Puzzle

So I haven't crafted the last couple days. Just been too wrapped up in the pain of the contractions. But I have been working on a puzzle with Aaron. Okay, I did most of it. Finished it today. Here's a photo. Sherwood really needs to be born.

No crafting today :(

I'll be honest, I didn't craft a bit today. I was so uncomfortable from all the cramping and contractions that I did everything I could to occupy myself in other ways. We walked, we went out to dinner, we went to some stores, we watched tv/movies, we spent some one-on-one time together, and we worked on a puzzle. Plus, Aaron planted some plants in our backyard and I "assisted" by sitting near by. Anything I could do to keep my mind off the pain of these contractions. But crafting wasn't one of those things. Just couldn't get myself to sit still long enough. Everything else we did I could get up from every few minutes as needed and Aaron was a part of so he could distract me. I sure hope this baby comes soon. Six days of contractions and counting. I'm so uncomfortable and hurt so bad. I just want to get the horrible part over with so the healing can begin. Hoping to get some sleep tonight. Maybe tomorrow I will work on the diaper bag?

Sherwood's Announcements II

I have been cramping all day today. They have been getting progressively closer together and I am praying that tonight will be tonight (we actually went to the hospital and were sent home because, although regular, they are not intense enough). Throughout the cramping I have been working on the announcements. I have them pretty much finished. I need Sherwood's picture to glue onto the right side of the announcement and need his birth information. Otherwise they are done. Now I am going to continue working on lining the envelopes until hopefully I can get myself to either go to sleep or go into full blown labor.

Here's version one (sorry its kinda blurry and the colors are a bit off cause I took the photos in the living room in poor lighting):

Version two:

And the envelopes:

Announcements I

I continued working on the announcements tonight. I'm not going to post any pictures until they are all glued together. It took a long time but I finally got all the letters cut out on the Cricut, glued the monkeys together and onto the cards, and managed to glue the word "Monkey" onto each of the cards. I also spent some time lining envelopes. Still have more envelopes to line and need to glue the rest of the letters on. Then the announcements will be ready for Sherwood to be born so his picture and birth information can be put on the card. Hopefully that won't be too much longer. Been contracting and cramping more intensely but still irregularly. I'm so eager to meet my little boy and to be done with this whole being pregnant thing. Soon hopefully.

Preparing for baby

I've been a bit preoccupied the last few days with baby preparations. We set up the crib, I've washed and organized clothes, blankets, bibs, etc. I've set up the area downstairs where we are going to spend the days of the first few weeks (since I am not supposed to go up and down the stairs during the day). All while having contractions, sleeping a whole heck of a lot, peeing like crazy, and just physically getting ready for my son's birth (and apparently dilating as well!). So crafting has been a bit on the back burner. BUT I have done some crafting.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours putting together the baby announcements that I started a few weeks ago. I am still making some decisions about them and having a very hard time committing to anything. But I think, perhaps this afternoon, I am ready to move on to the next step. I'm hesitant to put Sherwood's name on the announcements because I am fearful that he will turn out to be a girl and that the announcements will have to be completely re-done (right now they are more boy than girl but could be passed for girl if necessary). I also intend to line the envelopes and made a pattern for that yesterday. Need to use my Cricut and do some monkey cutouts. I'll put up pictures in a post later tonight of what I have done (assuming I don't go into labor). And maybe I can attack that diaper bag. But then again, the nursery needs attention too...

Later (11:16 pm):
I spent some time with my Cricut and with my camera. Here are some pictures of what my announcements look like so far. And here are the monkeys that will be glued on, hopefully tomorrow. Still no regular contractions so I might get them done before Sherwood comes. Although it wouldn't hurt my feelings if that isn't the case. :)

Here's one version of the card. On the right will be a picture of Sherwood once he is born and on the left will be the monkey.

And here's another version:

And the monkey:

I think it will be really cute when it is all done but we will see. 

Mother's Day gifts revealed

So here is what I made for Mother's Day. I found a poem online from a company who sells bracelets and I borrowed the concept. I am not going to include the poem because it is copyrighted but basically each colored bead holds a meaning. Both of the bracelets are very similar but I tried to make them slightly different just like each mom is different. Hope you enjoy.

