"Falling" Behind

See what I did there?  That was a pun... cause its fall and I'm falling behind in blogging...... *ahem* moving on.

September and October have been eventful for me, most of which I enjoyed.

In the past 6 weeks I've walked in the woods;

gone to the pumpkin patch;

enjoyed warm days outside and cool evenings by the fire pit;

practiced some new photography tricks;

visited cities;

spent time in my favorite places;

celebrated birthdays (he's 2 already!),

   
         (and he's 34 already!)

and remembered two special lives passed.  I lost two grandmothers in the span of 3 weeks...

But in the midst of it all I've even had time to work up some new projects.  I just haven't had the time to share them with you.

(left to right:  Red/White Kitty Hats, Gina Giraffe and Newborn Newsboy Cap, Striped Brimmed Hats)

(Swirl Cap with large flower)

So now we're all caught up!  What have you been doing to enjoy the glory of fall?

Playing Catch-up

Whew, I knew it was coming.... I'm rolling in hat orders right now!  September is the time people start thinking about looking cute in the warm weather, and I don't blame them.  One of my favorite things to do is pull out all of my sweaters, scarves and hats and accessorize at the morning bus stop!  I have worked on quite a few things over the past few weeks, but here are a few of my favorites:

First is a set of 3 hats for a newborn boy, and 3 & 5 yr old girls.  Their mom wanted them all to have coordinating hats, but for each to be unique.  We went back and forth with ideas on colors and styles and came up with these.  I'm so pleased how they turned out and I can't wait to see how their family photoshoot turns out!

I had tons of fun working up these fall-color teacher totes!  I love how they have fall/Halloween colors while still being cute and trendy :)

My daughter went gaga over this sweet red and white Kitty Hat and I'm pretty sure she'll be bummed if there's not one of these in her stocking this Christmas.

Another fun hat was this dino newborn photo prop.  It was a special request by the winner of my 200 Fan Giveaway on the Knits and Knots Facebook page!  I hope she'll send me a pic of her sweet boy in it when he's born :)

Sudden Change

This saturday it was 100 degrees F at 5:30 pm.  I spent the morning and early afternoon convincing my 3 children that yes, we did indeed have to be out in the heat for my oldest son's football game, and no, we could not leave and go have ice cream during one of the breaks.   As I sat sweltering in the unrelenting sun I remember thinking "I'm so glad I'm not out on the field!" and then feeling guilty for making him stick it out.  However, it was a good lesson for us all:  don't give up just because you're uncomfortable.  Must internalize this one for myself!

Fast forward 48 hrs and the high on Monday was 66!  The air is crisp, clean and so very fall-like.  I LOVE it!  I put on a favorite hoodie, a pair of sweatpants and enjoyed the cooler temps.  Another lesson to internalize - nothing lasts forever, and things can change in an instant.  I have had so many friends who have had very difficult circumstances pop up in their lives unexpectedly recently.  Sometimes its hard to see how you're going to make it through something that seems never ending and dire, but just as quickly as life has changed for the worse it can go right back to the good.  One dear friend has been struggling with the unexpected health concerns of her newborn baby, and she has said multiple times that she has been putting her hope in the never-changing God of the universe instead of on the ever-changing health of her son.  Wise, wise words.  I intend to dwell on these as well.

Monday was Labor Day here in the US and my husband and I decided that the best way to use our extra weekend day was to take advantage of the great weather and figure out a solution for the craziness in our oldest 2 kids' room.  This is how the room looks regularly - dollhouse toys and legos in one crazy mess.  Tiny pieces buried in the thick carpet.  Children fighting for space for "their" things.

My husband's solution was to create two play tables (similar to a train table), one for each activity.  5 2x4s, one piece of 1/2" MDF, a few nuts and bolts, and a little bit of time created a fabulous solution!  The kids had a blast "helping" daddy measure and cut.  We had to send them inside after a while though, the started getting a little too "helpful" and moving tools on us.

While Matt was building I was cleaning and organizing the kids room - a long overdue project.  I had to remind myself over and over again "don't give up just because you're uncomfortable".  It was worth the effort in the end.

The tables perform a vital function - they keep all the tiny pieces contained on the table (there's a small lip to keep them from rolling off) and they allow room for the kids to build or play and for storage underneath.  We weren't the only ones pleased with the outcome.  The room can now accommodate 4 kids very comfortably (although our youngest isn't really allowed to play in there because he still puts everything in his mouth).

in love!

I saw an idea this morning on SoulMama, and I simply could not stop myself from making something similar of my own.  I love it soooo much!  It was a quick project and cost me a total of $1.99 (for the frame, from Goodwill).  It could have cost more if I had to buy more materials, but everything else I had on hand.  If anyone is interested in a tutorial I'd be glad to post the pics I took along the way!

School Year Wrap-Up

Well its officially summer break here, which means 3 kids in-house all the time, playdates galore, trips to local attractions, and even a chance for a family vacation next month!  All this also means I am having to work harder to fit crafting time in :)  I won't complain though, I am truly truly enjoying this time with my kids.  My oldest was in first grade this past year and I realized for the first time that, while its nice to have time to do work while he's in school, I really missed him.  He left at 8:30 am and didn't get off the bus till almost 4.  Then there was homework, after school activities, dinner, and only about an hour to actually enjoy time together.  Next year my middle child will be in first grade and I am already anticipating how much I'm going to miss the older two!  Luckily I still have one at home to keep me company though.

Anywhoo... I have gotten a few things done in the last few weeks.  I wanted to make an extra special gift bag for my kids' teachers because of all the love they put into teaching them this year.  Last year I did a movie-night themed bag for Eli's teacher, but I wanted to do something a bit different this time.  Just like last year I made simple patchwork-style gift bags using some fun coordinating fabrics and lined them.  This time I added an interior pocket and a fabric flower turning these totes into almost a fashion accessory!  I posted a pic of them on the Knits and Knots Facebook page and got a lot of positive response. I had several follow-up orders and I had fun seeing how they each turned out with different fabrics.

