Mama Bear's Valentines

The last time we had professional portraits done Big Sister Bear was six months old!

We felt it was time for some new pictures.

Through facebook I had found out about a local photographer who was running a special for Valentine's Day.

It's a small world because it turns out that Amy, the photographer, and I hung out in high school!



Her company is Be Focused Photography.

She was amazing.

Extremely professional, punctual and patient.

We will be booking with her again come late spring/early summer for family portraits. We're so glad we've found a talented photographer.

Right after we got engaged our favorite photo store/studio closed unexpectedly.

Thank you Amy for the amazing photos!

One of the Best Things

One of the best things about having children is having an excuse to decorate for many holidays. With Valentine's Day right around the corner I figured some heart garland was in order.

It was pretty easy, just cut them out and sewed them in one long, continuous line. Using this tutorial.

They were very easy and fun to sew. So much fun that I ended up making four of them! The kids had fun deciding where to hang them up.

Today is the last day to enter your patterns for the February Pattern Pact. Don't miss out Beth has a super cute giveaway for this month.

I'll be sewing the O + S Music Class Skirt for February's Pattern Pact. Looking forward to seeing what everyone makes.

The Triple Threat Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated all three cubs birthdays! Since their birthdays fall one week apart it made sense to just have one big party.

So now Nephew Bear is 3...

Tomorrow Big Sister Bear will be 2...

And Little Sister Bear will be 1 tomorrow...

The party went well. The cubs got great presents...

Had some very yummy cake...

 

And had their first pinata experience. Which we did not get pictures of because it took both me and Papa Bear to manage the pinata and kids.

It was a great day! And the cubs looked adorable in their appliqued shirts and tutus I made.

Pattern Pact 2:12

Pattern Pact is off to a great start. I can't wait to see what people are going to be working on for February. Beth made a snazzy group button for members to proudly display our pact.

This month I managed to pull off two pact projects! You can read about the first one here. This was possible, in part, due to having two gift giving occasions in the same month. That coupled with the fact that I enjoy giving handmade much more than store bought.

I bask in those moments when one of my handmade gifts is opened and people start saying things like, "Did you make that?" or "Oh, how lovely!"

What can I say? I take pride in my handmade gifts. I feel if you're going to give a gift then you ought to take pride in it, especially if the gift is handmade.

Enough about that. Without further delay project #2...

...Mixy-Matchy Napkins from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing

This was an extremely easy tutorial to follow. I whipped up this set of 10 napkins in about an hour. I made them larger (16" square) than the tutorial because I wanted a dinner size napkin and stitched them with a contrasting thread.

These were a bridal shower gift for my cousin and his fiance. I wanted to incorporate both their favorite colors (red and purple) which was tricky because that color combo does not always work. I also had to include 2 napkins in Michael Miller's Love Birds for the happy couple. The pressure was on with this gift because my cousin is a stickler for color coordination. I'm confident that I chose well.

I will be making some napkins for our home very soon. They were so easy to make and paper napkins are so wasteful. Plus I have a ton of Kona solids that I think would be perfect.

Pattern Pact 1:12

Pattern Pact 2011 has officially been kicked off! Our flickr group can be found here.

Don't know about Pattern Pact 2011? Read about it here.

On to my first pact project of the year. The Mermaiden from Hillary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls.

I bought the book ages ago when it first came out and had many plans for making these adorable dolls, but never got around to it.

Our friend's daughter who is 3 weeks older than Big Sister Bear had a birthday party a few weekends ago. I was short on time and wanted to give her something handmade. I thought the Mermaiden would be quick and simple to whip up...and it was!

Hillary's instructions are clear and easy to follow. I used a fuchsia 21 wale corduroy remnant I found at Joann's for the hair and the fin fabric is from Jay McCarroll's Woodland Wonderland fabric line.

She was a big hit and will be well loved. I plan on making more of these for the cubs with some fun embellishments.

Joining In

Like many of you fellow crafters out there I'm drawn to patterns, books, tutorials and magazines. And like many of you I've never used half of them! My stash of instructional materials grows exponentially (much like my fabric stash).

It's time to put my stash to good use.

Beth over at modernJax made a resolution to make one thing each month from her hoard of books and magazines. I mentioned that this might be a good idea for me as well and she invited me to join her.

Would anyone else like to join in? Maybe we could start a Pattern Pact? Or a Flickr group?

Doll Quilt

Our sweet little neighbor is the proud owner of one of the Black Apple dolls I made last year. She has named her Penny and she is well-loved. Penny is her best friend and bedtime pal.

Since we live in New England I thought it would be nice for Penny to have a little quilt of her own for those cold nights. Our neighbor loved it and immediately put it to use.

I enjoyed making this quilt because the top was made completely from scraps. It was a lot of fun going through my scrap basket for these prints. I've come to find scrap busting projects quite pleasing. I backed it with Michael Miller's Dick and Jane Phrases. I sewed it pillowcase style then edge stitched it closed and used rounded corners.

We rang in the first of the year having a few good friends over for dinner and delicious Kahlua trifle. Good food, good friends and adorable babies, it was a great way to ring in the start of 2011.

My only resolution is to be more productive, in all areas. Basically I've cranked my Super Mom meter to turbo. So far the cubs are happier, Papa Bear is happier and I feel a greater sense of accomplishment because everyone is having their needs met.

I've completed a few other projects but can not put them up until the recipients have received them (I believe they all follow my blog). I am very late on Christmas presents this year (tisk tisk). I will share them once it is safe.