Ally Bean

Here she is!

Two days ago Little Miss Alice, my daughter, came into the world. Here is the mobile I made for her the day before she was born. A majestic cloud king to watch over her and sprinkle down shimmery gold stars full of sweet dreams into her wee little head. If you look closely, you can see my little Ally Bean asleep in the crib.

Today my heart feels two sizes too big.

Team Forever in Shanghai!

Look at these two beautiful stylish folk.  And, their little french bulldog and baby fox?!?  I love them.  The second attachment is what the lovely lady sent me.  It's by far the most organized description document I have ever received.  Truthfully, I love the various degrees of information my customers send me.  Some give very little information with just a few pictures and basically say "go for it" and others are quite specific.  It's very nice to have variety like that------it keeps things interesting.  

I do have about a million questions for this woman though.  The majority of those involving the baby fox which has melted my heart to goo.  

Two more orders left until maternity leave!  It literally feels like there is a watermelon in my belly.  Also, I eat roughly 2 whole watermelons a week.  Through experience, I think I can now tell which watermelons are good and which are a bit mushy---not through any specific way that I can tell you about, just through a sort of 6th sense.

For Sweet Baby Simran

This one goes to baby Simran, that beauty above with all that hair.  The gifter wanted the mobile to also have some animals in there too: a giraffe, whale, and lion.  This was one of those personalized mobiles where it was so easy for me to capture their likeness, sometimes it can be such a struggle.

I have just 4 more orders until my maternity leave that I scheduled for myself (I am still and will still be taking orders during that time, just not making any for 4 weeks) kicks in.  I hope that I can finish everything before Alice gets here, but she seems really anxious to enter the world.  She's welcome anytime of course-----but Alice, if you come early, please be a good little sleeper at first so I can wrap things up and then spend proper time with you. 

This is the most bizarre stage of pregnancy for me.  The baby inside my belly is fully developed, just hanging out.  She's just right there, and she could come anytime.  I can feel her stretching her legs out, and in about a week, that will be something I see her do.  I'm excited to look into her eyes.  In the meantime though, I need to sew for other little ones.  You should see me, I look like Frankenstein, mainly because I have to sew with my arms stretched way out to compensate for my belly, but also because I've really been frumping it up with the stretchy pants this past month.  I think Frankenstein wore stretchy pants, right?  Anyway, cheerio, have a lovely day.

Two Married Couple Wall Hangings

Two Beautiful Couples.  Looking at the first pair fills my heart with regret that I didn't ask Joseph to wear a bow tie when we tied the knot. 

These two pairs melt my heart, you can really see some magic in their eyes.

Waiting for this baby to be born over here.  She feels ready to come out.  I'd like her to hang on for a little while so Nonnie, the babysitter for big bro, has time to take the road trip to Cajun Country in time.  We are getting Walter a gift to help him still feel special when a lot of the attention, usually doted on him, will sway a little to the newest member of our family.  We found him 30 (!) little lego characters on Ebay for super cheap.  He loves those little guys.  I can really see the allure, too.  I love tiny little things with personality too.

Hedgehog and Dino Sisters

Two sisters.  One a ballerina who loves hedgehogs, two, a dinosaur fan who only wears red cowgirl boots.  I hope my daughter (due any day) has some similar interests!

Flip Books Giveaway!

I am participating in a Flip Dolls Pattern Hop and book giveaway.  I had to make something from the book, and I get to offer you a chance to win the a copy of Flip Dolls and Other Toys, by Laura Wilson .

Things have been maddeningly busy over here (baby bump, moving to new house, tax crunch,  keeping up with Pink Cheeks business).  So, I was ho-hum about starting something new.  However this book put a spark in me.  I love grabby catches and tricks when it comes to homemade toys, but I am a self-taught sewist, so I can't wrap my brain around some techniques just by looking at them.  At the same time, patterns usually make me want to hide in the corner of the room in the fetal position.  These patterns are simple, but they carry a lot of punch, and offer you a lot you can expand on.  I stuck with Laura's template and instructions (full size templates are conveniently located here [which is a genius idea, no?]), but after making one and learning how it works, I know I can use my own shape next time (which makes my heart a flutter with possibility).

I wanted to make something special for my son.  He is majorly into super heroes, and knights and dragons (which is also a flip doll pattern in the book).  I stuck with the super hero though because I wanted to use up the last of my Japanese car fabric for the alter ego's "regular guy" outfit.  The Super Hero I named Thunder Bolt. Thunder because he can control the weather and Bolt because he can run super fast.  There he is above, sensing danger and thinking "Oh no!" right before he decides that this "Sounds like a job for Thunder Bolt". 

This step reminded me of birth!

     My kid was all over me while I was making this.  When he found out I was making it for him, his eyes got wide and he ran over exclaiming "Thank you, Mommy!" and gave me a kiss.  This made my heart melt into a puddle and also filled me with guilt.  He sees me make so many things that go into boxes and then head out to other kids and babies.  He's so neglected!  I'll fix that (you're next Dragon/Knight doll). 

      It's so satisfying to learn new techniques.  I think it must make all sorts of connections in the brain which then lift up creative blocks even in non-related areas of art.  I've read this before, but it's easy to forget.  

     When I had it all sewn together, ready to turn right-side-out, I could not fathom it turning out right.  I was certain I misread the instructions or made a mistake along the way, but sure enough it came out properly and flipped like a dream!

Thunder Bolt is on some major mission here involving a rubber band tight rope.

This book is fun, guys, and full of all the tricks you need.  If you'd like to try your chance at winning your own free copy, tell me what your Super Hero power you wish you could have in the comments below.  I'll choose a winner at random one week from today.  Good luck!!

Bill Murray Mobile!

It's nice to be the one that people can come to with a totally specific idea.  A Bill Murray Mobile!  Of course!  This was tons of fun for me.  Should I make it a regular custom?  That is what I usually do when someone asks for something specific.  But, I think maybe only one baby in the world will have and want a Bill Murray mobile.  Maybe a grandchild of his would be interested in this?

In other news, my growing family moves next month!  We are going to be living in a turn of the century, solid cypress house.  It will be the most inspiring place I have ever lived in (previous houses are not very competitive in that category).  There is an orange tree and a grapefruit tree in the backyard.  One room is solid windows!  The bath tubs have claw feet!  The "grand hallway" is about the size of our current house (not really, but close).  We completely lucked out in finding it.  I think the four leaf clovers I kept finding were connected to everything working out with that house.  I can't wait to move in and share that space with you.  Mostly though I just want to be there now and skip the heavy lifting part.