~Aunt LoLo
Julie said... In the past few weeks, a few people have asked me what kinds of crafts I like. And it’s easy to answer – anything that isn’t knitting, crocheting or scrapbooking. Those are fine crafts, just not ones that I’ve picked up yet.
See that? There might just be scrapbooking in my future after all…
Recently, I was contacted and asked if I would like to review (and give away!) the My Memories Suite software. It is digital scrapbooking software, and is billed as “easy to use!”. Fortunately for them, they were right.
I went to the website, added the software to my virtual cart, gave them my promotional code, and “bought” it (for the low, low price of FREE.) From there, I went to the My Downloads page and found the software in my queue. I downloaded the software to my computer, and I was good to go! There are a few pre-decorated albums already loaded into the software, which is perfect for a complete NOOB (that’s pronounced Newbie) like me. The page above took me all of three minutes to put together. (I spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out how to share the image with all of YOU. Heh. Some blogger I am, right??!)
Oh, and the process to make the album? Super simple: open a new project. Choose a template. Click on the camera icon on the right to add new pictures. Drag those pictures over the blank “holes” and wait for them to light up blue. Let go, and use the icons to edit the picture as necessary (crop, rotate, etc.) That’s it! Save your project, and you’re done for the day. Later, you can print them out, or share them…and if I figure out how to do that, I’ll let you know. *grin* (Oh, and also? Don’t think this is just for scrapbooking…when you view your album, you have the option to make it into a calendar or a card, too! And wouldn’t the grandparents just love that for the holidays…)
So – the verdict? I like it. LIKE it, like it. As in, I might start scrapbooking. (Please don’t hold me to that…)
(I’ve also learned that iPhone pictures, while quick and convenient, always pale in comparison with shots taken with a real camera. Hence the pixel-y images that you would see on my “page” up there…if you could actually see all the details. Heh.)
Now, who would like to try out this software…for FREE??! You would? Listen up:
1) Go to www.MyMemories.com and have a look around. Poke around their papers section, and tell me which set you love most. Or check out their embellishments! Or free downloads! Just come on back here and leave a comment to let me know what you loved.
That’s it! We’ve all had a nice relaxing, LONG weekend, and I want to keep this short and sweet.
If you love My Memories, and would like to keep up to date on their shenanigans, you can also find them here:
Good luck! The winner will be announced on Friday, June 3.
~Aunt LoLo
A new girl just moved into our congregation a few weeks ago. She is a sweetheart, and (bonus!) speaks the same Chinese my family does. That made her an instant bestie. Just to make sure her move was as non-eventful as possible, she happened to time it within weeks of her due date. As in…she is expecting her sixth! child! any! day!
Never a group to miss a party, a few ladies sprang into action and put together a baby shower. (Even though this is her sixth child, it is a girl….and her last girl was born 9 years, and three boys, ago. She gave up hope somewhere along the way, along with all of her daughter’s baby clothes.) Friends in her previous congregation had already gathered stuff for her, and given her lots of hand-me-down baby clothes, so she requested that if we were inclined to bring gifts…..could they please be things for a slightly older girl?
Originally, I intended to make one of Made by Rae’s Itty Bitty dresses, but I couldn’t find my pattern. (The pattern, by the way, is a free download on Rae’s blog, and is SUPER adorable. It is a dress that will fit right at birth, hence the itty bitty part. A few readers enlarged the pattern and sent it back to her, so now it goes all the way up to 3T, I believe. Anyhow, it’s an adorable, and simple dress!)
My train of thought went something like this. I’ll make Rae’s itty bitty dress! Oh, I can’t find the pattern. I could probably make another pattern from memory…I can find a small t-shirt and make the pattern from that. Hrm…making patterns. That reminds me…I DID make a dress pattern a few years ago!
And thus, I made one of my Pretty Frocks for the new wee one.
This was made from one of my husband’s cast-off dress shirts. I experimented this time, trying to keep the shoulders a little wider. In past versions, after making a rolled hem on both the neck and the arm hole, the resulting shoulder bit was only about an inch and a half wide. This time, I used some binding that I had leftover from a small quilt to bind off the neck. The arms were still a rolled hem.
You can see here, on the back of the dress, the original button placket from the shirt.
I lined some of the more ticklish seams with binding.
The dress, honestly, came out quite a bit BIGGER than what I imagined it would. The pattern was drawn up to be 2T, but…it still managed to button around my 4 year old. Oh well – the new little one can wear it for YEARS. Heh. (Kim, if you are reading this, bring the dress to me when your daughter wants to start wearing it, and I’ll hem it to the right length!)
I’ve been going on and on and on about these aprons…and wouldn’t you like to see the finished product?
Of course you would.
