen pants . . .

Thrifted linen pants . . . , originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

This is the before picture of those linen pants. Because of the style of pant, I got a lot of usable linen for my bag.

Something old turns into something new

Picture 293, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

I got quite a bit of linen out of that $7 spent on these size 12 pilazzo linen (Spiegel) pants I found at a thrift store Monday night. What a find!!! I have been seam ripping to save every square inch of that precious fabric. Project in mind . . . Amy Karol's Pleated Beauty Handbag from Bend the Rules Sewing. More details (and pictures) to come!!

Yellow Gnomes

Yellow Gnomes, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Oh I love these gnomes, all 77 of them, yes I counted them!!! I have been inspired for months now to find these. As luck would have it, something I have wanted so badly was discontinued before I even knew it existed!! The chase was on and these friendly 77 folk have now found their home. I have to give a shout out to Majajane on Etsy for being soooo generous in giving me this sought after piece of material. This is something I wrote the day this transaction took place and want to share it with you:
"I have found the handmade community to be so very kind. I have been looking for whatever I can get of Heather Ross’ Yellow Gnome fabric for quite awhile now since it has long been discontinued. I found the sweetest lady, Majajane, on Etsy who gave me her last little bit of this yellow sweet goodness. People like her are what makes being in this community of sewers/knitters/crafters so special. We are willing to help each other unselfishly, rooting one another on toward success, however each one of us defines it. Thank you MJ, for your generosity!! You’re truly a blessing and you made my day!! " - Leslie

Rock painting

Rock painting, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

We decided that today we would paint our rocks for a rock garden. I was so surprised at how well Elise was able to concentrate on painting these small rocks that we have gathered from our backyard since last Fall. Both my girls love to play with rocks and collect them wherever we go. There is always a small pile of them somewhere in our minivan . . .