I have an exciting update for the scrap game!!!

I have found a judge........It's Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood from Craftsanity!!! If you have never listened to her podcast you are missing out! She has the most fun and interesting interviews with top crafters, sewers, knitters, craft book authors, and designers. She is awesome, and she will be judging our little scrap game on November 8th! Which means I need all entries by lunch on the 7th! YAY! I am so excited! If you haven't entered yet JOIN IN! This is going to be such a fun game!!!

Miss Alice Pre-order 15% off the entire shop!

Miss Alice is now up for pre-order (the pattern will be ready within two weeks!) and as usual I am offering a discount for the next couple of days! You will get 15% off of your entire purchase and that includes EVERYTHING in the shop, even fabric!! So head on over NOW!

new bags :: a little sewing challenge/ game

This post is all about crating/sewing the quick, easy, artistic, inexpensive, and fun way! This weekend I was looking for a fun hand project that could be done on the couch with the kids around me, and I also needed a baby shower gift for Sunday, so this is what I came up with. I had these two inexpensive canvas tote bags (you know the ones that come in a 3- pack at Walmart or Joann's) that were from an abandoned  project a few months back. The bags already had the bird ironed on but nothing else so I thought a scrap project would be nice.

This is how the first one turned out! I loved it! I loved it so much that I decided to put in a lining with pockets so that I could use it as a purse. The whole thing came together quickly while the kids and I watched a movie. Perfect. I just used scraps and I worked long hand stitches with embroidery thread. I didn't do any measuring or anything like that I just built this little scene as I went, it was so much fun! (The bird and leaves are free downloads in the shop if you would like to give this a try.)

This is my camera pocket and cell phone pocket.

The second one was a lot of fun too. I basically did the same thing except this time I decided to challenge myself and make this one different than the first...you know the same feel but a different scene. I'm telling ya, this freestyle stuff where you don't plan ahead of time what you will do but just make it up as you go, is awesome! It makes the project so interesting and challenging.

Since this bag was going to be a baby gift I put two large pockets inside for diapers and wipes and then a cell pocket on the other side. I just love that lining fabric, click on the picture and you can see that it's little clogs! The sweet mama who received the bag really liked it too which makes it even more fun for me!

So here they are two very fun, easy, inexpensive projects that look different but have the same style. I finally used the abandoned bags, found a way to use up my favorite fabric scraps, and got a purse and a baby gift out of it, not to mention the fun I had making them! You know, this could be done on just about anything laying around the house....a shirt with a stain, an old pair of jeans, an old purse, a pillow or blanket, a dress, an apron.... Now I challenge you to get out of your box and try to make something beautiful with things you already have. Make it up as you go and see what comes of it! Lets make it a "use your scraps" game! If you want to play along let me know and when you are done send in a picture of your project and tell me a little about what you did, then in a week or so I will post the pictures here with a link to your blog (if you have one). Won't that be fun?! I will see if I can find someone to judge and whoever wins will get a $25 gift certificate to my shop for patterns or fabric! I am so excited! I love when things like this pop into my head while I'm posting! I guess we will need a few rules too. OK here they are...

Rules:

1. You must use things that you already have.

2. Of course most of the embellishments must be made using scraps.

3. You must enter here in the comment's section.

4. And you must send in your picture, description, and blog link (you don't have to have a blog) by Friday November the sixth to mamacaffee@hotmail.com.

(If you think of anymore rules that should be in place let me know)

Let the games begin! I'll be back soon with the story of how Molly ended up with a live lizard attached to her nose. And yes, I have pictures so don't you worry!

NOTE: I just moved the date back to the 6th because Jean fussed at me (not really, but she did call me out ;) for starting a challenge right before Halloween. I forget about Halloween because we don't ever do anything for Halloween, so sorry. Now that will give you 6 days after to work on this, so sign up!

Cake and tattoos

I couldn't decide on the title of this post...should it be "cake and tattoos" or "things that make you feel good but probably aren't good for you"...what a quandary....

