Yo Gabba Gabba

Is it just me, or can you only buy Yo Gabba clothes in England?

So for reasons like:
 I won't be in England anytime soon...
 and those Gabba faces aren't too strewn with intricate features

Why can't we make our own Gabba inspired attire?!?

We can!

And we did...  in honor or Eleanor's 2nd birthday.

And we did it with:

Cotton fabric
Heatbond
Sewing machine
iron, ironing board
Coffee
Apple muffins


The gabba faces...  they're just shapes.  And not even complicated shapes.  No trapezoid's...  just your basic circles and triangles..  mostly circles...

To make a long story short... because this is not sewing .0167854 blog.  And I am not a black belt (yet) in sewing..  I will just highlight a few tips, and if you have further questions, please comment.

Anytime you are going to apply a decoration (applique) or a face in this case, Iron on some heatbond first to make sure the edges stay nice and it's a bit sturdier.
I did this with the pink face.  You could've also done it with the eyes and mouth but I figured it'd be ok without.  And it was, it went through the wash and came out in one piece.  Though the party stains remain...

Even before the heatbond though...  the fabric! It is so damn hard to find cool fabric around here!
The middle (base) fabric for this dress was from the collection my grandmother gave me.  The patterned pieces I bought from Etsy.  And they are gorgeous! Very vintagy... girly... yummy! So if you just accent something plain with some really cool scraps, you can still make it look expensive!  I thought using the vintage fabric for Foofa's flower made a huge difference than if I would've just left it pink.  I think it took it from "cheesy character" dress to "Shabamalama adorable" dress.  But that's just me. And at the same time, still
reminds you of the clothes you'd find the kids wearing on the show.

The belt:      Easiest way I know how to make a quick belt is the good ol' fold in half twice and top stitch method. Cut your length and then a 2-3 inch width.  Fold in half length-wise, then fold the sides in to meet the inside fold.  (ironing all the way) Then fold in half once more, iron, and top stitch all the way around.  You can either tuck the ends under or cut an angle and sew closed. 

well, some noodles are calling me... so I will hopefully return in a timely fashion... or a gabba fashion... probably neither... hopefully both.

                                  

Thanks... a lot.

I'm so appreciative for your thoughtfulness that I actually MADE you a card.  I cut down a tree in the yard,...  made paper...  and the rest is in my personal journal....

Ok cards...  I don't make em' much.  I slapped these two together because I'm in the middle of a scrapathon...  So I decided while I had all my stamps and saucies out...  I would make a couple.

So, I just said I don't make cards a lot... but in my brain, I wish I did.  Because not only is it guaranteed to be original.. but it's nice to get a card for no reason at all... and an "original for no reason" card would be wonderful to receive!  So I'm gonna put that on my TADA! list.

I just made that up.  It was a to do list before 5 seconds ago.  BRB.
Ok, I just scratched out to do and wrote TADA.  Because the store is closed now, or else I would go get a new notebook that didn't already have in it's cell memory that it was previously called to do.

Because ya know what people.  Everything you do should be a TADA!  I mean, if it's paying the doctor bill, why not pay it and then call and check that they received the payment.  Or if it's cleaning the stove... why not lift up the hood and really make sure nothing is going to make your cooking dinner smell funny.
Or if your car needs a radiator flush... why not just get a new radiator...   OK FINE.  That TADA belonged to the mechanic, not me.  "TADA! I didn't need that extra money to pay for daycare!"


Why does this have nothing to do with thank you cards?

Ok, I have a stamp set all about thank you's... so I'm using them.
And these two card layouts above took less than 5 minutes to make.
Four easy steps!

1. STICK 2. STAMP 3. SEW 4. SIGN

And I guess there was a little "doodle" involved here too, but that's optional.
Stick the paper together whichever way you like best.
Pick the appropriate stamp or embellishment
Sew is also optional, but it's a staple in my scrapbooking tool kit these days...
* I collect scraps of material for stuff like this.  It adds so much to a card or scrapbook page... and it doesn't have to be all neat and perfect... bunch it up and sew it on!*
Sign your name and you are finished!


