New Work - Mountain of the Dragon

I've got so much to tell you about I don't even know where to start! It's been a busy, busy month with lots of fun things going on. Today I wanted to share another custom project I just finished up.

This is for the very sweet Monica who owns Mountain of the Dragon Fabric Boutique, an adorable Etsy fabric shop. She's got the best taste in fabric and her shop is just gorgeous.  That little dragon was so much fun to work on and I love that he's the logo she went with. I was able to do the logo, Etsy banner, business cards and some labels for her packaging. Such a fun project! I realize that lately this little blog has become a portfolio of sorts but I like that it reflects what's going on in my life at the moment. Right now I'm doing a lot of custom work which I love, love, love! Don't worry though, I haven't given up on sewing or knitting. I actually have a bunch of projects I want to share soon. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

In the meantime here's a teeny sneak peek at a super special project I've been involved in and will be able to totally reveal soon!

A New Look for The Craft Junky

This was such a fun custom project to work on, I mean, who doesn't want to draw cute little narwhals!? Amanda over at The Craft Junky is one seriously crafty mama who makes the cutest geek inspired goodies. She even sells some of her goodies in her Etsy shop here.  I'm LOVING doing these banners so shoot me an email if you're interested in a quote!

30 Before Thirty Update

Since the past 8 months have literally flown out the door since I first posted this list I only have about 30 more days of my twenties left! ACK! I really don't know if I'm going to celebrate or mourn, I still haven't decided how I feel about being 30. Since I only have about 30 days left I really need to bust a move and thought I'd do a little update and see how I'm doing...

1. Get more tattoos

2. Grow my hair  TOTALLY NOT HAPPENING, CHOPPED IT!

3. Learn to spin yarn

4. Overcome my fear of flying (I'm TERRIFIED of flying) 

5. Print the millions of photos on the computer and make my kids photo books - THEY'RE ORGANIZED, 

JUST NEED TO START DESIGNING PHOTO BOOKS AND PRINTING THEM! 

6. Design a line of fabric

7. Finish sewing something for ME!  I MADE MYSELF A TOVA! 

8. Eat better (Less Processed) I'M EATING 95% VEGGIE AND I LOVE IT! 

9. Talk a walk at least twice a week I'M WORKING OUT AT LEAST 4 TIMES A WEEK, I HATE IT 

BUT IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD LATER.

10. Design a sewing pattern DOES AN EMBROIDERY PATTERN COUNT? 

11. Refurbish the bathroom

12. Knit a sweater for myself

13. Pay off our two credits cards - ONE DOWN! ONE TO GO! 

14. Bake a pie from entirely from scratch

15. Have a date night with my husband (more than once would be great)

16. Have a family portrait taken

17. Finish decorating the master bedroom

18. Finish reading the Harry Potter series ( I have this thing about not wanting things to end...)

19. Watch Man Men (people keep telling me I'll love it)

20. Take better care of my skin (actually buy some good products)

21. Redesign blog

22. Knit one pair of socks each month for the next year - SINCE I HAVEN'T BEEN BLOGGING THEM YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO TAKE MY WORD, I'VE MADE TONS OF SOCKS!

23. Print and frame my wedding pictures (I got married 9 years ago, seriously, it's about time)

24. Pay my library fines and use the library. YOU GUYS. THE LIBRARY IS AWESOME. I GO EVERY WEEK. THIS HAS REALLY HELP ON #30. I'VE BEEN READING MORE THAN A BOOK A MONTH AND I'VE HAD ZERO LATE FEES. GO ME!

25. Write more thank you notes

26. Ride a roller coaster (I'm TERRIFIED of roller coasters) - THIS WILL BE HAPPENING IN JUST A FEW WEEKS. WE'RE GOING ON A ROAD TRIP TO DOLLYWOOD!

27. Go on a vacation

28. Learn to make a martini

29. Make pasta from scratch

30. Read at least one book a month - SEE #24, I'M ALMOST THERE! 

Kids Clothes Week Days 3 and 4

So not much happened on Day 3. My full-time job has been ridiculously busy this week and I've been working a ton of overtime. I did manage to eek this shirt out last night. I needed a sewing break away from the computer! This is another Ayashe top from Figgy's for the oldest girl in a size 8. I love how "boho" this one looks compared to the retro cuteness of my other one. Again, I'm loving how versatile this pattern is! I just used bias for the neck strings and for the bottom and it made such a huge difference.

 It's really funny to me how my children both have their own "colors" that really define them. Mabel (my wee redhead) is all browns, oranges, yellows and greens and Brodi who has very dark hair is my sunshine girl with bright pinks and purples and blues. I'm not a huge fan of pink but I love this madras plaid that I bought at Joann last year. So much I wish I had more to make a top for myself!