Today I made a straight-out-the-box strawberry cake. Probably not a good move. O.K. so most definitely not a good move, cause I may as well take that piece of cake and slap it right on my thigh because that's exactly where it's going. I wasn't going to cut it until tomorrow when I go to my sisters house but I decided I needed to taste it first and make sure it was good. Ahemmm...It was good...so good. Maybe even better because I didn't have to mess the kitchen up making it from scratch. Bad!

So here I am in heaven eating my strawberry cake when Maddie comes up wanting to "make a tattoo" on my leg with a pen....I thought about how good it would feel to have someone rub my leg while I ate my cake. I mean let's face it, how often does anyone offer to rub your legs? I know it's not technically "rubbing" but I'll take what I can get. So I told her sure she could make one little tattoo on my leg and that's all.....well she got to drawing and it felt so good that I didn't tell her to stop, and even offered her my other leg when she ran out of space...and in the end I thought about it....What did I gain from these few moments of pleasure? Fat thighs with cheap tattoos on them that will probably take days to wash off... Was it worth it? ...I think it was. Cake and a leg rub? Are you kidding? And to look on the bright side, there is more cake left and now there will be more room on my leg for tattoos. So there you have it. My "little-something-to-look-forward-to" for tomorrow. Oh the joys of mommyhood!

I need some help!

Done! Thank you all so much! Within just a couple of hours I had all the help I needed! Once again you all have swooped in and saved me just when I need you, thank you for that. I chose testers on first come basis this time, whoever offered to do the size I needed first got the job, but I will definitely keep this list for the future patterns! I made a special folder in my inbox and filed away every comment so I know just where they will be!

Again, Thank you so much!

Hey friends! I am in a bind! Could you please help me?? Please!? I didn't have quite as many testers for the Miss Alice as I planned and I just don't feel right about sending this pattern out there without being thoroughly tested.....so....is there anyone out there willing to test this baby and send in a review by Saturday? I would like to have one extra tester for each size ( 3mo- 12 yrs) with sewing levels from advanced beginner to expert. You will get the tester pattern in PDF first and then later you will get the final printed copy in the mail, you will also remain on my tester list for other patterns if you choose to stick with me....and I hope you will. The first ones to respond will get the job! Tell me what size you would like to test, what level sewer you are, and leave me an email address where I can send the pattern. Please remember to leave this information so that others can also see if there is still a size range needed. I will close the comments tomorrow, BUT... IF the size you wanted is already taken just remember that if this ever happens again I will probably pull from this list of willing testers instead of shamelessly begging for help again. I will try to send out the tester patterns by lunch tomorrow! Thank you!!!!!

xoxox,

Sam

dirty little happy faces

For all of those mamas out there that may think my children are always decked out in handmade dresses with perfectly fixed hair and matching shoes...I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's so not my life! LOL! While, yes, on Sunday mornings they are "what you'd expect"; any other day of the week this is most likely what you would find! Dirty little happy faces, a PJ shirt under a pair of overalls, and rubber rain boots....I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love this little munchkin! See how the dirt just makes her little eyes sparkle? Dirt sure can grow some happy kids! I can't wait to have a yard FULL of dirty faces, little Bulgarian faces too!

I hope you get to kiss a dirty little happy face today!

Today I'm...

....working on ideas for the bitty-tiny-patterns I want to make. Bitty tiny is what Maddie calls anything small so why not have bitty-tiny-patterns with a bitty-tiny-price? Who knows if they will ever really see the light of day, but it's fun either way. The little sketch book is just some recycled pattern sheets (all duds) that I have sewed together using a strip of fabric for the binding. I love for projects to have their own little books, it makes me happy. So do colored pencils. One of these days I'm going to suck it up and buy a set of these babies, I know they must be worth it because I'm constantly hearing good things about them, but that price! Wowza. Until I get those though, me and crayola will be chillin........nothin wrong with that.