And it might be better if you didn't read this post and maybe just looked at the picture.  I mean, you're a visual learner right?  That's all you need to know...  Trust your lenses...

Aprons!

I don't know about you, but I feel the Apron gods asking me to update their look...
Ok, so maybe they're asking someone else but I def. get a scent of apron in the air lately...

Chicken Apron

So first of all, let me introduce Madeline.  I bought her for $7 at a yard sale, and the previous owners told me her name was Madeline.  And I'm not one to go changin' names... so Madeline it is.  Maybe I'll make her a balloon head...

So obviously, this apron is too small for Madeline.  But it's perfect for my almost 2 yr. old...
And little girls love to dress up.  What am I saying, my nephew would probably be more eager to wear this than my daughter...





















When I did get it on her, I guess she decided it was time to make coffee...

And since she did such a good job with that, I think she can handle the turkey this year...



I got this fabric at JoAnn's.  (sorry to say it's not from Grams collection)  It's got CHICKENS!  And I was brave enough to throw a fancy stitch on there..  I say brave coz my sewing machine is always jamming up... leaving big knots of thread ...  and it's hard to pick up a fancy stitch and still have it look nice after that...
But for some reason, it was behaving during this particular project.

And this little guy was just something I threw together for family picnics this summer.  Who couldn't use a cute little helper on the BBQ!

BBQ apron

Well, Speaking of BBQ's. It is July 4th, so I hope you're having one!  Should be a nicer day than yesterday...

My attendance record is Schmeeered

So my craft room is in a shambles...  which is why I haven't been around.  I'm in the middle of re-mapping the whole area to be a bit more ... user friendly.  So stand by... perhaps Roo and I will do a craft web show...  or not.
I have been working on some things... but most of which I cannot post because they are either gifts or secret secrets! AHHH

I'm still working on some templates...  it takes a lot of mistakes before you come up with a solid foundation.

But I kinda like this little chickadee I threw together over the weekend...  It's actually all hand-sewn.  It seems to stay together better that way...   Daryl named her Ginger... I think coz we just watched that episode of Glee...

and the following photos show her ability to cuddle and be creepy...  with humans and animals alike...

So perhaps I throw some more together... though the only big piece of felty material in my inheritance from GG was the whitey white Ginger is donning...  so I may have to go crayola and purchase some other varieties of skin tone..  

Though I think I will start a mission to use every single piece of material my grandmother gave me to make something!  It would seem that mission has already been started without my actually saying it to myself....   so let the interwebs be informed...  It is now official. 

Egg free Easter

So even though dying eggs is not an option this year for Easter... I think painting wooden ones was even more fun!
And we haven't even made a dent in the pile of wooden eggs we got.  Which is why we started so early.  So if we do some each weekend, we should be able to get through em all...
Though really, a little nest of these suckers would look really cute on your dining room table any time of year... the wheels are def. turning...

So there's actually a lot you can do besides just paint...  we did some crackle... some modge podge with other papers...  some glitter of course... and even some stamping!
 I'll let ya know if we come up with anything else...

So I doubt she'll even care to dye an egg... anything paint involved, she's usually up for.
And then I realized I should really make her an art smock...

And here's Roo's egg painting vid  in case anyone needs a moving visual...  

Bag

I'm hoping on slowly but seriously compiling a folder of templates from which to make a reservoir of items to showcase on etsy.  This may take some time.  But I've come up with a weekly schedule that allows for specific time for each thing I'd like to accomplish.
And of course I don't know who I'm kidding when I think that's actually gonna happen and I'll be all productive and ongoing...  but nevertheless...  we just keep movin' however fast or slow we go... don't we!


So anyway, for now, I've made a few of these...
I think this might be a keeper template...

So next I've gotta get to some scrapbooking!  

I've started working on some digital pages, and it's just as addicting as the 3D stuff...

Here's a WIP so far...  

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

springtime springtime