And here are the gifts with their cards and the little bags:

Diaper Bag I

I got started tonight on the diaper bag project. I made several decisions today, and then changed my mind again. But what I ended up deciding was to go ahead and make the diaper bag as is, with the exception of creating a longer strap using d-rings to make it adjustable. Otherwise I am going to follow the pattern and see how it turns out. It might turn out in a way that I love or it might be too small (as I am guessing it might be). But if it is too small than I will have it to use and can go ahead and make another one with the adjustments needed to make it bigger at another time. Meanwhile I am going to try to find myself a store-bought large diaper bag somewhere that I really like. That way I will have a large durable diaper bag and then my two smaller ones as well.

I didn't get very far. Mostly ironed the fabric (that still doesn't look very ironed), cut out the pieces, and laid them all out so that I could see what I needed. Tomorrow hopefully I can tackle pinning and cutting out the fabric. It was just too much standing for me tonight with my feet as big as balloons.

So here's my ironing board covered with the project, and a picture of the fabric. More to come.

Pre-mommy frustrations

I want to make a diaper bag. That's where my frustrations began. But the diaper bag I wanted to make is not as big as I thought it was going to be. So I began to search for another pattern. I searched for ideas on how big diaper bags should be or usually are. For some reason the diaper bag that I bought (back when I first found out that I was pregnant) doesn't seem to hold very much stuff. I don't know why because it is a decent sized bag. It will probably be great for going out for short term trips and such. But right now it has a couple of outfits, two receiving blankets, my nursing cover, and a small teddy bear in it and it is stuffed. No diaper changing pad, no diapers, and no wipes. If I took out an outfit or two it would fit the changing pad, a couple of diapers, and probably some wipes but that's it. I don't necessarily need a whole lot on a day to day basis but I do need to have room for certain things and wanted to combine my purse with the diaper bag so that I am not carrying both.

Long story short I am a bit frustrated. So after a long time of measuring bags, looking at the standard size of diaper bags online, studying the pattern I own, and realizing that I needed to wash the fabric that I want to use to create the bag, I decided it was time to give up for tonight. So two nights in a row where I failed at crafting anything. (We did set up the crib yesterday, though, does that count?) Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for crafting. I have so many ideas for projects and just for some reason just don't have the energy or the umph needed to get them done. Truthfully this blog has been instrumental in me getting anything done. Its nice to have a place to hold me accountable.

Here's a photo of the pattern that I want to make. I am going to use a light brown on the outside and a striped green and yellow-ish material on the inside. I won't do the ribbon or anything cause I don't like it. I am thinking of extending the size a bit and making it a little bit longer and taller. I also want to adjust the strap so that it is long enough that I can put it over my head. Probably should invest in some D rings so that I can adjust the size of the strap but am a bit unsure on how to do that. We'll see. I still need to stew over it. And iron the fabric when it comes out of the dryer. (Yuck!) More updates to come.

Idina's Dress Part II

Tomorrow our community is having a pet competition. They are having different members of the community bring their dogs in their best outfits. This was encouragement for me to finish Idina's dress so that she can wear it and show it off tomorrow. She wasn't the most thrilled with me making her try it on so that I could pin the ribbons on and find out where to sew them on. She also didn't dance around like she usually does with a new dress. But she looks cute in it. I don't know how well it will hold up since I used ribbons to hold it on. We'll see. Here she is wearing it.

I attached ribbons on the bottom that tie so that I can get her in and out of it fairly easily. The halter top part is sewn in. It doesn't come quite as high as I would have liked and I will have to adjust if I make her one again but for a first try I think it turned out well.

Spring/Summer Wreath

Nenna and Christian came over today! Nenna and I had been wanting to make spring wreaths for the last month or so. We bought the stuff back in April but things just kept getting in the way, keeping us from spending an afternoon creating our wreaths. Today we were able to get our craft on and make our crafts (while Christian did his schoolwork and read to us).

Here's my wreath. Now I just have to figure out how to hang it...

Teddy Bear

I was having an emotional day today and Aaron wasn't able to come home for lunch, which made it worse. Pregnancy hormones get out of control sometimes! Anyway, I decided I needed to get out of the house, so I took myself to the Public Library in search of some new craft books.