Baby tea goodness...

Hello friends! Thanks so much for all of the sweet birthday wishes! After writing that last post I quickly started feeling yucky, nauseated, and I got chills and fever. I spent the rest of the day on the couch wining about how I wanted a do-over! LOL! And on Friday I got my do-over, complete with a surprise party at Martha's house (my mother-in-law). It was a lot of fun, they decorated it in all black and I had a very yummy tombstone cake with "R.I.P" written on it. My Father-in-law said he even tried to catch a crow for me, it may be best that didn't work out!

On Sunday we celebrated my sweet sister-in-law, Cristina's, baby tea. Martha and I were in charge of decorating and we had a really good time with this theme. We went with frogs because Cristina had registered for this super cute frog baby bedding, so we knew she would like it.

We made the frogs from a free pattern HERE, and we cut down *most* of the cattails from my neighbors front yard, with permission (Thanks Mary!). I cut the lily pads out of wool felt. If you want the pattern let me know I will scan it in for you.

In the past I have found it so hard to decorate for boy baby teas, but I really think this one was a hit! Cristina really seemed to like it and Martha and I couldn't get over how cute it was when it all came together, all of the guests seemed to love it too.

My sis, Rae, made this little frog cake for her! Is that the cutest or what?! She put little individual frogs and lily pads on every piece, and it tasted wonderful too.

Our friend Beth made this diaper cake and it made a really sweet centerpiece for the gift table.

We had such a good time hanging out, planning, decorating, and stealing cattails off of the side of the road.....we saw a big bunch of them, really pretty ones too, on the side of the road in a ditch with no houses around....we couldn't resist! You should have seen Martha running back to the car! LOL! Can you imagine three grown women, Martha, Holly (my sis-in-law), and me wading through ditches chopping down cattails with steak knifes?! We even got Holly to wear thigh high waders, with a dress on, just to get to the best ones! I have pictures of that... but Holly may kill me if I post those, so you will just have to use you imagination. It was perfect! There really is nothing that we wouldn't do for a good baby tea! Especially for our little Luke Caffee, that we get to meet in December! What a perfect little Christmas gift we will get this year!

P.S.  I didn't have any time for pictures after the tea started, so I didn't get one of Cristina. I will post a picture of the little mama as soon as I can beg one off of one of the other hostesses.

I'm 30 today...

...and you know what? It feels good. I have had a whole year to think about how old I would be today, how old 30 sounded, what it meant to be 30....but now that I'm here, I'm kinda excited. I feel like I've earned it. I have lived a lot of life in 30 years, good life too! There are not many regrets. I know exactly who I am and I'm proud of how I got here. I'm waaaay more comfortable in my own skin than I was at 20. So, for those of you who wonder what 30 is like...it's awesome! I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Here is a list of things that I've done in the last 30 years:

Grew up with awesome parents who never told me how weird I really was!

Had many dear friends.

Went to cosmetology school.

Worked at Glamour Shots as a make-up artist and "hair-puffer-upper". Oh yeah! Remember that??

Learned sign language.

Worked the Summer camp at the Institute For Deaf and Blind, where I met so many awesome kids!

Worked at a hearing aid shop.

Attended every loud Christian concert that I could find with a car load of 13 year olds from the youth group.

Went to nursing school, made the deans list, and graduated.

Married my best friend.

Learned to be his wife.

Lived in a garage apartment.

Got a tattoo. LOL! Bet you didn't see that one coming!

Worked at Children's Hospital as a nurse, this was truly one of the most touching experiences of my life.

Found out that my first baby, Molly, was on her way!

Survived a scary and rough pregnancy for 35 weeks.

I held an angel seconds after she was born. She was 6 lbs and 11 oz and she changed my life!

Succeeded in NURSING A PREEMIE!

Came face to face with a breast pump, and WON! No big thing you say? Have you ever been attacked by one of those things? Just sayin.

Became a stay-at-home mama.

