Lego Heads and Tiny Knits...

 Finished the Christmas gifts for my 3 younger brothers. Incredibly happy with how it all turned out, especially since I had problems with the lego jars. 

The lego jars are recycled baby food jars. I used Liquitex paint and dishwasher safe mod podge. I used dishwasher safe since I figured Mom would appreciate easy clean up. The issues I had arose from the combination of the paint and mod podge the don't work well together. I had to be careful with the first layer of mod podge over the details or it would smear it. 

 On the inside layers I had the issue of it bubbling after putting mod podge in it. I eventually discovered it took carefully adding the layers. I would put a layer of paint, let it dry a day, then a layer on mod podge, let it dry a day, and continued until I had four layers of paint. Sealed it with three layers of mod podge after that.

 Ladies

 Expressions

 Pirates

 Guys with Beards

 Chiseled face

 Asian warriors, the young one has a braid on the back of the jar.

 

Painted war face

Tiny knit sets for each of the brothers.

Doll For My Sister....

Yesterday I got the finishing touches for the doll I put together for a christmas gift. First present done and checked off the list!

Since my sister loves pink, this dress was a must! And the skirt turned out much fluffier than I thought it would be, but I know she'll love it that way.

I wanted to incorporate ribbon into a dress, but also keep some pink in it, so this was the second design I came up with. I love how it turned out!

And to keep dolly warm I added a cloak as well. 

All the shoes I found at a doll show in the area. It's been about a year since I last went to one and it felt wonderful to be among dolls again. ^_^

I put her together using the Wide Eyed Wendy pattern by Judi's Dolls. And with the base dress pattern I was able to create both dresses. Judi has some amazing doll patterns. I'd recommend her if you're looking for a professional doll pattern!

A New Chapter in Life.....

I had my little guy on the seventh of January, thus starting my adventures as a Mother.

He's seven weeks old now and growing fast! His smiles and coos in the morning are a delightful part of my day. :) Still a bit amazed that my Love and I have a baby. That I carried him in my womb for ten months and now he's here.

Decided to do cloth diapers for my little one. Because it's better for him and it saves money.

We've been using the pre-folds and covers since he was 1 1/2 weeks old. Planning to start earlier with the next baby. We used disposable diapers at first because I didn't want to deal with tar poop on the cloth. But that poop lasted a much shorter time than I remembered, so I'll buy a smaller package next time.

This is a Kawaii brand cover on him at about 1 month old. 

I LOVE these covers! So much easier to use than what was used when I was a child. 

The fabric it's made out of is so much better than the plastic cover. And it's a one size cover, so it will grow with him.

 

 

Gerber brand cover, size 0-3 months. Not happy with these, these are what I remember seeing as a child. Crinkly, doesn't fit well, and it's harder to not make a mess when changing him. He's seven weeks and it still doesn't fit his legs. 

 

Been very grateful to my Mama for teaching me to sew so many years ago. It's nice to be able to make my own things, rather than buy them. This is a nursing pillow I made, should have made it sooner it would have been helpful for those very trying first weeks of breast-feeding. I also made a nursing cover with boning in the top so that I can actually see what I'm doing while feeding him in public.

Links to patterns:

Nursing Pillow:  http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/nursing-pillow-pattern.html

Nursing Cover: http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2010/04/nursing-cover-tutorial.html

Preparing for Baby...

     Been busily working on getting ready for baby's arrival in December and thought I'd share what I've gotten put together so far. My wonderful husband found a carseat, Chicco brand, so I know baby will be safe. :)   Almost done with purchasing clothing. I have all I need for 3-6 months. *cheers* Just need a few items for 0-3 months and I'm done with purchased clothing. Still have hand-knit items in both sizes, but those are just a matter of time and patience on my part before I have those done and ready as well!

     Hats I have completed so far. One 3-6 month old beanie and four 0-3 month sized hats, with one being modeled by Cailyn, the latest reborn doll from the nursery.