I was contacted by a photographer for some seasonal hats for her fall/winter newborn photo shoots.  I loved the outcome of both of these sweet toppers.

And my last project is the most fun of all :)  This sock-monkey photo prop set was commissioned by a girl who had seen one online and tried to order it for her soon-to-be-newborn baby only to find out the woman selling them had closed her shop to new orders because she was swamped with business!  I couldn't blame her as the idea is simply darling.  Its a sock monkey earflap hat and matching diaper cover with the cutest little tail on the rump.  Unfortunately for me I don't have a good model to show it off, so this was the best I could do.

Molecular Love

My sister and I are both a bit geeky.  For those of you who know either one of us, this is probably not much of a surprise.  To be honest, we came by it naturally.  Our dad is an engineer, our brother is an engineer, I have a BS in chemistry, my sister teaches high school chemistry, biology and physics.  Geekiness (geekyness? geeky-ness?) is in our blood.  Needless to say, I was totally tickled when my sister asked me to make two stuffed molecule rattles for a friend of hers who is expecting this summer!  She requested methane (CH4) and water (H2O).

We went with traditional colors for the methane C-black and H-yellow, but for the water we went with pink and white since we just found out the baby is a girl.

I will admit I totally looked up the relative atomic radii of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and their respective bond lengths and made these molecules accordingly!  I just couldn't help myself :)  I didn't have to look up the bond angles (I still remembered those from my pre-children days).

On a side note, craftiness also runs strongly in our family's veins.  My mom ran a craft consignment store when we were little out of the detached garage behind our house.  She made pottery and sold all kinds of crafts.  I have very vivid memories of my preschool winter days, stirring the hot apple cider on the antique gas stove that was her grandmothers while customers roamed through "Nana's Cupboard" looking at all the locally made treasures!  I know that my love for crafting comes straight from my mom.   My sister has recently discovered her own crafty passion: jewelry and soapmaking.  She opened an Etsy store this winter where she sells handmade jewelry, stitch markers, and soaps.  Check out Endless Forms to see what she's got!

Easter Dressing

For some reason Easter is the time of year I feel the most motivated to make an outfit for my daughter.  Maybe its the expectation that everyone dresses up for church on Easter Sunday.  Maybe its that the dreary weather of winter is finally gone and with its departure comes the desire for bright colors and breezy clothes and something new.  This year I started with a skirt.

I used a fat quarter pack I had bought last fall, cut strips of varying width, sewed them vertically into a rectangle and made a simple gathered skirt.  I trimmed it out on the bottom and added a nice comfy waistband in a coordinating knit.

I scoured Anna's drawers for a tank or t-shirt in coordinating colors that I could embellish to match the skirt,  but just couldn't come up with what I was looking for.  I did, however, have a ton of the knit leftover so I decided to throw caution to the wind and work up my very first t-shirt.  I'll be honest, sewing with knit fabric scares me.  Inset sleeves scare me. adding a neckband scares me.  Making up my own pattern scares me.  This was a BIG leap for me!  I took a t-shirt I knew fit her and used it as a pattern for the new one.  I kinda just winged it, but I think it turned out pretty nice!

I whipped up a little flower in matching fabric to add some feminine charm.  Turns out the outfit is great for jumping,

spinning,

and overall looking sweet :)

*lets all pretend we don't see those weeds in the patio, ok?  I can only handle on task at a time these days :) 

Catching up

So, my blogging has been pretty non-existent lately.  I can make lots of excuses, but the largest and most realistic one is that my baby boy has needed me.  Alex is healthy, smart, and full of energy; but he is also a bit anxious, clingy, and needing my full attention for large portions of the day.  This comes with the territory of adoption, especially adoption of children 6 mo or older.  So, upon the advice of some dear friends and other adoptive mamas I decided to set aside eagerly pursuing business and instead keeping myself free to just be a mom.  The good news is I have gone from seeing this most of the time:

To seeing a lot more of this:

Its totally been worth every moment away from my craft.

That's not to say I've done nothing over the past few months.  I just haven't been cranking out project after project like I was over the early part of the winter :)  Here are a few pics of the last couple of projects I've worked on:

These are decorations that go on a camera lens.  Professionals use them to get babies and children to look at the camera rather than the person holding it!  I made these for Jill from Raindancer Studios.  She's trying them out and giving me suggestions on how to improve them! (these photos are awful because I had to take them with the camera on my phone in order to show how they looked on a lens.)

I made a cute custom set of coffee wraps for a dear friend.  She is getting married in a few months and picking out all kinds of handmade goodies for her bridesmaids.  I was so honored when she requested personalized wraps for each of them.  We made them in her wedding colors and they are personalized with flocked lettering.  LOVE how they turned out!

And last but not least I finally got around to making one of these little birdie rattles.  I have seen this idea floating all over the internet for a long time but never had time to sit down and work out a pattern.  I had an excuse while making a baby shower gift for a friend.  I love how it turned out and will definitely be making more of these in the future.

Its Coming!

Spring is coming.  Its truly on its way.  I can see it in the grass that is slowly getting greener, the CRAZY intense thunderstorms that come and wash away the last bits of snow, and the bright colors that are making their way out of  my closet and back into rotation.

I love accessorizing my wardrobe with handmade goods year round, but hadn't really found a great spring hat just yet.  I was asked this week to make a matching mommy/daughter set of Sweet Traditions hats and after finishing up the adult one I think I may have found the solution!  I think I'll be whipping up one of these for myself this year :)