For awhile now I have been wanting to try to make little crocheted stuffed animals. I found this amazing book at the library that teaches even beginning crocheters how to create these cute little creatures. Checked it out at the library and started working on a little teddy bear for my soon to be born baby boy. All I got done tonight was the head. It looks kinda funny right now cause it is just a bunch of round stitches but hopefully after I add the body, legs, and arms it will look as cute or cuter than the one in the book.

Here's the book that I checked out. Super easy patterns with picture instructions at the beginning to show even beginners how to do the stitches. The only thing I didn't like is there are a couple of  abbreviations that she doesn't really explain well. I understand them since I am familiar with the craft but beginners might struggle when they see them in the pattern. Otherwise I think it is a great book. Best instructions on crocheted animals that I have found yet.

Here's a picture of what the teddy bear looks like, all finished. Isn't it cute?

And here is the head to my bear. It's basically just a bunch of single crochets.

I can't wait to show you the finished product! :)

Mother's Day Revisited

Worked on finishing up Mother's Day gifts today. Need to get them in the mail tomorrow in hopes that they will arrive in Tucson in time for Mother's Day on Sunday. Pictures to come after I know they have arrived.

Right now I am trying to come up with a good way to package the gifts in a way that looks nice but that will also fit in an envelope so that it doesn't cost too much to mail. I thought I would be able to find a simple origami bag that I could make but have not been successful. Grr! Need to figure out something before I got to bed tonight. I'll post a picture of the wrapped presents later tonight or tomorrow.

Later (as in 10:43):
I found out that my Cricut has a cute little bag cut out! So after all my struggles this evening to try to find something that would work, I found out that I had it all along! So here are my wrapped presents. I just used some scrapping paper, the Cricut, some tissue paper to wrap the gift, and a cute little flower to adorn the bag. Hopefully they will arrive in Tucson in the same shape they are in now. Aren't they cute?

Crafting Blogs

I've been super swollen today. Thanks to the pregnancy (35 weeks tomorrow!) I have swollen feet and swollen hands. This has caused me to spend most of the day with my feet propped up to help with the swelling and my hands unoccupied. So instead of crafting I searched through other people's crafting ideas. I found myself several things I want to try adapting and making my own.

This is just a small selection of some of the great things I saw online today and want to try to adapt. I have several craft blogs that I am now subscribed to so that when my creativity is lacking I can go check out what other creative people are doing. Hopefully tomorrow my feet and hands will be less swollen. I want to get to work on a few things for Sherwood on the sewing machine, finish Idina's dress, and finish Mother's Day presents before the week is out. Don't know how much I will get done but hopefully I will be more successful tomorrow than I was today.

PS. If anyone has any ideas on how I can make a nursing nightgown that will provide coverage for when I am in the hospital (after Sherwood is born and I get cleaned up) I would love the suggestions. I'm thinking about the hospital gown pattern that is posted lower down. I just don't think I have the fabric and am trying to do it for cheap or free. Maybe I will luck out at Goodwill later this week...

This book is super cute! It is a bit much for Sherwood as he won't be playing tic tac toe for some time but it might make a great gift for my nieces/nephews. I just love the idea of using felt in such a great manner. Here are some of the pages in it.

                                             

http://soyouthinkyourecrafty.blogspot.com/1999/02/on-go-book.html

Love this bag for the teachers in my life. Don't know exactly how I would duplicate it but its super cute and practical.

  

http://soyouthinkyourecrafty.blogspot.com/2010/05/teacher-gifts-week-3.html

Here is an adaptation of a hospital gown pattern that I found online. I like her picture cause it shows how cute it can be made whereas the website with the pattern doesn't have a picture of the finished product.

The original pattern is from http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/hospitalgown.php. The pictures are taken from sewcutebabe.com. 

Here's a diaper bag and changing pad that is cute and looks pretty simple to duplicate.

http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/products/patterns_display.php?id=16

Sherwood's Bib Part II

I finished off Sherwood's bib tonight with some red yarn. Its not perfect but I am very proud of the finished product. And it matches daddy's scarf. :)

A Bib Part I

So tonight I decided to try to make a bib. I went for crocheting because it was something I could do while sitting on the couch with my swollen feet elevated. I need to do the edging and tuck in the ends. It also needs shaped. Will do all that tomorrow. The edging will be in red. I just used the left over yarn from Aaron's scarf. Here's what I have done so far.