Zippers Galore

I bought one hundred 9 inch zippers. Crazy I know. But they were crazy cheap too. With shipping (to Canada) they came to only 34 cents each.



I bought them at the Zipper Store on etsy. They were shipped super fast.



If you'd like to buy some here's a coupon code for you. ZIPUP10P for 10% off your order. Have fun zipping!

Baby Boy Quilt

My friend Rebecca and I collaborated on a quilt for our friend M's baby boy to be born any time.



This will be a pretty special baby for them. After 2 girls and an 8 year gap they are having their first baby in Canada! We are looking forward to seeing him.



I am linking up to Amy's Sew and Tell today!

Sister Sew Night

After a wonderful few weeks, Suzanne and family have gone home again. Here's a few pics of us on one of our sewing nights.


Our 'little' sister, Karen. Isn't she cute? She's making a quilt for her boyfriend. (She is younger but she's taller than both of us.)


One of the quilts Suzanne was working on. This one has been in her WIP bin for quite some time. She's looking forward to getting it finished.


I was working on bibs. I'll post about those another day.

Thanks for reading our little blog! I have been doing some sewing but I haven't been blogging very much. Thanks for the comments too - they are fun to read.

All Together

For those who know us a bit you know that Suzanne and I don't live near each other. Suzanne lives near Edmonton, Alberta and I live in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia. So you can imagine that we were really looking forward to being together for almost 3 weeks this summer. It gives us immeasurable joy to see our children playing together and getting to know each other better.



Today was painting day. I had picked up some wooden frames at Michaels a few weeks ago; one for each of our children. They were only $1 each. I have some cheap acrylic paints from the Dollar Store. We put paint shirts on all the kids so their shirts wouldn't get (too) stained and away they went.



We threw out a few ideas but they each did their own. Sometimes we (the moms) found it hard to keep our hands off and not help.







When they were dry I sprayed them with a craft varnish so they are all nice and shiny. I plan to put my kids photos in them and hang them up by the piano in my house. If I remember I'll take a photo when they are up.

Corn Syrup Painting

Benjamin was bored so we did some Corn Syrup painting. At least this stuff is good for something. Tutorial found here.


Just posting this in case you need something to occupy your child(ren) with.

Right now Suzanne and her family are here! We are planning to get together and sew tonight! Yeah!

Benjamin's Pencil Case

Now that it's summer holidays I've been spending most of my craft time helping my kids craft. Yesterday we made the big trek out to Abbotsford to go to Michaels and stock up on some craft materials.

Earlier this week Benjamin decided he needed to make a pouch. (After seeing my pouches. Just a little more 'boy' than those.)
Benjamin picked out all the fabrics, cut the 2" squares with my rotary cutter and stitched them all together. He also quilted it with fancy stitch. I put the pouch together.

He also took the photos so I could post it on my blog. He's my child that needs to be kept busy or he'll get very annoying in a hurry. At Michaels he bought some shading pencils and nice Gel pens for himself so that's what he's using his pouch for.

***

Painting is an outside summer activity for our family. That way all the mess stays outside and the table and sidewalk can just be sprayed off. Our new back yard is shady most of the day (unlike our old house which was south facing.)

Melissa bought a big paint-by-number project. Big for her anyway. But she is my persistent one so I think that she will get it done in good time. I told her that if she finished it I would frame it and hang it in her room.

Here is the other reason that painting outside is a good idea. He had fun though.

How do you craft in the summer? Do you slow down? Do you craft with your kids?

The Winner

Thanks so much for all of your ideas for 10 year old boys. Some of them were really good ones that I can see myself making. Thanks!

On to the winner of the Ruched Happy Bag Pattern. It's #5 - Morgan! Amy will send out your pattern soon.

Ruched Happy Pouch Review and Giveaway

I had the pleasure of testing a pattern for Amy of During Quiet Time. It's her first pattern and it's a good one. Let me introduce to you the Ruched Happy Bag. This is my first try at the pattern. It worked out very well. Except my zipper is a little wonky. That's my own fault because I used a repurposed zipper.

It was so much fun I thought I'd try it again. This time I made a slight change by adding a handle on the side. This one was for my s-i-l for her birthday. She loved it. And said she'd have to hang on to it tight to keep it from her girls. I think this bag would work well for a pencil case too.

Would you like to win your own pattern? Just leave a comment on this post and on Monday I'll randomly choose a winner. If you'd like you can leave a comment with ideas of things to make for 10 year old boys.

Happy Canada Day to all of our Canadian readers!