Posts Tagged ‘des moines’

Le Bebe Party

Monday, December 26th, 2011

I mentioned before that one of my best friends is having a baby in February. So her sister and I put together a baby shower for her at the beginning of the month. We used a lot of stuff from the Martha Stewart Book Baby Shower for inspiration and for artwork for invites and such. I edited the colors to match our scheme a bit better and a laid out the invites a lot nicer. ;) Here is the invite:

 

And Adria had somebody in her boyfriend’s family make a delicious cake. She matched the decoration to the invite! How cute.

 

Audry, Adria’s sister went a little overboard with the whole thing, but it turned out absolutely beautiful and everybody had a good time. Here’s the table decorations. FLOWERS. Yes. Flowers. Not stupid rattle confetti. Lovely!

 

And of course, Adria got a lot of loot. She likes loot.

 

One of my other besties from back home, Stephanie, brought her little girl with. I haven’t seen her daughter, Bella, since she was brand spankin’ new. She was a lot of fun and super friendly. She helped me take pictures!

 

Here’s Stephanie, Bella, Adria and me at the party. I don’t remember the last time we were all together … oh wait. It was January 2010 and Stephanie was pregnant! :)

Craft Saturday! Be there or be square.

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

The Craft Saturday Holiday 2011 show is THIS SATURDAY from noon-6 at the Fourth Street Theatre in Des Moines.

I will be there. And so will my new wallets. And all my old stuff will be on SALE. Major sale. Clearance. I want to get rid of it to make way for new stuff. So that means awesomely cheap holiday gifts for you!

[new wallets for $30 each — $35 on etsy]

Besides that, there are going to be a TON of awesome vendors there. Check out the vendor preview page. I know I am planning on getting some things from these fabulous vendors. Bean and the Sprout will be there, so will JuneCraft and Florence Oliver.

I hope to see you there!

FO Friday: New Wallets!

Friday, October 28th, 2011

A while back I talked a bit ’bout making new wallets. The first one was cute, but not what I wanted.

Well, I sketched and sketched and put together another few before I finally got these down. And I had two days this week between jobs (I’m unemployed for 2 whole days! whoopeee!) so I got to sewing.

Introducing my new and improved wallets!

 

PS the one in the middle is MINE. 

 

 

 

How are they improved from the old version of my wallets? Well, for starters, they are sewn better — all thanks to my NEW sewing machine that I got on Wednesday. This Janome DC1050 solved all my problems of skipped stitches and weird tension happening with my old machine. AND there is a stop/start button, so I can use that instead of the foot pedal. This feature comes in handy when sewing a lot of the same thing in a row. Hit start, feed everything through the machine, then hit stop.

Also, there is one additional feature that my old wallets didn’t have — a divider with card organizing slots. And the closure? It’s not a button anymore. It’s a magnetic purse snap. It’s like my wallets went and got all grownup on me!

[one of my old wallets for reference]

I’m thrilled to have all these wallets ready for Craft Saturday next weekend. I also made a bunch of revamped teeny-tiny wallets. They’re a bit bigger to accommodate cards (which was the ORIGINAL idea … but my math skills got in the way) and they’re more nicely put together. Again, thanks to Ms. Janome. All of my old inventory will be on MAJOR SALE next weekend to make way for the new stuff.

 

 

Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Quilt as you go [and more!]

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

I went to my first Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild meeting last Thursday evening. My friend Doris has been bugging me to go since she is one of the co-founding members. I missed out on their Habitat challenge and their ugly fabric swap, but came last week. They have a guest speaker every meeting and a show and tell where members show things they’re working on (quilts or related sewing).

I introduced myself by showing all my embarrassing works in progress: My coin stack baby quilt, Hello Betty quilt and my Thea’s puzzle quilt — just to name a few (there are WAY more).

And member Eva Marie was kind enough to fill in for a speaker that was unable to attend. She taught us the quilt as you go method. Here are some great tutorials.

Whilst she was showing us the methods I shared above, my brain was spinning on all sorts of ideas. I’d seen this method before and thought it was a great way to make things on my machine because it doesn’t quilt large objects well. I could use this method to make blocks for a larger quilt, make larger bags, pillows, all sorts of things …

… But then I remembered that my machine doesn’t do well with quilt sandwiches — no matter what the size. It even has a hard time with stitch length equality with my little zippy pouches.

I love my sewing machine. It’s a fabulous hand-me-down from my great aunt Willi — so I knew it was a good machine. I got it and it was pretty much brand new, though it was at least 30 years old. It’s done me well and I’m keeping it for threadbanging crafty projects (like quilted greeting cards, mini portfolios, sketchbooks, DC1050 from Amazon (because they are the Wal-Mart of the internet of course) — so it should be here in the next week. I cannot WAIT for: Start stop button instead of pressure foot, 50 awesome stitches (perfect for my wallets and bags), computerized (EVEN) stitching and a self-threading needle.