And the girl LOVES her new top, so much so she changed her clothes so she could wear it to school. You'll have to take my word for it since it was too dark in the house to get her picture but she looked adorable it it. It's just a nice forgiving fit, comfy with lots of ease for playing. And she loved the way she could tighten the bottom because she hates "poofy" shirts that fly up when hanging upside down on the monkey bars.

(P.S. Sorry for the not so stellar pics. I REALLY need to save up to get a nicer new camera, urgh! I'm taking recommendations for good ones that aren't ridiculously expensive!)

Kid's Clothes Week - Day 2

It's no secret that in the past knits and I didn't quite jive. There have been a whole lot of sewing disasters revolving around that tricky fabric but when I saw Rae's new retro t-shirt pattern I knew I had to try again.   There are a TON of people making this pattern this week and there's a really good reason why. It's just about as close to instant gratification as you can get! I made these two shirts in under an hour and I'm addicted. I can't wait to make more. I figured out how to use the stretch stitch on my machine and that combined with using a ballpoint needle my past frustrations were just that, a thing of the past. There is still a little wavyness especially on the brown shirt but I was able to press most of it out. The fit is perfect and there are tons of ways you could customize these. I did short sleeve versions on both of mine. The brown one I used contrasting avacado colored fabric from an old t-shirt and I love that look. I also top-stitched in a contrast thread. Miss Mabel actually squealed when she saw that one and went on to say how "boot-tiful" the "polky dots" were. It was awesome.

The polka dots and the orange and gray stripe I purchased from this Etsy shop. The striped fabric is super "slinky" and I was a little terrified to sew with it but it was actually really easy and it's SO soft. I'm sure it's got way more synthetic content than I'd normally be into but it's ok. Because these require so little fabric they'd be a perfect way to repurpose old adult t-shirts. I'm definitely going to be doing more of that! In fact, I predict you'll see more of these this week yet!

Kid's Clothes Week - Day 1

My goal this week is to complete one piece of clothing per day. It's a little ambitious but I haven't picked out any patterns that are super complex. I also spend last week cutting things out so this week I could just sew. Here's what I made last night. It's the Ayashe blouse pattern from Figgy's.  The top would have come together in about an hour except I kept making really silly mistakes so it took me twice that. The instructions are very concise and without previous experience sewing something like this I think it would be very difficult. There were several parts I had to keep re-reading just to make sure I understood how to assemble a section. Don't let that scare you though, it really is an easy pattern I just wouldn't recommend it for total beginners because it doesn't "teach" like an Oliver + S pattern would. Also, the double gauze, while absolutely gorgeous is a bit difficult to sew because of it's tendency to fray so badly.

I've been saving this half yard of Far Far Away II for ages and I thought this would be the perfect way to use it. I used a contrasting yellow stripe for the shoulder panels and I absolutely love how retro that made it look! One thing I absolutely love about this pattern is the endless ways you could customize it. I have another one cut from a madras plaid for the bigger girl that I think will look totally different. This is a size 3 and is a bit big which is great, it'll get a lot of wear. This is definitely a pattern that will get a ton of use making it a really great value. And have you seen Figgy's new patterns available for presale!? Oh. My. Goodness. I'll be adding those to my pattern library for sure. What I love even more is that I only have to buy one pattern for both girls. They're such different sizes a lot of other patterns I have to buy two just to get the right sizes which can get expensive.

This weeks sewing got off to a bit of a slow start for me but I'm excited to sew tonight and hopefully it'll go a bit smoother!

Summer Sampler Quilt

I finally finished the sampler quilt I started way back in December. I had majorly stalled on the quilting because it was taking forever but I finally pulled it back out the other night and just busted through it. I'm so glad to have it done and really wish I had a big wall to display it on, it's so pretty! I seriously can't get enough of those colors. I used three different colors of bias to bind it and I love the way it turned out, it's just a wee bit quirky.

I had a mini-meltdown when I washed and dried it though, some of the seams (on one block in particular) popped in the dryer! I was able to fix them by hand and it doesn't look too noticeable but it made me super wary of drying it again in the dryer and the overall sturdiness of it. I look at it as a lesson learned though and I'm still super thrilled how it came out, I just might be a bit more protective of it, haha! It feels so great to have long-term project wrapped up. Now I'm planning on having some fun with Kid's Clothes Week! 

Kids Clothes Week Challenge Spring 2012

I'm so excited because next week the Spring 2012 Kids Clothes Week Challenge starts! Meg of Elsie Marley has created this awesome project to challenge people to just dedicate one hour a night to sew something for their kids. (Or knit something!) This is my third year participating and every year I really enjoy my weeklong sewing frenzy because it's SO productive and I get stuff done that I normally would put off until it's too late. I've got my patterns all picked out and this week I've been tracing and getting fabric ready so that next week I can just focus on the fun part, SEWING! It's been SO long since I've sewn anything for the girls so this will be such a fun week. Check out the Challenge details here and join me!

