Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Bag Lady

I've found a love for bags, especially when I can make them into whatever I want, all the while choosing the perfect fabric for each person/bag. I decided to make my cute sister-in-law, Jenny, some practical bags that she could use for her job. She's a 3rd grade teacher and is constantly bringing stuff to and from her class room every day.

I looked at two different patterns and then merged the two to create hers. I actually made one for me first to make sure the measurements and everything turned out okay. I use mine all the time and would love to make more, soon hopefully!! My sewing list is about a mile long! :D


Jenny and her cute bags!
They are cotton on the outside and canvas inside. The straps are also double lined with canvas and then the cotton overlay. Super sturdy and oh so cute! :D
My cute Bernina, was able to embroider "Made with love" on the inside.

The other bag I made, I love just as much. It definitely has its own function. I was able to start and finish it conference weekend and am so happy with the finished product. The bag is gigantic!!! I brought it to work a few times and people made fun of me, so now I use it for my Nursery bag and it couldn't be more perfect. The pattern is by Amy Butler and is available for purchase here. I made the large Betty Shopper Bag and I love it. I'd like to try the smaller version one of these days and compare them.

People have asked me about the Amy Butler patterns. They aren't the easiest to read/follow/understand. I suggest reading through all of the instructions a couple times before starting the project, but for the most part I didn't think it was that bad.

The fabric I used was an Amy Butler Home Decor fabric that was pricey, but I fell in love and it was the first sewing project I did for myself, so it was justified. The inside fabric was Moda fabric that I also love. The bag has surprised me in durability, especially as the straps are just knotted through grommets.


Outside Bag
Inside of the bag: large enough to fit my scriptures on one side...
...and my crayons and materials on the other. It also have 4 VERY large pockets, two on each side.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Girl's Camp 2009

Girl's Camp was months ago, but I've had several of you ask me what exactly I was up to in this post. Our Girl's Camp theme was: I Strive to Be G.R.E.E.N. (Grateful, Respectful, Energetic, Example and Nice). Each day at camp we focused on one of the acronyms of G.R.E.E.N.
I wanted to get the girls excited for Camp, so I decided to pass out little treats with cute sayings on them the last month before camp. One of the focuses, was to be "Green" or environmentally friendly, so I found a font online that had different pictures and symbols which represented recycling, tree huggers, etc. I also used this font throughout the process.

Barnum's Animal Crackers with the saying: "Don't worry about living like an animal for a week, we do it all the time". Then there is a recycling symbol below that and the Girl's Camp theme at the bottom.

This treat was Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears that said: "YW Field Guide to Bear Identification" in a Bear font that I found online for free :D This also included a recycling symbol and the Camp Theme at the bottom.

Pop Rocks: "Camp Rocks"

Fruit & Nut Granola Bar: "There a little Fruit and Nut in all of us"

Another idea I did, but didn't take a picture of:
Little Baggy with 2 Golden Grahams, 1 small marshmallow and 1 chocolate chip: "Want S'more?"



Each ward was in charge of providing notebooks for the music, instead of making each leader their own, since our turnover is really high, I decided to make 1 for each position (YW President, 1st Counselor, 2nd Counselor, Secretary, Camp Director, Camp Assist. Director).

For one of our pre-camp activities the girls decorated their binders and they will get to keep them when they turn 18. They all turned out so cute and I think the girls really enjoyed making them.




Now, onto the main event. As soon as I heard about the theme, I went crazy and started thinking about all of the fun things I could create. Last year we purchased canvas totes from Robert's and decorated them with puff paints and fabric stars. I wanted to do something more practical, so this is what I came up with:


We took these swatches...

and after trying 3 different kinds of canvas, we found the one that would work perfectly...


we started cutting, and measuring...

all the while, trying to keep track of whose was whose...
my mother-in-law was a saint to help me out, and the sewing began...
the project was finally starting to take shape...
The final project....a drawstring backpack and matching journal.

Two cute pockets in the front of the backpack, one for the journal and one for a water bottle.

The journal below I made with the help of my sweet friend (2nd Counselor at the time) Dorothy. She was a saint through all of my madness. We also used her mother's embroidery machine to embroider each of the girl's names on the inside of their journal.
Our older girls, came and helped us pick out a button that would fit each girl's personality and make them original. I was so impressed with their skills and how mindful they were of each girl.