I’m beside myself with excitement! If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I’ve never had a NICE new machine. I’ve had a new machine (from Wal-Mart) and I’ve had some nice machines (that are 30 or more years old), but not a nice and NEW one — with a 25-year warranty, might I add.

You will see an update sometime soon with a metric butt-ton of new wallet 2.0s, new and improved teeny tiny wallets and little zippy pouches.

Big News!

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

So I promised big news last week and I was so busy I never delivered.

The big news is that I got a new job! I’m leaving Drake and heading to Iowa State University.

 

[goodbye spike, hello cy*]

Besides the obvious commute change (as in NO MORE COMMUTING) there’s another major change: I will probably not be designing so much.

My new job is Communications Specialist II for Student Recruiting in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I’ll be doing social media, a bit of writing, a bit of design, student recruitment (so some travel) but mostly I’ll be in charge of the first-year student experience. So I’ll be planning events programming for first-year students to keep them engaged with not only ISU but specifically the college.

So are you freaking out? I’m kind of freaking out. I just realized last week I don’t get to pick paper anymore. Or print vendors.

Calm down. I’m planning to enroll in the College of Design MFA in Graphic Design program while I’m there. It’s not my TOP pick for MFA programs *cough cough* MCAD *cough cough* Yale *cough cough* … but it will be free. And really, I want to teach college students. So what matters is that I HAVE the degree. Not where it’s from. It’s not a BAD program either.  So I’ll be getting my design in as well as honing some other important skills.

*I realize that this is the OLD Cy ISU athletics logo … but I reallllly hate all the new athletics logos. Which is funny because I always bitch about Drake constituents that feel the same way about old marching spike that I do about old cy.

twenty-seven.

Monday, October 10th, 2011

27 is still close enough to 25 to be considered mid-twenties, right?

What will this year bring? Who knows.  I already have ONE big change in store, but I’m not sharing just yet (oh the suspense is killing all of my 5 readers).  Cat will be out of the bag by the end of the week most likely (those of you with the inside scoop, keep it to yourself please).

I actually started my b-day off on Friday with a Jim Gaffigan show at the State Theatre in Minneapolis.  I laughed so hard I was crying! Note — don’t go to a comedy show after doing a killer ab workout the day before.  Side note — there was mention of a fork made of bacon.

Of course, there was shopping involved this weekend.  Since it’s my b-day, I bought myself a couple of gifts.

Found this fabulous Jessica Simpson bag at Gordmans thanks to a tip from my friend Shelly.  She bought one in a neat beigey-pink color.  I had to go with red to replace my almost 2-year-old purple bag.  I bought the purple bag in January of 2010 and busted it out that year in June. I’ve been too lazy to change bags and haven’t found anything in an affordable price range that I love just as much. Also, I combed the internet to find this bag so you could purchase too … but no such luck.

I also found these amazing shoes.  They’re G by Guess and they’re boots.  And heels.  Obviously.  But I don’t wear heels typically.  These are really comfy with a hidden platform and they have major traction on the bottom so they aren’t completely useless in the snow.  Oh, and they are COMFY.  And super hot. When paired with these jeans I look kind of tall (and by tall I mean average height) and super skinny.  LOVE these.

 

 

 

 

 

And I got a LOT of new fabric.  A lot of which for my new wallets. The top row will make great insides for my wallets.  And I’m beyond in love with the bottom right — “dropcloth” in plum.  I might have to make myself a wallet out of that with the dots on the inside. :)

To celebrate today, Mark and I went to The Café for lunch. YUM.  We haven’t been out to eat anywhere “fancy” for a while — just La Fuente and that’s mostly for free chips and salsa + booze.  I picked up lunch because I think it’s kind of rude to invite somebody out for lunch, and then expect him to pay for it.  He offered to pick up dessert.  Mostly because he knew if I picked it up we’d only get ONE dessert and he wanted something other than my first choice of dessert (they are all amazing there!) … so we got two.

[Mark's pick — the fig & goat cheese cheesecake — my 2nd choice]

[and my pick — chocolate cayenne torte — since I've been obsessing over spicy chocolate as of lately]

I also picked up a new album, which really isn’t out until tomorrow, but I snagged it on emusic early.  New Wednesday 13  [he's in Des Moines on the 23rd ... ].

All in all it’s been a pretty awesome day.  :) Here’s to another year!

Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Map of the States Quilt Blocks

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Looking for something to do with small scraps of fabric? Check out this awesome tutorial by Oh Fransson! for map of the states quilt blocks.

For the life of me I cannot find the blog post that I talked about my progress on this project. Which sucks because I cannot remember what size block I was doing (would have been smart to make a template …). I know what size the finished blocks are, but I know there was some trimming involved.

