Coffee & Tea Cup Sleeves

For the longest time, I've been trying to come up with a cute idea for a coffee cup sleeve. I don't drink coffee, so I've never had a need for one. Well... the time finally came for me to think hard and think fast. My friend Cynthia drinks both coffee and tea and ordered one of each type of sleeve. I found myself in a bit of a bind and reached for my notepad and pen.

This is what I ended up with, and I think it's pretty cute!

I'm trying to be better about putting my name on my stuff.

Look familiar?

Stay warm!

Plaid Infinity Scarf & Headband

My friend wanted to throw a themed New Years Eve party - nothing too crazy of course. ;) Inspired by Tommy Hilfiger's recent holiday video ad, she requested that all guests wear some sort of holiday plaid or pattern.

I wanted to wear a green wrap dress that had zero hint of plaid. To make up for it, I made myself a plaid infinity scarf and matching headband. The scarf helped keep me warm as I rang in 2012 in San Francisco.

Vinyl Lined Zippered Pouch Sets

I was asked to sew fifteen pouches for Christmas gifts - five sets of two and five singles. This was the largest batch I've made so far!

The concept behind the sets was for the larger pouch to be for the mom and the smaller pouch to be for the daughter, so I needed to make sure the fabrics were, at the very least, in the same color scheme. I was thrilled to finally use the cute owl print that has been sitting on my shelf for the past year but was bummed when I realized flannel isn't as easy to sew as I had hoped.

This fabric came from dinner napkins I bought from the Crate & Barrel Outlet. Though my favorite color is blue, I am also a total sucker for anything green (maybe because I enjoy the outdoors).

I think the next time I make a zippered pouch, I am going to try a different method. I'd like to get the edges straighter and the corners sharper. Always learning!

Pardon the Dust

As you may have noticed, my website has been slowly changing over the past few weeks. I've been hard at work trying to freshen up the site and cleaning up things in the back end. There are still a lot of things on the to-do list, but so far, I'm happy with the results. Having worked in business applications development for six years, I've learned all about development, testing, and implementation standards, so I know I'm 'breaking many rules' with the way I've chosen to go about fixing up the site. I'm driving myself crazy by not going about this in a more methodical and organized manner, so I thank you for your patience. =)

Custom Manila Envelope & Secret Santa Card

For her coworker's Secret Santa present, Jess decided to gift a 3-month subscription of US Weekly. She asked if I could make a colorful manila envelope for her with a matching card. I ended up using a beautiful sheet of printed paper from Kate's Paperie and some wooden buttons to make the envelope. The text was drafted on and printed from Photoshop.

Did I mention - her coworker is a guy?

Pardon the lighting in the pictures. I'm still learning how to use my new camera!