I found some of this fabric at the fabric store and knew I had to create something and incorporate it into our theme somehow...

so I made these little buttons for their backpacks.


Then I took all of the scraps...

and made a cute fabric banner for our cabin! It includes a piece from each girl's fabric that they chose for the backpack and journals, although they didn't know what they were choosing the fabric for.

While the girls were away at flag ceremony, we put the backpacks with all sorts of goodies on the table.

Our Girl's Camp flag below: It includes two separate pieces from each of the different fabric. The girls put their names on the squares at the top and their year of camp on the rectangles at the bottom. My favorite part...we used glow-in-the-dark puff paint!!!!

And finally, one of the crafts we made at camp was a block with the Mutual Theme on it.
Front:
Back:

I realize now, this is an extremely LONG post with lots of pictures, but I've been wanting to share for a long time! About two weeks after Girl's Camp ended, I was released. And a short month or two later my husband and I were called as the Nursery Leaders. Now we spend our Sundays playing with 18 month to 3 year olds and have enjoyed their little spirits and their ever abundant energy.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The anticipated update

I realize I've been out of the blogging world for quite some time. I want to assure you, I've still been diligently reading your blogs and enjoying each of them. I needed a blogging break. I was finding it difficult not to compare my world with yours and your little families and all of the wonderful things you have accomplished in your lives, so I took a break, to refocus and decide for myself if I wanted to keep blogging....and I do! I've missed it, so here I am. I wanted to update you on a few things we've been up to:

*Matthew had his first major surgery in July of last year. An emergency appendectomy. The surgery was successful and all is well although it was such a different feeling being on the waiting end.
*After finishing the 5K in May of 2009, I signed up to do a 10K in September of 2009 only to run into knee issues. I consulted my family doctor and then an orthopedic surgeon. After being told to rest I was unfortunately unable to run the 10K and stayed off my knee through the holidays.
*We were able to take a log of vacations this summer: We went to AZ in July for my mom's 50th Birthday Bash. We had our first trip to Lake Powell with friends, a trip to Island Park, ID just West of Yellowstone and a few other short trips .

Hike to Stewart Falls

Nora's 1st Birthday Party: Miracle and Ellie

Nora's 1st Birthday Party: Me, Lori, Tiffany & Kirbi


4th of July Weekend: Me and Matthew
4th of July Weekend: Sadie, Kirbi, Lori and Nora
4th of July Weekend: Kirbi, Me and Nora

4th of July Weekend: Me and Nora
Lake Powell with Friends: Lindsey, Dorothy and Me

*We spent most of the fall taking drives over the Alpine Loop listening to Colbie Caillat and hoping it wouldn't be the last time.
*In September I celebrated my 25th birthday in Park City where we rode the Zip Line and I got braces...again.


Brooke White's Concert: Joseph, Brooke, Tiffany and Me (with braces :D)
*We spent the Christmas Holiday with Matthew's family and then went to AZ for New Year's to be with my family. We especially enjoyed the drive through Las Vegas this time and secretly hoped it would be the last time we would make that drive.


Christmas Caroling: The Allphin Clan

Mesa Temple Lights: Only some of my fam! :D
Mesa Temple Lights: Jake and I
Mesa Temple Lights: Sweet Cousins, Cole, Jayme and Lillie
*In January I started running again with hopes of running my first Half Marathon on May 1st. I plan to run 4 races in the next 3 months: The Frigid 5K on Feb. 27th, the Spectrum 10K on March 20th, the Salt Lake 10 Miler on April 3rd and the Provo City Half Marathon on May 1st!!!
* We had 1 new niece and 1 new nephew born in 2010!!!!


Austin David Allphin
January 17th, 2010
4 pounds, 7 ounces, 17 inches long

Lyla Ann Hinchey
January 29th, 2010
7 pounds, 6 ounces, 20 inches long

*I've continued to sew more and have loved finding new projects, I will have a post soon of my creations!
*Most importantly, Matthew started his last semester of his undergrad and will graduate on April 30th!!!!! :D