Ruffles make me happy

I think I've found a new crafting idol.  Kelly from Sewing in No Man's Land is absolutely fantastic!!!  Chances are, if you're bothering to read my lil' blog you've already heard of her...if you haven't then get on over there!  Seriously, it is THAT fantastic.

Especially because she does everything on very limited resources - not doesnt-have-money-to-buy-designer-fabric, but she lives in a very remote place (East Timor - yeah, I had to look it up on a map too) and simply cannot run to the store and buy what she wants!  She took 15 yards of fabric with her when they moved there - amazing!

Anyways, when I saw this finale for Project Run & Play, I fell head-over-heels in L.O.V.E. 

Oooh, just looking at it gives me tingles all over.  That jacket especially has me dreaming in turquoise!

Sadly, I don't have any turquoise in my stash.  Hardly any vibrant colors like this at all...but when I went thrifting the other day there was some pea/avocado/lime-ish green fabric that practically had a halo glow and hallelujah chorus surrounding it on the rack.  AND, it pretty much matches this beautiful floral cotton I bought last year at Joann's and have done nothing with.

So, for less than $5, I give you my 'knockoff' of the Petite Chouette jacket:

 I know, a bit of a let-down after gazing at Kelly's amazing goodness.  But I was too impatient to wait for a tutorial or pattern or anything, so I was just winging it.

I also didn't have enough of the green fabric to make a 5t size for my daughter.  But, I am such a slacker that I STILL havent finished some Christmas presents.  So when my sister-in-law sent me the link for this outfit (after I'd already been drooling over it) I knew I should make it for her almost one-year old daughter.  (Thats why I left off the belt loops and tie - I figured they'd be a little pointless for someone that little.  And maybe it was getting a little late and I wanted to go to bed.)

I'm hoping this is about a 2T - I used some of my daughter's old clothes to make the patterns from. Crossing my fingers that this will fit her this fall!

I've decided, if I do no other sewing each day, then I need to at least ruffle something.  Seriously, just making these ruffles made me giggle like a school girl...I'm so tempted to make a jacket for myself, to wear when I'm having a bad day!

Bridal Shower cake

I haven't done very much crafting lately, mostly because we rearranged just about every room in our house, leaving my new sewing room combined with our office and looking a little something like this:

Oh my.

I shudder just looking at that hot mess...it took an entire day to organize!  (Plus bring a few more boxes and bags and shelves of stuff...)

But, I did some cake decorating this last weekend for my sister's bridal shower.  Nothing fabulous or even very special, but because my computer is getting overrun with craft photos, I might as well post it here.  They say when you put something on the internet its there forever, right?  Can't say the same thing about my computer...so should I ever feel inclined to make another man-popping-out-of-a-scrumptious-cake, I'll be able to look on here.

First off, I have to say, everything that could go wrong this last week did.  Making this cake was no exception.  It was a dark chocolate, 2 layer cake with rasberry filling and a shiny ganache.  As you can see in the pick, not only did the ganache end up with little bubbles, and not as smooth as I'd hoped, little fingers also found their way onto it.  (Personally, I don't blame them.  It was good.)

For the centerpiece, I made modeling chocolate - except we had a track-dog-poop-all-through-our-carpeted-living-room incident happen right as I was making it, so I messed it up somehow.  (By the way, we dont have any pets - just an annoying neighborhood dog that better not be showing his face any time soon!)  So, not only was the consistency off but I couldnt get the color I wanted (he looked more orange in real life) and then of course little (chocolatey) hands got a hold of him too!

The bow tie is supposed to be cow print...lil bit of an inside joke, but if you've seen the SNL skit with Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley then you get the gist.

My sister, with the finished product.

I have to say, other than this delicious cake, the highlight of the bridal shower was my almost 3-year old daughter helping my sister open a present that happened to be lingere, and then picking up the thong and asking "What is dis?" (with the little kid lisp)  And then when we said it was underwear, she looked sideways at my sister and said, "You has to be weally wittle!"

Classic.