March Bunting

I was such a hard worker last weekend and got the St. Patrick's Day bunting cut, sewn, assembled, and hung.  I just love it!
Here's a picture of mine.  I did a pattern this time, starting in the middle with my favorite fabric and then putting pairs of pennants on either side.  I did a shamrock pattern and then a generic green pattern, and I really love the way it turned out.

 Below is the one I made for my sister.  I did hers with nine different fabrics and no "just green" fabric.  they're all shamrock patterns.  I even put a Snoopy shamrock pennant in the middle, just for fun.  Her five-year-old loves it!

Meanwhile, I went a little crazy and bought Easter fabric, watermelon fabric for summer, and even beachy fabric!! Can't wait to get the whole year finished!

In other news, I also updated my Etsy store, Willow Branch Designs, and relisted the few things I have for sale.

Bunting!

I was a little late on the Valentine's Day bunting--made some for my sister on February 11 and finished mine on February 13.  I'll leave it up for a little while, but tomorrow, I'll start working on St. Patrick's Day bunting.  I have cute St. Patty's Day fabric that I can't wait to use.
Here's a picture of my sister's bunting:

And here's one of mine:

On mine, I used 11 different fabrics, but I tried to coordinate the colors and patterns--right in the middle is a fabric of conversation hearts, and then on either side is a different pink fabric with hearts, and then a deep red, then a medium red, then a white background with red, and then a medium red on the ends.  I really like the way it looks.
I talked to my nephew (who is 5) today, and he apparently told his teacher all about making bunting with me.  YIKES! I just hope he doesn't get beat up at school talking like that!

Little Hearts

So cute!! I love these little crocheted hearts. When I was little, my grandmother made crocheted wreaths for us to wear on Christmas, and now I've put my own spin on the hand-made gift with a Valentine's Day present. I just have to sew a pin on the back and they're ready for gifting. Every one I know will get one--we'll see if they wear it!

Here's the link where I got the pattern AND a youtube tutorial!

Organizing, organizing...

I love organizing my stuff!! Then I love reorganizing it!! Sometimes, actually, that's all I feel like I really do. Move paper from this file to that folder, or move markers from this tote to that box. Even though I do not generally make New Year's resolutions, after working on yet another paper file, I firmly resolve to NOT purchase any more scrapbooking stuff in 2012. I am sure my CM consultant is not happy about this, but enough is ENOUGH! I have a ridiculous amount of paper, kits, stickers, and embellishments that I cannot even hope to use in my lifetime, let alone this year. So this year is going to be all about using what I have and not even looking at new stuff. Well, okay, maybe looking at it, but not purchasing it!!

My latest project is working on an album of my history with the piano, starting from when I was a baby and my parents took my picture sitting at a friend's piano, up to last month, where 9 of my students performed in a Christmas recital. There are lots of holes in between, but I was able to find a surprising number of photos and newspaper articles of my high school years. Thank goodness my grandmother saved that kind of stuff!

DIY Christmas Ornament

I saw an example of this ornament on Miss Mustard Seed a couple of weeks ago, and when I was thinking of the little gift that I'd be giving to my piano students after the recital, I thought this might be cute. I hope it's something they will keep and put on their tree year after year. I have a couple of special ornaments that I've had since I was a child, and I hope this one becomes special to the students as they get older.

I got some antiqued music scrapbooking paper and shredded it into 1/4-inch strips (or so--I started out cutting it on my paper trimmer, and it doesn't much matter how exact the strips are). Then I curled them on a dowel and slipped them inside the glass ornament until it looked pretty full. I wrote on the ornament with black glitter glue, put a music note sticker on the back, and tied a bow to the top. I'm pleased with the prototype, although I may try something different with the lettering.

My Creativity Cycle

So apparently all my creativity stops when school starts in the fall.  I have just done nothing since we started back to school, oh, three months ago.  That's not totally true--my creativity just goes in a different directions--focusing on lessons for the kids.  When I realized this and talked to one of our library volunteers about it, she said it's exactly the opposite for her: she does nothing all summer while she's home with the kids, but when they go back to school in the fall, she has the time to be creative again. 
Today, I cut out bunting.  Tons and tons of bunting.  Check out this pile (don't mind the wine glass):

I went through my Christmas fabric (of which I obviously have a LOT) and just cut of 7-inch strips.  Then I cut and cut until I had fabulous little triangles ready for sewing.  Here's what I ended up with:

 With the fall bunting, I didn't match up patterns, but I am going to do that with the Christmas fabric--I have so many different designs that it might get a bit crazy if I don't try to make the same design on front and back.

This stack looks totally out of control. I mean, really, how much bunting does one household need?!?! I know that I'll be making some for my sister, and I plan to make some for our library volunteers, but I know there's quite a bit here.  Maybe I'll give it as hostess gifts when we go Christmas partying this month.  I guess I'd better get sewing.  That's the next step.

DIY Bunting--Part 2

So here's some bunting I gave to my sister for her cute little fireplace--it looks like she could use one or two more triangles in length.  It's surprisingly easy to put together after it's been turned right-side-out and pressed.  I love that seam binding--double-fold, extra-wide.  It's perfect, and comes in great colors.  I bought orange and light brown, and they both look great.  I also picked up green and red for Christmas, so that'll be another project.