Ages ago (back when the year was new), one of my husband’s friends contacted me. She wanted to work together to come up with some aprons for her son and his best friends. The aprons, she was sure, would be a hit with the kids. The matching hats, she was sure, would be a hit with their mothers for as long as the kidlets would keep them on. Heh.
I don’t remember what exactly took so long, but picking out fabrics was definitely a big part of it. There was the shopping around, waiting for things to be back in stock, finding another seller for a print that was not negotiable and then the process of picking out coordinating fabrics for the details. (Each apron is double sided, with the backside matching the pocket from the front side and the band on the hat.) The actual production of the aprons was pretty quick, and took about two weeks (including cutting, pressing, aprons and hats). There was one tense moment when I realized that I had cut a directional print…the wrong way. Do you think a little girl would notice if all of her Winnie the Pooh’s were laying on their sides? Yes? Luckily, there was a remnant of the fabric left that was just big enough to cut another apron front, the right way.
Unfortunately, that remnant was a mis-laid hat piece. Which meant I had to cut another hat piece out of the REAL remnant piece that I had already put away on my shelf. Whoops.
Ready to meet the babies?
Fabric purchased here and here. Both shops were a delight, and I will be going back!
PS – If you are interested in getting a set, I will work with you to pick out fabrics. The sets are $30 each, plus shipping.
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
This was the result of one nap time, and three un-needed t-shirts. My skirt is an XL men's Hanes shirt (I bought it months ago because it was cheap, high quality jersey) and my band is the bottom 8" of a jersey shirt that was quite tight on me, and just too short.
The fabric she chose is on it's way from etsy and fabric.com. I forgot to order Velcro or interfacing, so I'll need to head off to the store for those things. Can't wait to get started!
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
~Aunt LoLo
My Mother in Law, MaMa, is here, and we’ve been having loads of fun. She’s an excellent cook, so we’ve been spending all of our spare time in the kitchen. Of course, that leaves no time for my craft room…but it’s a small price to pay for all of the delicious food she’s teaching me to make! (At this point, she’s over her shyness, and doesn’t even bat an eye when I pull out the camera every time she pulls out pots and pans. Heh.)
Her first night here, we all exchanged Christmas gifts. I wanted her to use her gift from me right away…and was really excited to see what she would think of it.
She liked it. *grin*
Yes, I’m dragging this out. It’s what I do! Here’s the quilt, all quilted, and waiting for my fabulous peeps to come over and help me sew the binding on. (Seriously, quilting bees are just one of the coolest things I can think of right now. I machine sewed the front of the binding on, and then a friend, a sister, and my mom helped me hand sew the back of the binding. Amazing.)
This is a blog for my crafts, right? So…essentially, a space for me to brag on the stuff that I make?
Alright. Good. Just checking.
I made a bookcase. Yes, yes. I know. Please, hold your applause until after the show!
Our home is still very “new” to us…and we are still figuring out how to live and work in this space. One thing that I knew we needed was a bookshelf for Ming Wai’s room. Her old room had a wall of built-ins, and they were full of books, knick knacks, treasures, toys and stuffed animals. Her new room boasts a dresser, which she’s never had before…but no place for her books. Keeping her squirrelly brother in mind, I needed a bookcase that was squat, un-tippable, and preferably could be stood upon. (Because if something is squat and sturdy, a small boy will find a way to stand on it. And possibly jump off.) I decided that what I needed was a bench, with storage underneath.
Enter Ana-White.com. Basically, she’s a housewife in Middle of Nowhere, Alaska, with really great taste in furniture…and absolutely no way to get to a store and buy it. So…she makes it. This particular bench is a dead ringer for this one, from Land of Nod.
(I added 12” to it and really did intend to make a cushion…but Ming Wai’s stuffed animals don’t seem to mind sitting on the hard wood!)
You can get the plans here.
Oh, and did I mention that making furniture yourself gets you out for a fraction of the cost? Yeah, baby! Less than $50 for all the materials. The only thing I needed was…someone who know how to build furniture, because I don’t even own a saw. Luckily, I have a new friend (Hi, Tasha!) who just happens to be awfully handy with tools, and is slowly filling her home with handmade furniture. Yes!!
I dropped the kids off at my sister’s place, showed up at Tasha’s, and we went to work! It took us just one morning to make the bench. She did the cutting, I put things together (with a lot of direction from her!) and it came together pretty easily! Of course, it took me several months to get it sanded, primed, painted and sealed…but, who’s counting, right? The important thing is that now? Ming Wai has a place for her collection of books (with room to spare! *phew*) and a place to sit while staring out the window, dreaming her dreams.
And that just makes me happy.
(Yes, those are Christmas lights around her window. Her Daddy does it every year, just for her, because it makes her happy. Amen.)
Love,
Aunt LoLo, Builder Extraordinaire
PS – Here’s my next project. Wish me luck!
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