 

     Totoro hat!!! I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it and had to make it. I'm a huge fan of Totoro, so a Totoro hat for my baby is a must. Now I just need to finish the booties with Soot Sprites that I want to go with it.....

 

     The awesome 2-way swing I found at my wonderful local thrift store that carries tons of baby items. Got it for only $35 and it's in great condition. 

 

Hand-knit booties I've made so far. Converse that I made for the baby announcement, my husband and I both have black chuck taylors from our Doctor Who themed wedding and I thought it would be cute for baby to have some as well. :) 

The gray-brown booties, I like the way they turned out, but they were a pain to make. The pattern was not well written and confused me at several points. Usually I can figure things out after some research, this one, not so much. Just glad it worked out in the end, though I will never use that pattern again.

The blue booties are made with a cotton-silk yarn and are SO SOFT! I loved the pattern as well, very simple and easy. There will be more in this style in the future, probably going to use it for the Soot Sprite shoes and several other colors as well. Plus it's a 0-6 month pattern, so each pair of booties will last awhile longer.

Baby bump photos since I know so many people want to see the growing belly.  ^_^

Added the one below mostly because I realized I'm hiding my back in the clear photo above, so you can't see the true size of the bump. What I get for trying to take photos by myself!

And a photo of baby at almost 25 weeks in the womb!!!

Life and it's adventures.....

It's been a very long time since I've updated my blog and decided it was time I get back to it again!

I married my best friend in December of 2013! Moved to upstate New York, where I am thoroughly enjoying the cool weather. And now we are expecting our first wee one in December of this year!

I'm planning on making lots of knit items for our little one. Especially with how cold it gets up here in winter. So I thought I'd post updates here of what I've knitted. Hats, booties, and jackets are in my future!

Also I've started a making reborn dolls. Which I'm highly excited about! Below are a few photos of the ones I've made so far...

 Rachel is the first doll I made. Newborn size, she had some challenges along 

the way. I use two different kits, the head was from one and the arms and legs were another

kit. It took some work to get the vinyl to match up, but she turned out beautifully in the end!

 Lily is the second one I made. She's a micro preemie, which was challenging 

with just her size. I had a hard time finding diapers and clothing for her. Probably

won't make another her size. Though she is adorable. ^_^

 Paige is the most recent doll I've made. Another newborn sized baby. She was 

wonderful to work with and I'm immensely pleased with how she turned out!

Totoro!

Made this cute little Totoro for my fiance awhile back, just didn't post anything before he saw it as I wanted it to be a surprise. ^_^

I used the pattern by Emze Knits and switched it a little bit by adding Totoro's giant smile. Totoro's smile is one of my favorite features about him, so I decided he MUST have it and rearranged his face. 

He also has a voice box inside that I made a pocket for. The voice box can be removed if one would rather just have a soft creature. 

He was lots of fun to make and it was even more fun giving it to my fiance after having to wait awhile to see him!

  Enjoy the photos!

 Very pleased with how he turned out. ^_^

Happy dancing Totoro!

In Pieces....

Pulled apart Satomi again. She's been in dire need of a new paint job.

Left side of the photo has the pieces that still need cleaned and the

right side has the pieces I worked on cleaning today. :)

I'll be working on taking off all the old paint for awhile. Then I'll get to work on 

repainting her again. I don't plan on doing a full body blush this time as it wore 

off quickly on her joints last time. I'll be giving her mid body a blush job, repaint 

her face, and give her back her arm tattoo, as well as adding a few new ones. ^_^

 She is also going to be restrung. Her old elastic is worn and not as stretchy as it
once was. So I'll be finding somewhere to order some new strung to fix her up. I'd
also like to try and find some silicone sheets to try sueding her that way. I've
didn't like how quickly the hot glue sueding wore off and the moleskin sueding is
a mess to clean off after it wears out. So, I'm excited about working on my girl
 and getting her all freshly put together!