Persevering Pansies

Our snow has melted away, leaving only a few icy traces in our back yard so I decided to trek around and check out my flower beds and see if anything has survived the winter. 

With our warm weather this week I thought I might come upon some greening, or tiny signs of life.

 Imagine my surprise when I came upon a sweet single little Pansie!

Then, after snooping around some more, I found little clusters popping up all around - and what I would guess to be bulbs - although I don't remember having any last year...

Inspired by Alice

Kadence and I saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland recently - and holy cow!

I am in love with Alice's "Um" dress.

(This is the dress she wears when she while in the Red Queens court, as "Um from Umbridge". It is suggested the dress is made from curtains...)

The first time this dress appeared on screen I leaned over to Kadence and whispered "I want to make that!"

She thoroughly agrees it is awesome.

With rows and rows of delicious chiffon ruffles I can see this will be a hot boutique item from eBay to Etsy.

I don't think it would be terribly difficult to recreate either, so maybe for Halloween next year...

This was not the only beautiful frock on screen,  Alice's Blue dress seems to be inspiring wedding dresses also.. Check out this link for more Alice-y eye candy:  Wedding Trends inspired by Alice-in-Wonderland

I think it's pretty cool that a movie can influence fashion trends, especially ones as lovely as this. If anyone comes across some more amazing photos, links or knock offs please share!!

Card Swap & Paper Play

Today we broke out the die-cuts, punches, stamps and paper for some quality paper play. 

These are the cards I put together for a "spring" card swap I'm participating in.  

I picked up this little bird punch in my last Stampin' Up order, isn't it cute?!

This is the first time I've used it, and I love it!!

Using my Xyron sticker thing-a-ma-jig made the branch/leaves super easy to make.

I punched the branch in both brown and green. I trimmed the leaves off the brown, leaving just a branch. I ran it through my Xyron and stuck it directly on top of the green punched branch w/ leaves. 

Ta Da!

There are 10 of us participating, and I can't wait to see all the other cards when they come in.

While Kadence was cranking out several dies just for the hell of it

- hey, i can't blame her! It's like preforming a magic trick each time you turn the handle -

I whipped up a few basic simple cards for some long over due notes I need to send out.

I had done enough measure, cut and tape on the swap cards to last one day so I just used a white card and added some pretties to spiffy it up.

 

Kadence cut most of the butterflies and flowers for me. :o)

The embossed butterflies are a favorite of mine, and now I know what's on my next Stampin' Up order - the coordinating punch and stamps!

New Yummy Fabrics!

Lots of dreaming, planning, sketching and sewing coming my way with some new additions to my fabric stash.

 A box of wonderful flannel goodness arrived at my door this weekend! It is quilting quality, soft, smooth and begging to become some awesome lounge-wear for little people!

On a recent trip to a quilt shop Kadence picked out her own fabrics.  I must say she has excellent taste - I love everything she chose!

This is Flora & Fauna, Patty Young's new collection for Michael Miller - she loved every print in the Lime colorway. She got some of the hummingbird print and the dandelion, she wants me to make it up in a tiered skirt.

(I think next trip I'll grab some of the stone border print to make myself a skirt!)

She also got some Timber, by Windham fabrics. I love this print, and the colors are some of my favorites.

This is begging to be made up soon,  I'm sure she has a plan for it as well - but I'm kicking around an idea or two of my own. glad I got enough for us to share!

New fabrics = Bliss

Don't Forget to Floss! (your serger, that is)

If the tension on your serger is giving you headaches, it may be time to floss!

Seriously! 

After my last post about my pain in the butt serger I did manage to get my little stitch finger glued back on and working properly - but I was still fighting with the tension on the left needle. Ugh!

After screwing with the dial for a million hours and going through a million yards of fabric just to "test" the settings, I had a total "duh!" moment. ...maybe there's thread, dust, or something caught up in there and irritating it.

(kinda like when you get a raspberry seed stuck between your back teeth, right?) 

Sooo, I ran some dental floss back and forth through the tension disks,

(hey, it works on raspberry seeds...)

 Voila! No more Tension Headaches!!

Seriously - check out these before and after pics and you'll see why we were constantly battling:

So, for now we are getting along. But I won't hold my breath...

My Ugly Relationship with My Serger

Yesterday started off with so much promise...

A dress nearly done, new projects cut and ready to sew. A new design to plan out for a friend.

Why did it have to go bad like that? Why?

I take excellent care of my serger - I do. I clean it, oil it, change it's needles.

When others scoff at it's El Cheapo price tag & quality I always rush to it's defense. I stood by, when light bulbs repeatedly fell out for no reason. I handled it with grace when my stitch finger broke - over, and over, and over... I've replaced brand new needles repeatedly to fix unexplained skipped stitches, and even played with dials for hours to get the tension just right.

I ask, is this any way to repay my adoration?

I should have known from day one that this would be an unhealthy relationship.  There were signs from the very beginning. This model has a history of giving ladies trouble, breaking stitch fingers all over the country. Less than a year into it, mine broke as well... I refused to give up, and gave it another chance. Then another, and another... Then I started to notice other things as well. It refused to hold onto a light bulb, and I began serging in the dark. Tension built as we couldn't agree on  settings, first the loopers, then the needles - it didn't matter what I tried - it was always playing games with me.

Why did I put up with it all these years? 

I know this serger like the back of my hand, I could thread it with my eyes closed. And I guess I've just grown submissive,  this serger is my first - and only - could I ever be with another? What if I did leave, would I end up with another machine just like it?  

Enough is Enough.

My stitch finger has broken for the last time. Yesterday I super-glued it together - again - and the next time it pulls this crap on me I'm out the door and  finding a new machine. One who appreciates all I do for it, and respects me enough to serge in return. Oh sure, I'll keep this one around for a rolled or narrow hem every now and then, but as for all 4 threads - this is it's last chance.

And this time I mean it.