Started sewing to keep my hands busy....just a little hobby, right?

Battled with depression and WON!

Ben and I (well mostly Ben) built our home. We did everything ourselves except sheet rock and air conditioning. It took us 1 year and 3 months. We are hard core do-it-yourselfers!

Moved in. And went on bed rest pregnant with Timothy.

Lived through the week they told me that Molly may have leukemia (just 6 days before Tim was born) and had to have a bone marrow aspiration.

It wasn't leukemia, but it was another blood disease, ITP. We started treatments.

Tim was born at 36 weeks and taken from me. 7lbs and 12 oz, but he couldn't breathe.

He had to stay in the NICU for 10 days and on the fourth day I got to hold him.

On the fifth day I finally walked into the NICU without crying. It had been a rough couple of weeks.

On the sixth day I got to nurse him, he was such a good baby even though he was so sick.

Lived through having a 2 year old with ITP and a baby with asthma, for 6 months my life was steroids and breathing treatments! No sleep to be had.

Molly went into REMMISION!!! Tim got tubes in his ears and life started to feel normal again.

Bad pregnancy NUMBER 3 didn't even seem bad! I even learned to give myself all of the injections! The brethine pump was old hat. I thought I had this pregnancy thing whipped!

My sweet Madeline came into the world 7lbs and 14oz, and as healthy as a horse!

I learned to be the mother of three kids. There is a learning curve at 3.

Enjoyed, appreciated, and was grateful for THREE healthy kids!!!

Got to nurse Maddie for 2 1/2 years! I had to wean the other two at 18 months because of pregnancy, so getting to have extra time with Maddie was so sweet.

I lived through loosing or fourth baby to miscarriage.

I started a blog and an Etsy shop! This was the beginning of The Handmade Dress business!

Started making crochet patterns.

Was contacted by a distributor who wanted my stuff!!!

As a family we started moving out of that "war zone" that is having three very small children and life got easier. I started getting to sleep through the night (if I wanted to)!

Designed the Miss Molly pattern and found my niche in the sewing world!

Became a homeschooling mama, that's another learning curve!

We did the Dave Ramsey thing and Got to say "WE ARE DEBT FREE!!!"

We lost our fifth baby to miscarriage.

I learned how to accept God's will for my life.

We decided to adopt and started the process!

And here I am. 30 years old. I am all of these things. I have a wonderful family, three beautiful children here and more in an orphanage in Bulgaria, I'm still married to my best friend, we still live in the house we built with our own two hands, and I am happy. Very happy. And today I'm proud to have been the one that got to live these 30 years.

Miss Alice's Big Sister

I have been working on styling for the older girl version of Miss Alice, this is always so important to me (and my big girl, Molly). Some of you asked for this to go up to larger sizes but I honestly wasn't feeling it at all. I felt like it would look way too young for the older girl, and after talking to Molly about how she felt about it I was thinking that it might not happen. I do so understand the need for modest dresses for our older girls, and well know of the pattern shortage for this age group, and I have also done my very best to provide that.....so, I thought....and thought....and this is what I came up with, a belt! That takes it from baby sister to big sister!

The belt gives the dress a whole new look! It has a "Anne of Avonlea" feel to me. What do you think? Molly was very happy with it, she said that she definitely feels her age in this dress. Being the oldest she seems very sensitive about this issue, looking the part of the oldest sister is very important to her. Of course the belt is completely optional so each little lady could choose for herself.

Now I just need your thoughts on it. You are the people buying my patterns, tell me what you think! Do you like the direction this is going? I will be joining in the discussion in the comments section. Thanks mamas!

PS. That yellow-gold fabric is in the shop ;)

The big secret is in the shop! FABRIC!!!

We have 100 yards of beautiful fabric in the shop!! I thought it would take us longer than it did to get it and list it all, but we're ready!! YAY! Pretty retro fabric! I am so in love!

Just another day in the loft.....no secrets here....