New look for Lucy & Norman

I mentioned in this post that I've been trying to do more custom design work and I recently got to do a really fun project for Megan from Lucy & Norman. Megan is a super sweet, mult-talented crafter who writes an equally sweet and inspiring blog. It was a pleasure to create this new banner for her!

I hope you'll pop over to her blog and check it out. The new sweater she's knitting is going to be amazing!

New Prints in the Shop

A few of my favorite images from my 2012 calendar are now available as large prints in the shop!  I'm hoping to list more next week as well, stay tuned. :)

Modern Acorn and Custom Design

 Some weeks ago I had the pleasure of creating a new logo and banner for my friend Amanda's Etsy shop Modern Acorn. Not only does she sell the cutest cross stitch designs ever but she also makes the most beautiful, eco friendly, reusable cloth pads! I had so much fun creating a new identity for her Etsy shop that really reflected her business and personality. Here's is what we ended up with:

And here are a couple that didn't make the final cut: 

I absolutely love identity and branding design, it's one of the best parts of my full-time job and I just don't get to do it enough! So, I'm now offering custom design to you! Does your Etsy shop or blog banner need a little facelift? Are you starting a new business and need a "look"? I'm working on getting a price list together but in the meantime just shoot me an email at junecraft@gmail.com if you need any graphic design help and we'll work together and get you a quote and a plan.

Get your stitch on!

These have been in the works for such a long time and I'm so glad to finally be able to release them out into the crafty world. Two new crewel embroidery patterns are now in the shop for $6 each.  If you've never tried crewel embroidery these are perfect for starting out and it's SO fun, I love stitching with wool! Thanks to the very kind Virginia of Gather Here and her crewel students for testing these out. The pdf patterns come with tons of great info, stitching charts and diagrams and also include sizes and colors for regular embroidery and tapestry embroidery if crewel isn't your thing! I can't wait to see what you crafty people do with these and hope you enjoy stitching them up just as much as I did!

Introducing "Hey! That's Swell!"

I'm so happy to finally be able to share with you something I've been working on for SUCH a long time! I've been working with Cloud9 Fabrics since last summer on my very first collection of fabric. I still can't quite believe that I was given the opportunity to do this and have to thank Cloud9 from the bottom of my heart for the experience! And the fact that the whole collection will be organic cotton means so much to me. I'm so excited about how the whole collection came together and I can't wait to start sewing with it this summer when it hits stores. I'm especially thrilled by the two project panels we created. They're seriously packed with projects that are perfect for beginning sewers and the experienced sewers who just wanted to whip up something cute and fast! So, if you want to sew with me too talk to your local quilt shop and tell them to order it! Without further ado, here are the prints in the collection:

Project Panel - Blue

Long Dogs in the Garden

Right on Angles Blue

Blowing Bubbles Blue

Itsy Bitsy Ditsy Blue

Itsy Bitsy Ditsy Gold

Itsy Bitsy Ditsy Pink

Project Panel Pink

Right On Angles Pink

Blowing Bubbles Pink

Sweet and Swell Floral

Super Swell Patchwork

I'm still here....

Invariably after weeks of being slow at my full-time job suddenly things pick up and I'm buried under work. The balance between work and play becomes trickier and I'm unintentionally away from this space for too long. I wanted to just pop-in today to say "Hey! I'm still here!". Things have been a little quiet on the crafting front while I'm so busy with work but I have managed to work on a few things.

I made a Tova! This pretty little pattern is by Wiksten and can be purchased here. The tank is also a brilliant pattern and I can recommend both more. I've got another Tova already almost finished. I have serious fitting issues whenever I buy mass market clothes, so being able to make something that fits well and that I love means SO much. This is seriously one of my favorite things I've made for myself to wear EVER. If you're just getting into garment sewing, buy these patterns! (Can you tell I accidentally cut the fabric upside down?? OOPS! Thankfully I don't think it's too noticeable.) The fabric is Free as  Bird by Heather Moore for Cloud9. I've been saving this fabric forever for something special and this fit the bill perfectly. Every time I sew with Cloud9 I'm awed by how awesome the base cloth is. It's so soft and crisp and drapes very, very well for a quilting cotton. It feels so good against the skin and holds up very well to washing. I know I'm a biased party but even if I wasn't I would love it! 

                                       

I also started working on blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along and I'm having so much fun! I'm late to the party considering that most have been working on their blocks for a year but I figure better late than never! And if you check out the Flickr group or Amanda or Angela's blogs you'll be as inspired as I have been! There's some really amazing blocks out there. I'm piecing my by hand so this will be a very long term project but it's so nice to slow down a bit and take my time with something. It's also way easier to be accurate doing these by hand!

Ok, back to the design trenches. Hopefully I'll be able to pop in again soon and in the meantime, happy crafting!