Anywho, I took this project on for all the scraps of my favorite fabrics that I can’t bear to part with. I like things wonky, so I kicked it up a notch.  I also love white space (imagine that) so I added some relief to the craziness with some white strips of fabric.

I haven’t decided if I’m going to just be done with this project and finish it up with white on the top and bottom of the quilt, or if I’m going to keep going.  I think I’d like to keep going for 2 more rows, but I need to remember what size I was doing first. And I need to get my craft room organized.

Also, did I mention I started this project in March 2010?  And I haven’t touched it since … yeah …

WHICH REMINDS ME.  I need to start going to the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild meetings.  That *might* actually get me to finish all these poor WIP quilts I have. I seriously have 3 finished quilt tops that I’m too poor to get quilted and 4-6 in-progress quilts.

Market Day Recap

Monday, September 26th, 2011

 

Due to summer being INSANELY busy for me, I just got involved with Market Day  this year.  It’s only a few months late …

My first experience this year was last month. They have an amazing new venue this year — the Kirkwood hotel.  It’s bright, clean and has climate control.  And all the booths are indoors.  On carpet.  SUPER fabulous.

Last month I experimented with a new setup. I added shelving, courtesy of my roommates and their video game addiction (normally this shelf houses some of their games — yes, I said some).

 

Also, I made an epic butt-ton of zippy pouches. Shown here are a small amount of what I had or inventory that day, as well as the last of my wallets.  I’m going to be revamping my wallets for next year.  Wallets 2.0.  There will be zippers or snaps involved.  Potentially lace, flowers or rhinestones.

 

Sadly, I sold this adorable pouch.  Well, not sadly. I made a sale (this was not ALL I sold that day, thank you — I actually sold about 60-70% of what I brought that day). I love using selvege edges in my zippy pouches to keep the scrappy look going and because the concept behind the pouches is to use EVERY BIT of fabric scrap possible.

 

This month’s Market Day was a suitcase showdown (ie. they were only able to reserve the front part of the building).  I really enjoyed this idea — for one, I always use a suitcase.  Two — I didn’t have ANY time last month to make any new items, so I just brought what I had left from the previous month.  Three — I didn’t have to bring a table.  Four — it was less expensive for me.  And five — I got to network with so many more people.  We shared a booth, so there was less pressure to stay at your space the entire time as there was somebody there that could talk about your work and hopefully help sell your stuff as well as their own.

That being said, I sold ONE item — to a coworker.  It seemed like that was the general vibe of the day.  I don’t think it was due to a change in format. I think it just happens to be a slow month.  October and November will be busy, but September is kind of weird because it’s too far away from the holidays and the weather is changing and colder so not as many people were probably out at the Farmers Market (which is where a good portion of our crowd comes from).

I shared a booth with Meg, who makes fabulous needle-felted creations. Although she makes hats and other winter gear, this month she brought home decor.  I love that fox pillow. And our stuff meshed so well together!

 

There was definitely a bird theme at our table.

 

My friend Kyle, who formerly created White Boy Burritos, had a booth with these really sweet antler decorations.  This one was burnt, painted a bit on the end and clear-coated. Sooo pretty!

 

Here are more of his creations.

 

This booth had some beautiful wooden art.  I didn’t catch the vendor’s name, but I love the green piece in the center.

 

Best part of the day? As usual, the dogs.  Shown here is a long haired doxie WITH A MOHAWK. No, Barney is NOT getting this haircut.  Unless one of my roommates is drunk and has the clippers out.


 

Market Day!

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

Hey, Des Moines! Come downtown today (from 9–2) for Market Day’s special September Suitcase Showdown. Be sure to hit up the Farmers Market while you’re at it … we’re right next door. Thirty vendors with everything they can fit into suitcases or whatever they can find. Don’t miss it! See you there.

Ceramic Class at Reiman Gardens on Saturday!

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Want something to do this Saturday? Even better — want to learn something new this Saturday?

Sign up for my class at Reiman Gardens in Ames.  I’m going to be teaching how to create fun and pretty mugs from old unloved ceramics.  Added bonus: I’m curating a playlist for this specific event.  Not only will you learn something new, you’ll get to listen to some new and (hopefully) exciting artists while you do it.

What do you get out of the class besides a new skill?  You get the tools to continue painting up your own ceramics, ideas for how to implement this skill beyond just mugs, and a creative spin to your Saturday morning. Mugs will also be provided.

Not an artist?  No drawing skills?  No problem!  Doodles and text are great accents to unloved dishes.  And I will also be teaching a transfer technique for those of us who are really uncomfortable with drawing anything freehand — even a doodle.

Today is the LAST day to sign up for the class.  Click here to sign up.  There is a discount for Iowa State Students.  If you and a friend sign up, tweet @chimes about it and receive an awesome prize from my Etsy shop.

Here are a few examples of mugs you’ll be able to create after taking this class.