Alive but not-so-crafty

I scrambled and had to label a blanket yesterday for a charity donation I had planned months ago and realized how much I miss my sewing. Even the basic blankets or whatnot.

But for now I need to focus on me and getting back to 'me' to lose the rest of the baby-weight that has yet to hear my demands to just leave.

I've missed thee...

Oh my SnG...how I've missed thee!

I miss my sewing machine,
miss my craft corner,
miss the sense of accomplishment when I finish a project,
miss the surge of excitement when finding a new fabric
miss the squeal I usually give out when I see a pretty packaged up product heading to the post office.

sigh.

But rather I do have a wonderfully sweet 7month old who monopolizes my time and energy :) I keep crossing my fingers that she will learn to sleep better as she gets older, but it hasn't happeend quite yet.

A couple weeks ago I got the notice that I had to update my domain and realized that I'm going on three years of my blog. This last year doesn't count though does it? I admit that the thought of not keeping the domain did cross my mind since I know that I have not committed to any crafting enough to bother with blogging.

I have limited access to blogger in addition to the limited time that exists in the 24hour day.

So in the meantime while I can't be quite as productive as I want to, I have to settle with searching for inspiration.

But that's not a bad thing....because that means I get to spend ALOT of time at Pinterest.

So if anyone is a sucker for everything and anything crafty or yummy, you can follow me at Aprilelayne on Pinterest

First 2011 Fieldtrip!!

It has been forever since I actually got myself logged onto the real computer at home and drafted up a Fieldtrip report for you guys, but thought that perhaps it would get me back into the fun of it all again.

First stop?

I have to admit, I'm struggling with this shift into the girly realm, I found this tutorial that seems even more simple than the freezer paper stenciling that I told myself I'd try.
Heart Baby Onesies by Singing Three Little Birds


And another slight venture in the girly world? Girly, yet not commercialized PINK explosion in your face since I can actually pick out the colors myself?
Tank Dress from Noodlehead


And a for sure project that I MUST MAKE MYSELF immediately is this, I've seen them for sale but honestly it can be easily made! Tracked down this great tutorial and may have to tweak it up and try it myself (and it all goes well, perhaps some friends or future projects!) Besides, I can make it myself with whatever fabrics I may have on hand or something special and (hint not pink) that I like.
Car Seat Cover (aka baby hider!) from Cluck Cluck Sew


and as in last year's field trips I wouldn't leave us without a goodie or two to try out, and this little number had me drooling just by the title alone.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread from The Idea Room

Look at the goodness!! Can you imagine making french toast with this bread? Yep, that's where my mind immediately went to.



I can't wait to see what I can find for our next report!
If you've seen some uber yummy tutorials, ideas, or recipes, then toss me a line (email or comment) to share and I may feature it myself!

Blog-compensation for the hiatus

Christmas came and went, and with it as usual I have to pack up and clean up the sewing corner. I venture into slight withdrawal, I think the absence of the machine in eyesight causes me to think more and more of projects to do or invent.

And this year is even harder for this hiatus.
Along with the anticipation of the babygirl (eta: 2/28) our house will be host to some other visitors. Due to medical reasons, and in preparation of the worst, my in-laws will be joining the household as well.

My former sewing corner is now our guest room that will have long-term guests.
Hubby has promised that if I get the urge, that he has plans for a new sewing corner in the master bedroom if I give him the word.

So while the sewing is off-limits (except for special projects that would just require me to take fabric to visit my mom's sewing room ~wink~ )I have made an effort to get back into the blog world tour. I'm hoping to work on the blog to make up for my idle hands.

I have a valid excuse...

Oh blog world, I have missed thee.....
I was led astray by life and its complications and distractions, and well life in general.

I must admit though I have been working on a big project for the last six months or so. Its pulled me away from my machine and led me to some work on the couch on it, its more freelance than I'm used to, but it has literally drained me of any creativity or oomph I normally have for new projects.

The long term project should be completed by the end of February 2011 and will prefer to be paired with pinks and purples.


(translation: I am 7months pregnant and just now admitting it to the world)


forgive me?

Friends of friends....and so forth.

You don't know how giddy I was when I received a random email a couple months ago.
Seriously, I was grinning for a couple days.
And I'm not a grinner, I'm more of a raised eyebrow kinda girl.

Way back when this little blog started off, there was a blogpost of a new product I was testing out. I had a remnant of this cute green turtle flannel and wanted to try something new. It was my first changing pad that I toyed around with, but it didn't last long in my hands after I was chatting with a friend about it. She grabbed it up within 48hours of its completion.

Turns out the receiver of that turtle set, reached out to little ol' me to pass on the love to some of her friends as well!! Talk about an endorsement, right? Seems 2010 is a busy year for her friends, we ended up making two different sets for the month of August.

A lovely girly changing pad and burpcloth set in purple dragonflies.



And then a awesome boy changing pad and burpcloth set in this cute boy block print.

Where did September go????

Woah...the entire month of September totally snuck through there didn't it?
Did you feel it? It was a swift breeze in the 99* temps down here in Austin that wasn't cooling at all until this past week.

Just a friendly post to let everyone know that I'm still chugging along with sewing projects and will truly hope to post more often, despite my work blocking even google reader! (crazy isn't it???) Despite my not having enough energy or oomph at the end of the day to turn on the home laptop, yep...I'm justifying my slackerness.

But I've been charitable does that count?
A baby blanket were given to my work for their charity auction that raised $50.
and I'm donating another blanket to a local PTO silent auction later this month.

And a long over due post coming up this week about my August projects.

Thanks for continued checking in, I can see that people still swing by somehow.