Another New Obsession

Finished an adorable butterfly quilt for Meghan's friends new baby, Alora.  Isn't that such a pretty name!?!?!

Now this will be a labor of love!!!!  The first photo is of Colton & Weston last year with their Christmas vests.  Well, of course as growing munchkins, they outgrew them..... so I am making them new ones for this Christmas.  And I made Mican one last year and he outgrew his also.... so a new one for Mican and his brother, Rory.  So now this year I am adding in my brother's fabulous girlfriend (who has many grandkids!!)... well one of her daughters, Kimberley,  has 3 boys so they get theirs also...  Colton & Weston  Eileen's grand-munchkins - tooooo cute Wow, that's 7 Christmas vests to make..... I'll post an update when I finish them!!

OK, so I got the photo turned into a comic portrait and I love it!!!  (Go back a couple of posts and you'll find the original). I have tweaked it a bit in Photoshop and am trying out a bunch of different actions.  Here are some of them:   I think they are kinda fun!!!!

Update:  I gave this to Kris for her 5 year old granddaughter Zoe and she says it fit perfectly!!!!  Can't wait to see her in it!! So I have this fabric that I absolutely LOVE and I made one of my Newboy Caps tonight with it..... quilted it and all!!  Tried it on and I think it will fit a five year old..... definately NOT this grey haired old lady!!!!

Shhhhhhh..... don't tell.... but that adorable photo I took of Rich & Eileen - well I sent if off to Fiverr to have it turned into a cartoon portrait!  I am doing this for the one year anniversary present!  I mean my brother has been waiting his whole life for this wonderful woman!!!!!   Takes about 7 days so stay tuned and I'll post it!!!!!

And speaking of Colton and Weston.... they won another contest!!!!  And only because they are the cutest munchkins EVER to roam the earth!!!!

So here is the quilt I am making for Mican's 3rd birthday....  of course, being a munchkin, he is into dinosaurs so what could be better!!?!?!  But then I showed it to my nephews wife and now I get to make two more, one for Colton and one for Weston!!!!!

So the next evening we had dinner at the Owl Grill & Saloon (http://www.owlgrillandsaloon.com).....  and let me tell you, it was wonderful!!!!  One of the best meals I've had in forever!!  Maybe it was the company - my wonderful brother and his awesome girlfriend - or the owner, Steven, who greeted us like we were long lost relatives, or the waitress, Linda, who was wonderful or the atmosphere which I really enjoyed - not stuffy at all - I mean after all, we are in Grass Valley!!  And the food was to die for!!!  If you have a chance to get here you MUST have their Brussel Sprouts appetizer..... OMG!!!! !

yippee yippee! My brother and his wonderful girlfriend arrived yesterday after a five hour drive! It's been since January since I've seen them..... too long. So we had dinner last night at Cirino's.... very good dinner.

I am so very excited!  On Tuesday my brother and his awesome girlfriend are coming to visit.  So in their honor I made each of them a table topper — Eileen’s is a “stained glass” Pansy and my brother loves my rooster table topper so much, I made him his own!

totally forgot to post the cute little quilt I made for Rory's birthday...... he REALLY liked it but poor Mican just could not understand why he couldn't have one also!

So I have made a couple of these bags which I call, Bible study bags, because well we use them for Bible study class. Perfect size to put your binder in and your Bible… Actually just another excuse to make another bag!!

Now I think that's the name of the movie that I really like starring my favourite favourite Renée Zellweger. Just another feel good movie, the kind I like. Anyway I digress, I have just moved to the wonderful little town, charming might I add also of Grass Valley California. Now what is so ironic about this is that when my mother retired, this is where she moved or I should say they meaning her and her husband Jack. I have been here about a month and so far so good, really liking it Oh and I have other good news… My son broke up with psycho… yippee yippee yippee. So last weekend we had my 50th class reunion from Novato high school. The venue was Buffalo Billiards in Petaluma… Turned out to be a really really great place to celebrate. Here are Ellen and myself just before the shindig testing out our poloroid sign, which was a hit!

I am totally hooked on this pattern I found on one of my favorite blogs I read (http://www.sewcanshe.com)... and it was a FREE pattern - even better.  I think I have made like 6 of them.  Perfect size, adjustable strap, front zipper pocket.... it's a great bag!  And would you believe I even sold one of them for $160!!!!!  Yeah me!!

I love making little girl dresses...... and I've made some really cute ones but they just cannot compare with this one using my own dyed fabric.  It just adds another whole dimension!

So I ordered a few books, took a few online classes on fabric dyeing and totally immersed myself.  Then I discovered Ice Dyeing and am totally hooked!  I love the anticipation of waiting to see the finished colors. There really is a lot to learn to do it right.  Of course you can really wing it which is what I usually do, but I am trying to get organized and learn the ins and outs of this fun craft.  I guess my biggest hurdle is getting organized and taking notes.  Here are a few so far..... I mean look at those colors.... aren't they just vibrant??!!  So naturally this led to mandala's....  here are my first attempts from yesterday So the first one is my attempt at the fan fold....  didn't quite get it right but not bad for a beginner!  Now the second one is my attempt at a heart.  I know, looks like a bleeding heart or maybe an alien martian "take me to your leader".  A...

First of all..... by obsession I really mean a keen interest.  My brain is too ADD to be obsessed with anything for too long but I keep looking for that one hobby/adventure/function/call it what you may, to really focus on!!! I think my first post should show you some of my old obsessions for the last couple of years.   Before July 2012, which is ingrained in my brain as a turning point in my life, I had been obsessed with my photography and manipulating my photographs in Photoshop.  I had a dear friend that shared my photography interest with me.... on weekends we would go to San Francisco or surrounding areas and take photos galore.  Then I would spend hours in Photoshop tweaking those photos....  actually some of them turned out quite nice!  I actually sold a few photos and won a monthly contest for my El Capitan shot.  I have included here a few of my favorites. Then after one catastrophe and then ano...